Hot jobs

Project managers, nurses rank among professions that are most in demand

John Potter is a project manager with A.J. Monier & Co. (San Antonio Express-News)

SAN ANTONIO - John Potter, a big man with a sun-weathered face and construction worker's hands, put in a dozen years doing one thing or another with pipe fitting and welding and another dozen as a job site foreman before moving on to project management.

Gray-haired now and 57, Potter finds himself in one of the most in-demand professions. Jobfox.com ranked project management 12th in its Top 25 most-wanted professions in a March survey tracking more than 4,000 job openings in a 120-day period ended Feb. 28.

Other professions in hot demand by employers include software design/development, ranked first; nursing, second; accounting/finance executive, third; sales representative, fourth; and administrative assistant, fifth.

"These are professions that are thriving and will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future," said Rob McGovern, the chief executive of the McLean, Va.-based job search website. "While hiring activity is reportedly slow in some industry sectors - construction and manufacturing, for example - companies continue to go after a host of high-impact professions requiring degrees or specialized skills."

Entry into the field of project management happens both ways, said Potter, one of five project managers at San Antonio-based plumbing, heating and air conditioning company A.J. Monier & Co.

Some project managers at Monier came straight from college, Potter said. But they lack field experience and usually start as field engineers. If the project manager is college-bred, he or she probably got a degree in construction management or mechanical engineering.

But many project managers were developed on the job. Site superintendents tend to find it a natural transition to go from watching day-to-day labor on a project to becoming project manager.

"It happens all the time," Potter said. "I've seen it in our field and the general contracting field as well."

Project management is a profession found in many industries, but they all have one thing in common:

"The project manager is responsible for the profitability of the job," Potter said. "We're there to make sure it makes money, and to make sure we satisfy the customer."

Monier designs, fabricates and installs plumbing and air control systems for commercial plants and counts among its clients many educational institutions, hospitals, and top corporations.

Potter selects the material and equipment on a project, gets them approved, prices all change orders, issues all subcontractor orders and sends invoices.

"I make sure we get paid on the job," Potter said.

The workload on each project manager is based on the total value of available work. Depending on the project size, a project manager may be handling one job or a dozen, but at Monier each project manager is expected to handle about $5 million worth of projects per year.

Potter estimates project managers in his industry earn between $50,000 and $80,000 a year in San Antonio.

Jobfox.com, tracking a broader range of industries throughout the United States, estimates the median salary for project managers at between $85,000 and $95,000.