Nepalijose - Please see my responses below. " What would be an ideal career path to becoming a Project Manager? " I am not sure if there is such a thing an ideal path. You need to have strong leadership qualities and in most organizations, especially in the services sector, it doesn't matter what your academic background is. An MBA might help - again depending on the firm - but most organizations that I know of accept people with Bachelors degrees. In many consulting firms, you can get in as an associate or junior associate (titles vary by firms) and then move along the career structure (ie on to Sr Associate, Manager, Sr Mgr, Director, VP etc) "l though I know you would need to have the all the technical know-hows to become a Project Manager in a specific industry (e.g. IT industry), is it absolutely necessary to first be on a technical position for sometime before moving into Project Management?? " No. Hence the entry-level PM positions mentioned above. But subject matter knowledge is definitely an advantage. " I see it more of a position with a good blend of technical and analytical skills because, unlike a traditional management position, the Project Management discipline seems to be an area where you are helping an organization meet its goals by making the most use of resources and minimizing risk." Above all leadership skills (please dont ask me for a definition :P - it would vary by org but the standard stuff around "soft" and "hard" skills ...managing, motivating, empathy, growing others yada yada ...lookup PMI and/or google) " I know that technical people later on move to Management later on in their respective fields after gaining experience and advanced degrees. Is it the same for Project Managers? " Yes, there would /should typically be a career path up that would vary by organization. "I understand that PM positions (just like Business Analysts) are horizontal to Technical people and not vertical. Correct me if I am wrong here.. " It depends. Some PMs could be vertical too depending on the organization and project. This is all based on my own understanding of things. Obviously, project management practices and structures differs from firm to firm, industry to industry and you run the risk of broad stroking if you try to look at this too generically.