Swedish IT Project Managers' Personality Traits Mirrored in the Big Five

Project success, which is critical to achieve, requires a competent project manager. Could anybody become a skilled project manager, or what does it take? One factor that is considered to influence the opportunities of succeeding is individuals' personality traits. Which ones would be suitable for Swedish IT project managers then? Could these be mirrored in the perspective of the Big five categories? This research was carried out by collecting and analyzing job advertisements (henceforth ads.) once a year (2010-2013), in total 325 ads. The findings indicate that the three most requested personality traits for a Swedish IT project manager are driven, communicative and structured. Mirrored in the Big five dimensions the most requested traits from the study fell into the categories conscientiousness and extraversion. The practical implication is improved ads. by using the Big five categories; research implications are foremost yet another perspective of IT project managers' personality traits.