What APM qualifications have you achieved?
“I have achieved the PFQ, PMQ, and ChPP.”
Do you believe gaining these qualifications have helped progress your career?
“Yes, I did the PFQ at the start of my professional career as part of a graduate program whilst working in large scale infrastructure projects. It helped me and the broader team to have a common language, terminology and understanding of the principles of project management. I decided to take the PMQ recently because I felt my 3PM knowledge was split across different professional bodies and definitions, and I wanted to rationalise my terminology into a single body of knowledge.
Because it’s a very robust qualification, it forced me to think differently and directly improved how I managed projects, which I hadn’t expected.”
What other benefits have you experienced from gaining the APM qualifications? (E.g., confidence, credibility, knowledge)
For 3PM, I feel APM qualifications help to demonstrate both technical expertise and experience. Having received PMQ and going on to become ChPP I benefited from more confidence in my knowledge basis and added greater credibility to my professional experience, particularly on paper through my CV credentials.”
What challenges did you come across when studying for your qualifications?
“PMQ is intensive so undertaking it as part of a dedicated course with a diverse cohort was hugely beneficial. There is evening assignment work, but the value gained is in learning from mistakes and discussing the assignments in a group scenario afterwards. PMQ is aimed at professionals with experience, so the content is familiar, the challenge is making sure you can articulate the significance of it to the APM body of knowledge. A group and course approach was a very effective way of focussing quickly on the key aspects of any given area of knowledge within APM.”
Would you recommend other project professionals to aim for chartership status and why?
“I would. On a personal level, achieving a chartered status has provided credibility to my CV and experience. Having ChPP has reduced the dialogue on project management competency and now I have found conversations with Sponsors / Clients are focussed on softer skills such as collaboration and leadership and how to deliver the project.
From a broader perspective, and as somebody who regularly appoints project managers, having ChPP status provides a benchmark for the level of experience and technical understanding candidates have and raises the bar in the industry for what is expected for project professionals.”
