Brand new APM Project Professional Qualification launches today

The Association for Project Management launched its new APM Project Professional Qualification (PPQ) today at the opening of the APM Project Management Conference, currently being held at Kings Place, London.

Aimed at practicing project professionals with existing qualifications or experience, who wish to become eligible for Full APM membership and aim to become an APM Registered Project Professional (RPP), the PPQ qualification offers a progressive and strategic step to further their careers.

The award-winning APM Project Management Conference 2016 sponsored by 20|20 Business Insight has brought together a succession of the most influential and thought-provoking speakers from the profession and will explore how the project profession can transform into one recognised as being world class.

In a competitive, globalised and connected world, the challenge to set new standards of achievement grows exponentially. How do we go beyond good practice, beyond best practice and all the way to world class when delivering change? One of the ways is through raising the standard of project delivery and providing the quality of project professionals that employers so badly need.

To deliver a world class project, on time, effective governance is essential. For this, projects need competent and capable project managers. Although a profession growing in popularity, research suggests that as demand grows there still remains a lack of qualified practitioners – up to 30% of project managers have no formal qualification.

This is where APM plays a vital role in supporting and enhancing professional practice through training and development of skills. These days qualified candidates no longer need to worry about what they can offer organisations and are in a strong position to ask what companies can offer them. Achieving a qualification such as PPQ will enhance confidence and build on professional status that will enable individuals to secure the project jobs they want.

The new APM Project Professional Qualification (PPQ) is designed to thoroughly examine and recognise project professionals with the capability of delivering successful projects, programmes and portfolios. As an examination-based qualification that assesses capability in delivering these, it covers the core specific competences project professionals require across all areas of the profession. It is the most comprehensive assessment of professional project management capability available.

Who is it for?

The APM Project Professional Qualification is aimed at any project professional either:

working in a project, programme or portfolio management,
holding the APM Project Management Qualification or equivalent,
looking to become a Full member of APM (MAPM).

The PPQ qualification is made up of six modules: with candidates required to pass all three core modules covering governance, leadership and project controls, and one of the three elective modules which examines the combination of competences required to manage either projects, programmes or portfolios.

Based on the APM Competence Framework 2nd edition, successful candidates will then be eligible for APM membership, allowing them to put the industry recognised MAPM post-nominal after their name, which provides the foundation for individuals to progress through to APM Registered Project Professional Standard (RPP).

APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) is a pan-sector standard for those able to demonstrate the competence in responsible leadership, who have the ability to manage a complex project and use appropriate tools, processes and techniques. Successful candidates will be entered onto the APM Register of Project Professionals.

The wider public can be confident that successful RPPs have been externally assessed as competent and dedicated to their own continuing development.

Benefits

The new PPQ qualification offers candidates the opportunity to demonstrate a much deeper understanding of the profession than before and extends beyond project management into the areas of programmes and portfolios, reflecting the professions’ broad application and providing individuals with access to a rewarding career.

For employers it provides assurances that candidates have been provided with a robust assessment of capability and that they will end up with a high quality professional workforce. By investing in their staff and retaining valuable experienced project managers, organisations will discover they have cultivated both competitive advantage and improved project delivery. Certified quality leaders are a clear demonstration to customers and clients that a company is committed to delivering successful projects, programmes and portfolios, which in turn raises the profile of project management within the organisation.

For the profession as a whole PPQ is the next step in providing a world class talent pipeline required to address the vast portfolio of work currently being undertaken in the UK and beyond.