Certified Project Professional

CPP candidates need to be admitted to the Institute of Project Management as a Certified Project Officer (CPO), and evidence a threshold minimum of 1,500 hours’ project experience before proceeding to the examination.

If you worked on multiple projects at one time, all the hours count toward the total; however, your total project experience must span a minimum of 12 calendar months.

Evidence can be presented in the form of an up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV) listing the projects worked on and the role that you fulfilled.

You must also nominate three (3) referees who you either reported to (eg a direct supervisor) or were accountable to (eg a project sponsor, senior stakeholder or client) in the delivery of one or more of these projects.

We will directly contact at least one of these referees via a 10 minute telephone interview to validate your experience.

In order to demonstrate your competence as a Project Professional, CPP candidates are required to identify a project you have recently delivered and critically reflect upon its performance.

The final output will take the form of a written report aimed at recommending improvements for the performance of future projects. It is not a (product) review of the deliverable created by the project.

In addition to common requirements for business writing, the Reflection should include the following major elements:

• An overview of the project
• Critical analysis of:
  • Project initiation
  • Project planning
  • Project delivery
  • Project handover
• A conclusion that is linked to your previous discussion
• Clearly articulated and supported (SMART) recommendations
• Appendices, including:
  • Project charter
  • Stakeholder register
  • WBS, schedule and budget
  • Risk register
  • Position description
  • Status report

As part of your reflection, you might also like to conduct one-on-one interviews key project stakeholders, such as the project sponsor and a client representative.

For assessment purposes, the Reflection is to be at least 1,000 words in length. The word count does not include footnotes, references and/or appendices.

You will then be required to make a 10-minute presentation of your Project Reflection, followed by a 10-minute question and answer session to complete this assessment activity.

You will be contacted directly to schedule your presentation once your written report has been assessed.

In order to successfully complete this examination, you will need to be familiar with larger issues, such as the project management frameworks, theories and best practice; more importantly, you need to have a deep understanding of the project you have reflected upon and the major issues encountered.

A 12 month licence to Microsoft Project Professional 2016 retails for US$360 or AU$504.

As an exclusive offer to Institute of Project Management students, it is now included for free in your CPP enrolment.

Institute of Project Management (IPM) credentials validate contemporary best practices in the discipline of project management. By not slavishly adhereing to (or evangelizing) any one standard, methodology or industry approach, our credentials provide a highly rigorous and transferable baseline of skills that can be applied in any project context.

IPM credential holders are critical thinkers; they are the project leaders, problem solvers and innovators of the 21st century.

An IPM credential therefore opens up a wealth of career opportunities for the project manager. It expands your market reach, enhances your project management skills, displays your ability to handle challenging projects, earns you critical projects, and increases your salary by a huge margin.

So why should I certify my project management knowledge and skills with IPM?

• Access our free, open, online knowledge library - don’t pay for expensive preparation courses
• Consider alternative assessment options, including the recognition of your prior project management learning
• Receive lifetime certification - no membership, subscription or ongoing fees are required
• Guaranteed global recognition - your project management passport!
• Access direct pathways to higher certification and/or qualifications
• Exponentially increase your career potential and rewards

The CPP certification is the most rigorous skills-based certification for early-career project managers in the world today.

By taking a 21st century approach to learning and assessment, it also is the most durable and cost-effective option for candidates looking to independently assure their value to current and potential employers.

These are some of the reasons why employers are looking for IPM certifications linked to your name:

• Comprehensive and independent certification that validates knowledge, skills and experience
• Candidates demonstrate their practical application of knowledge, as opposed to theory-based assessment
• IPM assesses people, not CVs - we personally interview, challenge and reference check all candidates at the CPP level and higher
• Instant, online validation of certification authenticity is available via Credly through Linkedin
• IPM’s certification marks and post-nominals are accredited to explicitly defined and regularly audited international standards
• Candidates are bound to IPM Code of Ethics for Project Professionals
• Organisations employing IPM certified candidates immediately observe improved project performance