Top tips from Chartered Project Professionals for project professionals becoming Chartered

If you’re thinking about the next steps in your project management career and how to boost your potential, then achieving the Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) standard should be part of your plan. We asked ChPPs what advice they would give to project professionals who want to become Chartered, and here’s what they had to say:

Allow yourself the time to understand the application process

You’ve decided you want to become Chartered and begin looking into the process; this is where a plan is vital. Jack Hewitt, Senior Project Manager with Arup stresses how important planning really is: “Predictable advice from a project professional, but it pays off. I started planning the drafting of my application 12 months before I sat the final interview.” Get ahead of the game and do what project professionals do best, plan!

There is a lot of work involved with writing so it’s also important to take your time; there are criteria that you need to explicitly demonstrate so that your submission will be progressed. “Don’t rush through the application as it’s important to ensure you have covered all of the relevant points prior to submission,” shares Danielle Melhuish at Turner and Townsend.

Make your words count

If you’re unsure of what skills and experience you have then “review the competency criteria within the Chartered Project Professional Application Guidance to target development needs and prepare a plan on how to gain experience in each,” suggests Craig Scott, Project Manager at Eurofighter. Once you know what you need to demonstrate, it’ll become more straightforward to write the application – but there are word limits!

Andrew Cook, Senior Project Manager at Turner and Townsend shares that “to make sure all of your words are demonstrating your competence, try colour coding each sentence and match it with one of the assessment criteria. This provides a visual check that you have addressed enough of the assessment criteria…text without colour coding might not be necessary, all helping achieve that 250 word limit.”

Connect with good people who’ll help

“It’s crucial that you have a network of ChPP-qualified peers whom you can regularly connect with for advice and guidance,” shares Hewitt. This way you can have someone to ask questions, and they’ve been through the process so will be able to understand what you’re going through.

Melhuish agrees with how important it is to network, “I found my colleagues’ advice invaluable when reviewing my submission and practising for interviews.” If you don’t personally know anyone who’s a ChPP, reach out through the APM Community or LinkedIn.

Having a good network of people around you can not only offer moral support, but practical too. David Richard, Agile and Leadership Coach suggests asking others to review your application: “get someone who doesn’t know what you did to read it. If they can find the evidence in your text, so will the assessor.”

Believe in yourself and what you can do

We often get into our own heads, so remind yourself of your accomplishments: “For the interview itself – don’t panic. The questions are based on what you have written, so you already know the answers,” adds Stacey Bishop, Project Manager at SSE Renewables.

The more positive you are, the more confidence you’ll feel – and this can help tremendously. Gary Batchelor, ChPP and Senior Project Manager stresses the importance of believing in yourself: “Don’t be afraid to take credit or what you have done. You may be surprised that once you have been through and filled the criteria you look back and think to yourself, ‘I have succeeded’.”

Achieving the ChPP standard proves that you have technical knowledge and professional practice; it’s based on showcasing the change you’ve delivered throughout your career. One of the toughest parts about completing your Chartered Project Professional journey, is the decision to start, so what are you waiting for? You can read more helpful tips from Chartered Project Professionals here.

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