What makes a career in project management rewarding and dynamic?

Marcus Pathan

Senior International Development Manager, APM

Becoming a project professional can help address critical challenges, leveraging diverse projects to make a meaningful impact on our world.

Projects come in various shapes and sizes, and all have an impact on the world around us. At a time when the world faces many major challenges, becoming a project professional can be a great way to help tackle some of these issues.

Effective project management is essential

Every project needs a project team to keep a close watch on plans, budgets, contributors, quality of outputs and anything that could cause a problem along the way. The Project Ireland 2040 vision will indeed require many project managers – with the right skills to deliver what the strategy has set out to achieve — to make Ireland a better country for all. When projects succeed, society benefits. As the only chartered membership organisation for the project profession in the world, APM recognises that project management is a growing profession and changing fast.

There are various routes to becoming a project
professional, from apprenticeships including
integrated degree apprenticeships to
APM-accredited university degrees.

Benefits of project management

Project management is increasingly becoming a career of choice rather than chance. It plays a crucial role in a wide range of business sectors from media, IT and healthcare to engineering, construction and financial services — making it a varied and rewarding job. Many project managers talk about the pride they feel in delivering something that makes the world a better place.

A career in project management can also be financially rewarding and offers numerous job opportunities, a clear and stable career path and the chance to make a significant impact on organisations and society. A good project manager can add value to any environment they choose to work in, utilising key transferable skills such as time management, organisation, communications, resilience and leadership.

Project management career routes

There are various routes to becoming a project professional, from apprenticeships including integrated degree apprenticeships to APM-accredited university degrees in project management and qualifications.

A project professional can then go on to become a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP): the recognised global standard in project management. This year, APM is launching a new pathway towards ChPP status, which will recognise validated professional practice built globally through qualifications and experiences in organisations across the profession, making chartered status accessible to even more project practitioners around the world.