Introduction: project management certifications and this series

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:02I'm Sara.

0:03Leo: And I'm Leo.

0:04Sara: This series helps you prepare for the main project management certifications that

0:09three bodies offer today. IPMA®, the International Project Management Association.

0:15PMI®, the Project Management Institute. And APM, the Association for Project Management.

0:21Leo: It is one combined review. Each episode takes one project management topic and shows

0:27how all three treat it. So whichever exam you take, you learn the substance once,

0:33and then the words and the angle of your exam.

0:36Sara: One thing first. This series is unofficial.

0:39It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, IPMA®, PMI® or APM.

0:44We use their public documents, and we cite them in every description.

0:48Our two voices are generated with AI.

0:51Leo: In this first episode, we explain what the three bodies offer,

0:55what Mid-level and Senior mean, how each exam assesses you, and how to use the series.

1:02Sara: Let us meet the three bodies. Leo, start with IPMA®.

1:07Leo: IPMA® is a federation of national project management associations.

1:12Its standard for individuals is the Individual Competence Baseline,

1:17the ICB4. It describes the competences a project manager needs,

1:21and it is free to download. IPMA® certifies competence at four levels,

1:26which follow the complexity of the work you lead.

1:30D is knowledge only. C is moderately complex projects, B is complex projects,

1:36and A is very complex, strategic work. Level A is beyond this series.

1:43National certification bodies run the certificates, so the details vary by country.

1:48Sara: And PMI®?

1:49Leo: PMI® publishes the PMBOK® Guide, now in its eighth edition.

1:53Its best-known certification is the Project Management Professional,

1:57or PMP® certification. The PMP® exam follows a public content outline with three domains:

2:05the people you lead, the processes you run, and the business environment around

2:09the project. PMI® also offers an entry certificate for people starting out,

2:15the Certified Associate in Project Management, or CAPM®.

2:18Sara: And APM?

2:20Leo: APM is the chartered body for the project profession, based in the United Kingdom.

2:25It publishes the APM Body of Knowledge, eighth edition.

2:30Its two main exams are the Project Fundamentals Qualification and the Project Management

2:35Qualification, known as the PFQ and the PMQ.

2:39The PFQ covers the basics in a one-hour, multiple-choice exam.

2:44The PMQ goes broader and deeper, with written answers.

2:47Above them sits the Chartered Project Professional standard, or ChPP.

2:53Sara: So three bodies, each with its own book or standard, and a ladder of certificates.

3:00Leo: Yes. And the ladders do not line up one to one.

3:03That is the next part.

3:05Sara: The series works at two levels. What do they mean?

3:08Leo: These two levels are this series' own labels, not an official scale.

3:13Mid-level means you have led projects of moderate complexity,

3:16and you apply methods on your own. Senior means you lead complex projects and other

3:22people, and you design the approach for others.

3:26As a rough guide, IPMA® asks for about three years of leading projects at Level C,

3:31and five at Level B, with three of them on complex projects.

3:36The PMP® exam asks for two to five years of leading projects, depending on your education.

3:43Sara: Which certificates fit where?

3:45Leo: We placed each one using the bodies' own published rules.

3:49We looked at the experience they require, what they assess, the responsibility they

3:53describe, and how they assess it. Senior needs complex work, shown on your own projects.

4:01At Mid-level, that gives IPMA® Level C and the PMP® certification.

4:06At Senior level, it gives IPMA® Level B and APM's Chartered Project Professional.

4:12Sara: Are there gaps?

4:14Leo: Two. By those rules, APM has no Mid-level certificate, because the PMQ has no experience

4:20requirement. And PMI® has no certification at our Senior level,

4:25because the PMP® certification is assessed by an exam alone.

4:30Its Program Management Professional certification, the PgMP, is for programmes.

4:36IPMA® Level D and the other knowledge exams sit below our two levels,

4:41and IPMA® Level A sits above them.

4:44Sara: So is the PMQ outside this series?

4:47Leo: No. The PMQ is a knowledge exam, not a Mid-level one.

4:51It tests knowledge and understanding, with long written answers,

4:55and this series covers its whole syllabus.

4:58The core and model parts of each episode carry what it asks, and the drills practise

5:02written answers. For the PMQ, the Mid-level and Senior part is optional.

5:08APM also counts the PMQ, together with validated experience, as a recognised assessment

5:13on one route to its chartered standard.

5:16Sara: The table is on screen now. Pause the video if you want to copy it.

5:21Sara: How do the exams differ?

5:22Leo: In three ways. First, knowledge exams. The CAPM®, the PFQ and IPMA® Level D test what

5:31you know. The PMQ adds understanding, with longer written answers.

5:37Sara: Second?

5:38Leo: A scenario exam. The PMP® exam has one hundred and eighty questions in four hours,

5:44built on scenarios. Its current outline also has a case-study set,

5:49and questions where you read a chart or a diagram.

5:52PMI®'s outline says that about forty percent of them are about predictive projects,

5:57and the rest about agile or hybrid ones.

6:00Sara: And third?

6:01Leo: Competence shown on your own work. IPMA® Levels C and B start with an application:

6:09a self-assessment, a summary of your projects, and referees.

6:13Then comes a three-hour exam with open answers, and an interview with two assessors,

6:18sometimes with a simulation, where you handle a realistic situation while they watch.

6:24At Level B, the exam can be oral instead, and you add a report on your own projects.

6:30APM's chartered standard uses a written submission and an interview on most of its

6:36routes. APM is piloting a new assessment with a written exam in twenty twenty-six.

6:41If the pilot succeeds, it starts in twenty twenty-seven.

6:44Sara: What does that mean for how I prepare?

6:47Leo: For a knowledge exam, learn the terms and the models precisely.

6:52For a scenario exam, practise judging situations quickly, and practise the calculations.

6:59For a competence assessment, collect examples from your own projects,

7:03and practise explaining your reasons out loud.

7:07Sara: Now, how does the series work?

7:09Leo: After this introduction, there are twenty-six episodes in five parts:

7:14foundations, people, planning and control, change, and methods and calculations.

7:21Each part is a playlist.

7:23Sara: And every episode follows the same pattern?

7:25Leo: Yes, and each one takes about ten minutes.

7:28We open with the topic. Then comes one topic, three lenses: how IPMA®,

7:34PMI® and APM frame it, and where their words differ.

7:38Then the core in plain words, one or two models, and a short part on what changes

7:43between Mid-level and Senior.

7:45Sara: And then the drill.

7:47Leo: Every episode has one exam drill. We ask a question, you pause and write your answer,

7:52and then we give a model answer. We add what lifts it to Senior level,

7:56and how each exam would test the same skill.

8:00Sara: What comes with each episode?

8:01Leo: A model sheet for each model: a one-page PDF with the model, an example at each

8:07level, and a row that shows where it sits in each body's material.

8:13And a study handout with the formulas or the key rules.

8:17The links are in the description, with every source we used.

8:21Sara: And the study paths?

8:23Leo: Each certification has one. For the PMP® exam, PMI® gives weights for its three domains

8:29only, so we weight the tasks inside each domain equally.

8:33That is our own assumption. Stakeholders come high, and so do life cycles and agile

8:38methods, because most questions involve agile or hybrid work.

8:43For the PMQ, the path follows its syllabus.

8:47For IPMA®, every episode counts, and Level B candidates add the Senior parts.

8:53For APM's chartered standard, follow the PMQ path and add the Senior parts.

8:59The paths are in the description.

9:01Sara: You will hear about a city in this series.

9:04Leo: Towncity is a fictional city. It gives us short examples, and it is never the topic.

9:11At Mid-level, the example is Parking Permits Online, an eight-month city project

9:16that moves resident parking permits online.

9:19Its project manager is Anna. At Senior level, it is One City Account,

9:25a thirty-month project that brings fourteen city services under one login.

9:30Anna leads that one too, some years later.

9:33Sara: So the same person, at two stages of a career.

9:37Sara: Where should a new viewer start?

9:39Leo: Ask yourself three questions. Which exam are you taking?

9:43Have you led projects yet? And will you be assessed on your own work?

9:47Sara: And then?

9:48Leo: If it is the PMP® exam or the PMQ, follow that study path in the description.

9:53If you will be assessed on your own work, at IPMA® Level C or B or for APM's chartered

10:00standard, start with the foundations part, and write down one example from your

10:05own projects for each episode as you go.

10:07Sara: And if you are just starting out?

10:10Leo: If you have not led projects yet, watch the foundations first.

10:15The core part of every episode covers what the knowledge exams ask.

10:20Sara: That is the series. The first topic episode, on life cycles and delivery approaches,

10:25opens the foundations part. See you there.