Chartered Project Professional aims to help more women gain chartered status

The latest project professional to gain chartered status with the help of an APM mentoring programme says she is now looking forward to becoming a mentor herself and helping others become chartered.

Janina Schild, project manager at Mott MacDonald, successfully gained Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) status in May after taking part in the scheme and being mentored on her ChPP application process. She’s now encouraging others to get involved in the programme and hopes to volunteer as a mentor too.

Last year, Janina set a career goal of completing her written chartership application. Despite having worked on many projects in the UK and Europe, she found the mentoring experience useful as it helped her to progress her application consistently, with the benefit of first-hand knowledge of the application process and interview procedure.

Commenting on her achievement, she said: “I see chartership as a recognition of my dedication and hard work. Chartership to me is being externally recognised for your capabilities and breadth of knowledge. I believe it will open up new opportunities for my career progression and new challenges, which I'm looking forward to.”

Janina also wants to contribute further to the ChPP mentoring programme by helping others gain the coveted standard.

She said: “As a next step, I’m looking forward to mentoring others on their chartership journey. I hope more female role models will encourage other female project professionals to follow suit and to achieve a more balanced gender split.”

APM’s Salary and Market Trends Survey 2021 found that fewer women than men work in leadership or senior managerial roles within the project profession, which is why APM is committed to promoting a no-barrier culture in which all project managers can succeed.

Following a successful pilot, the ChPP mentoring programme is helping more women in the profession to achieve their goals, while also supporting diversity and inclusivity at senior level.

When asked if she would recommend being mentored to other female project managers, Janina said: “I would definitely recommend it. I learned a lot and it provided me with the confidence to believe in a successful outcome.

“It’s important to have role models you can identify with and having a female mentor who had gone through the chartership process herself was the role model I needed.”

If you’re a female project professional who is interested in being mentored or volunteering as a mentor, email volunteers@apm.org.uk. Tell us why you’d like to take part in the programme and we’ll provide you with more information and guidance on next steps.