Survey of project managers: 62 % of IAPM certificate holders have recommended the IAPM to other people.

13.12.2013 - There were some surprises among the answers provided in an anonymous survey of project managers about their professional situation, their training-related needs and their satisfaction with the IAPM. While the offer of a certificate available exclusively on an e-learning basis met with little resonance, the IAPM itself received some very positive feedback: 62 % of respondents stated that they had recommended certification from one of the most recently established project management associations to their colleagues or the people responsible for training at their organisations.

Personal and career history
There were few surprise responses in this section. They reflect reality in the project management profession. Most project managers start their careers in their mid-20s. At the age of 45 and above, project managers increasingly leave their positions to assume other functions. Their annual salary is up to € 80,000 and few project managers earn more than € 100,000. Most project managers are employed at medium-sized enterprises (501 – 5,000 employees) or large-scale enterprises (10,001 and more employees).

Work practices
This section confirmed two major trends in project management: successive changes in project management processes and progressive globalisation. 58 % of respondents stated that they had already been involved in agile projects, which confirms the increasing significance of agile project management. 39 % of survey participants are predominantly involved in international projects and 41 % predominantly in national projects. 16 % work to an equal extent in national and international projects.

Certification in companies
This section of the survey revealed that companies are very keen to have their project managers‘ competence documented by certification, but that they tend to take a soft approach. Only 18 % of employers make certification mandatory, but 86 % pay the costs. In response to the question of who proposed certification, 46 % said it was the project manager himself, 26 % said it was the line manager and 24 % said it was a team qualification measure.

Learning methods
Workshops are obviously the preferred option. Only 3 % of respondents stated that they would prefer independent e-learning to classroom coaching. This means that project managers go against one of the biggest trends in the education sector. This figure is particularly interesting because it is based on the respondents’ personal experience. 45 % of respondents also stated that they had done an e-learning course.

Download the results of the certificateholder survey:


Download survey-of-project-managers-62.pdf

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