IPMA Level D study guide
IPMA Level D · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate) is the entry point of IPMA's four-level certification scheme, 4-L-C. IPMA describes it as "IPMA's starting level, aimed at starting professionals" - the tier below Level C®, which IPMA positions for people with three to five years of working experience, and below the senior Levels B® and A® for very experienced, all-round professionals. IPMA certification is competence-based rather than methodology-based: candidates are assessed against the Individual Competence Baseline (ICB), the global standard that "describes the competences that project, programme and portfolio managers should possess". Assessment happens locally - IPMA promises certification "in your own country, in your own language, at your own competence level" - delivered by national Member Associations and their Certifying Bodies, which means the practical exam format, scheduling, language and pricing are set nationally rather than published globally. Topics on this exam: Perspective, People, and Practice. The IPMA Level D study guide has 3 sections and about 1,016 words.
01Perspective: situating the initiative in its organisational context
Perspective is the 'why and where' of an initiative. It checks whether you can place a project, programme or portfolio inside its wider setting and let that setting shape your decisions.
355 words, about 2 min02People: personal and interpersonal competence
People covers the ten personal and interpersonal elements: self-reflection and self-management, personal integrity and reliability, personal communication, relationships and engagement, leadership, teamwork, conflict and crisis, resourcefulness, negotiation and results orientation. Questions here rarely ask for a definition; they ask what you would do in a tense human situation.
331 words, about 2 min03Practice: designing, planning, controlling and closing the work
Practice is the 'how'. Its elements include design, goals and objectives, scope, time, organisation and information, quality, finance, resources, procurement and partnership, plan and control, risk and opportunity, stakeholders, and change and transformation.
330 words, about 2 min