Example Project Management Postgraduate Personal Statement
Over the course of my professional life, I have become increasingly involved in project management roles. Doing so has made me aware of the many varied challenges that can face projects and the project managers who are charged with bringing them through to completion. The success or failure of projects, in whatever economic, political or social field, rests not just on the quality of the project’s goals, but also on the abilities of those involved in the project – and above all those who are managing it – to bring it to successful completion. To do this, project managers need to be equipped with a very wide range of skills, many of which are unrelated to the type of project itself. So, for example, a project manager of an engineering project must not only have engineering expertise and experience, but also possess management skills in areas such as budgeting and financial management, operations, personnel and information systems. In many cases, projects fail because they are led by people who lack these skills.
I have very much enjoyed the challenges of working in a project management position in the past, and intend to work in this area in the future. I am committed to developing my professional skills to allow me to work to the fullest of my potential, and as a consequence I am highly motivated to study for an MSc in Project Management. I believe that it is essential for project managers to be equipped with the skills that are necessary to allow ambitious projects to be completed on budget, on time, and according to their original specifications, and I believe that completing this master’s is the best way to acquire those skills.
To help me with my career goal of working in a project management position, I have already taken steps to boost my project management skills through self-study. I regularly read books on the subject of project management, and also like to read about the development of important projects in the news. During the course of working in project management roles in the past I attended short workshops and training courses to help me in my role. At present I am also studying towards the examination to obtain the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional status.
I am excited about the prospect of returning to higher education and completing a master’s to the best of my abilities. I enjoyed completing my BSc in Mechanical Engineering, and I believe that the results that I obtained in it demonstrate that I have the abilities and the drive that are necessary to succeed at university. Furthermore, in addition to learning as much as possible about project management prior to beginning the course, I have also been working hard to improve my level of English, and am currently taking an English course at Salford University.
I believe that my professional history demonstrates that I have a solid grasp of the demands of project management, and through working in a project management role in the past I have begun to develop many of the skills that are necessary for a project management role. After qualifying as a mechanical engineer, I held two different engineering-related positions in the Saudi armed forces, before moving on in 2005 to work as a project coordinator at the Alsalam Aircraft Company. In this role I was responsible for managing a range of construction projects carried out for the Royal Saudi Air Force, ranging from new building projects to the installation of sewage systems and water piping. I believe that being placed in this role brought out some of my best professional qualities, such as my ability to learn quickly, to deal with people honestly, to pay attention to details and to quickly formulate solutions to unforeseen problems. After holding this post for three years, my skills as a project manager were further developed in my next position, at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. This role was a step outside of the engineering field, and the fact that I was able to succeed in this role has given me faith in my adaptability. In this role I was responsible for projects that were designed to develop Saudi Arabia’s heritage sites and boost tourism to the country. During my two-and-a-half year tenure at the Commission I was involved in a range of projects that were completed successfully, such as the creation of a provincial tourism body for the Al-Jouf region. The quality of my performance in this role is also demonstrated by the fact that I received the Distinguished Employee of the Year Award for 2009.
In spite of past successes in a project management role, however, I refuse to be lulled into a sense of complacency. I am eager to learn as much as possible about project management to excel in this sector in the future. If accepted to the master’s programme, upon its completion I would like to continue to enhance and broaden my professional skillset through working as a project manager for a construction company, a sector in which I am interested in part as a result of my involvement with helping friends and relatives in the construction of their own homes.
We hope this example Project Management Postgraduate Personal Statement is useful as a guide to help you write an interesting personal statement.