Why Earn the CAPM as a Student? How One Engineering Student Got a Head Start on Her Career

How an internship introduced her to project management

The turning point came during Bela’s turbine engineering co-op at Ameren, an energy company serving Illinois and Missouri.

Much of what Bela encountered on the job was new. Her engineering courses had given her a strong theoretical foundation, but the co-op showed her what engineering looked like when schedules, contractors, equipment and real-world constraints entered the picture.

“Most of what I learned on the job I didn’t learn in school,” she says. “A lot of engineering is learned in the field.”

It also gave her something she hadn't previously been able to add to job applications: a professional certification.

“Before, I couldn't click any of the check boxes for certifications because as a student, you can't get professional certificates most of the time,” she says.

The CAPM represented something different. “The CAPM is worth it because it's something I can put in that section that not a lot of other people can.”

Bela wasn't trying to pretend she already had years of experience. She was looking for a way to demonstrate that she was serious about learning and to differentiate herself as she pursued her next opportunity.

“At the end of the day it’s to differentiate me from other people to get the first job or next internship,” she says.

“The CAPM is worth it,” she says. “It’s a professional certification you can earn as an undergrad, and the skills are relevant across industries because project management is everywhere. It’s helped me as a young professional understand the basics of how projects are run, and it’s something I can put on my resume and use to have conversations with other professionals about how they manage their projects.”

That ability to have those conversations would become one of the clearest signs of Bela's growth.

How the CAPM helps students build confidence

Bela had started her internship surrounded by unfamiliar systems and terminology.

“I went into my internship not knowing anything,” she says. “I tell this to everybody. I thought I was going into turbine engineering to work on wind turbines. And then they put me on this project, and I was like, ‘oh, I don’t know what's going on at all.’”

But as Bela progressed through her internship and learned more about project management and her CAPM studies, she noticed herself becoming more comfortable, and so did her mentors.

“I think they saw me become more comfortable in the role, and I was able to talk shop with them,” she says.

She could participate because she understood more of what was happening around her. Eventually, that translated into greater responsibility. “The ability to start having those conversations and to take charge of my own projects was something they really saw after I got my CAPM.”

And then came a moment that captured just how much had changed. “I was able to run one of my meetings without my mentor there,” she says.

She hadn't suddenly gained years of professional experience. She had gained a framework for understanding the work happening around her, and the confidence to participate in it.

Bela had entered the internship trying to understand the conversation. Now, she could lead it.

How students can apply CAPM skills to college projects

Earning the CAPM didn't mark the end of Bela's learning. She's still a student and applying what the CAPM taught her to her coursework.

Back at Georgia Tech, Bela can already see opportunities to apply what she learned—from engineering projects to the group assignments familiar to almost every college student.

“Group projects are a great way for students to start implementing different project management methodologies in terms of sprints and design phases,” she says.

Even the way she thinks about her own schedule has changed. “Before, I'd do everything willy-nilly as college students do,” she says. “We like to procrastinate until the last minute.”

Now, she thinks more deliberately about breaking work into sections and completing milestones along the way.

“Going through the CAPM taught the importance of breaking things down into different sections and making sure that each milestone is complete,” she explains. The result, she says, is “a better timeline and less room for error.”

How the CAPM can prepare students for their first job

Bela still doesn't have every part of her career figured out. She's looking for her next internship and considering which industry she wants to pursue. She's interested in eventually earning an MBA and finding roles that combine technical engineering with project management.

But now with the CAPM, she has another set of skills to bring with her. “It's definitely something that I can use to my advantage,” she says.

For Bela, the combination of school, internship experience and the CAPM means she doesn't have to enter her first full-time role starting entirely from scratch.

“I can hit the ground running. I now know a lot of business terminology, and I know how different styles of management work,” she says. “I can kind of just jump right into my first job, which I think will help.”