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Athena Project Consulting is excited to showcase interviews with both emerging and seasoned project management professionals. By sharing their experiences and insights, they are giving back to our community and helping to inspire and inform others in the field. Would you like to be interviewed and included as a featured project manager? Please complete our contact form expressing your interest.
Afiong Afuape, - PMP®, MBA, ITIL, CSM
Describe how you started in project management
I particularly enjoyed scoping, planning, and scheduling resources for annual inventory, data center relocation, and tape tool automation projects in my earlier role as a Datacenter Operations Analyst. To further explore these interests, I started taking free project management introductory classes that my previous employer offered online. I applied for my first Project Manager role soon after this and was hired to manage storage allocation projects.
What has been a project accomplishment or a challenge that you have overcome that you feel most proud of?
Last year, I collaborated with the operations and logistics teams and 3PL partners to develop a shipping cost-reduction strategy that saved $1.27M annually for my Supply Chain Organization, all while ensuring that each team's concerns were addressed and that their work aligned with our overall strategic objectives.
If you had to give advice for someone looking for a project management job in this job market, what would that be?
Given the competitive job market, I'd advise aspiring project managers to focus on building a strong foundation of both hard and soft skills. This includes mastering project management methodologies, developing exceptional communication and leadership abilities, and staying updated on industry leads. Additionally, a strategic approach to networking and personal branding can greatly improve job prospects.
What is one fun fact about you?
I'm a big fan of pumpkin spice. Every fall, I stock up on all things pumpkin spice to enjoy for as long as possible!
