You’re on the phone with a candidate’s former manager. You ask the only reference question that matters: “Would you hire them again?” And there it is — a beat of silence, then careful words. “In the right environment… I think they could do well.” Nothing negative was said. Everything was said. In the first post […]
Author: Cemre Akkartal
How the Best Project Managers Learn From Others’ Moves (Not Their Own Scars)
There’s a compliment that gets paid to project managers that I’ve never fully trusted: “She’s been through it. She’s got the scars.” It’s meant well. Scars mean experience, and experience means judgment. Fair enough. But think about what a scar actually is. It’s the mark left where something went wrong and you were the one […]
What “Sound Judgment” Means at Work in 2026 (And How to Prove You Have It)
TL;DR: Sound judgment at work means consistently choosing the best available option under incomplete information, time pressure, and competing priorities. It’s the most-paid skill at senior levels because it’s the hardest to automate and the easiest to misjudge in hiring. You prove you have it by showing a documented pattern of calls you made, the […]
The Jobs Nobody Wants Are the Fastest Route to Project Management Experience
The biggest mistake team players make isn’t saying yes too often — it’s letting the experience evaporate. Somebody had to run the office move. Somebody had to keep the product launch on track when two people left mid-quarter. Somebody had to own the vendor audit that had been bouncing around the department for a year. […]
First-Mouse Mistakes: 5 PMP Prep Errors That Spring the Trap
Nobody fails the PMP exam because they didn’t care enough. That’s worth saying plainly, because if you’re studying right now and your practice scores aren’t moving, the story in your head is probably some version of I’m not smart enough or I’m not disciplined enough. Almost always, that story is wrong. People fail the PMP […]