The Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville, Michigan, will be the site of the sixth annual “THE Project” collegiate student competition and the corresponding Reverse Career Fair Monday, April 10. This event, put on by the Western Michigan chapter of the Project Management Institute (WMPMI), will feature teams composed of college students from all across West Michigan in a project management competition.

Kim Kalman, the intercollegiate project director at WMPMI, said the competition would emphasize the importance of efficient project management skills in today’s business world.

“(The competition) is to promote project management,” Kalman said. “It’s to let the students within our community to know how important project management is for the future of business because project management addresses change. It’s a temporary endeavor, and it facilitates change.”

The competition has effectively been in progress since the first of the year when the teams began working on their specific projects. Since then, there have been four different stages of deliverables. Monday, April 10, will be the day the teams will present their project management work, shooting for the first-place prize of $5,000, which will be split between the first-place team members. Second place will win $3,000, and third place will win $2,000.

According to a press release about the competition, the participating students “were challenged to design and create an implementation plan to promote a community garden or farm on a location in Michigan that spans a five-year period of time.” The teams were each assigned a specific scenario and paired with a certified mentor to assist them in creating their project plans.

Kalman said many people have come together, despite their busy lives, to ensure the students are as successful as possible and the event runs as smoothly as possible.

“The professionals that have their full-time jobs step up to the plate and offer to mentor the students,” Kalman said. “It’s not only the core team, but we have chapter members that work directly with the teams. We have mentors, the board, the executive judges. It takes a community of professionals to make all of this work.”

As part of the competition, there will be a Reverse Career Fair taking place Monday, April 10, at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville, Michigan. This event will be nestled between different rounds of the competition and is similar to a traditional career fair except the students will set up booths with their credentials while the business people of the local area walk around.

Rachel Krug, a member on Grand Valley State University’s team, will be competing with her fellow students Monday, April 10. She said the experience she’s gained from participating in this competition has been invaluable.

“In the last few months, this competition has proven to be one of the most valuable educational experiences I’ve had, either during my total undergraduate or to-date graduate careers,” Krug said.

She also mentioned that working with other students who hold diverse ranges of expertise has led to the overall benefit of the competition, as well as the real-life application skills they are contributing to their project.

“Working in a group of people with diverse backgrounds and expertise, the greatest benefit of this competition is the very tangible nature of it,” Krug said. “We are working on a real problem, with real deadlines, in a format that expects certain outcomes yet allows for creativity.”

For more information about the WMPMI, “THE Project” or the Reverse Career Fair, visit www.wmpmi.org.