Career studio / Scheduling
Build evidence for the Project Planner role
A small office relocation needs a dependency-based plan. The team asks whether adding people to furniture delivery can recover a delay in network installation.
Your outcome: Dependency schedule, critical-path explanation and recovery options.
Start with the right expectations
Who this is for
Basic arithmetic and project breakdown skills. A spreadsheet is enough for the core exercise.
This path develops a demonstrable work sample for the named role. It does not replace employer-specific experience, professional qualifications or supervised practice.
Plan your study time
Use a flexible six-week project schedule: one week for each of the first four stages and two weeks for the portfolio and review. Allow roughly 3–5 hours per week for the case work, in addition to course study. This is a planning suggestion, not a measured course duration or a promise of job readiness.
Read the course access notes before starting. Free viewing or reading does not automatically include certificates, graded assessments, software licences or paid cloud resources. Core case work can be documented with a free editor and spreadsheet; optional implementation tools may have additional requirements.
Your course sequence
Start in the order below. Use the course outline to select the sections relevant to the stage tasks, and complete foundation exercises before moving on. Full provider courses can be substantially longer than this project schedule. These are course resources, not a claimed count of individual lessons.
Resource 01 / Google
Free Project Planning Course: Budgets and Risks
Purpose: Build the foundations. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; a Google certificate is not included
Resource 02 / Simplilearn
Free Simplilearn Course: Project Integration and Time Management
Purpose: Develop the role-specific method. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
- Explore project integration and time-management concepts drawn from selected CAPM-related learning videos.
- Follow the selected explanations of Project Integration, Time Management and Project Foundations.
- Connect concepts to lessons such as Project Integration Management — CAPM® Certification Training.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; Simplilearn certificate not included
Resource 03 / Learn Skills Daily
Microsoft Project and Visio: Free Course
Purpose: Strengthen practical application. Connect your notes to the case tasks below rather than only collecting completion marks.
- Relate a work breakdown structure, task durations, constraints and resources to a project schedule.
- Follow the Project demonstrations to understand how planned work can be tracked as it progresses.
- Use Visio’s drawing and connector concepts to explain a simple process or structure.
Access: Free Video
Certificate: Free video viewing; certificate not included
Learn, make, check
Keep a decision log as you work. For each stage, capture the assumption, your work product, a check and the change you made after that check. The acceptance criterion is the stopping condition for the stage.
Stage 1 / suggested project week 1
Define work packages
Understand: Activities need finish conditions before dates.
Make: Write acceptance conditions and durations for site approval, network setup, furniture and testing.
Check before moving on: Document the calendar and whether durations are working days.
Study companion: Free Project Planning Course: Budgets and Risks. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 2 / suggested project week 2
Calculate the sequence
Understand: Dependencies determine feasible dates.
Make: Compute earliest starts and finishes from the supplied network; draw a dependency diagram.
Check before moving on: Testing starts only when network and furniture work are finished.
Study companion: Free Simplilearn Course: Project Integration and Time Management. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 3 / suggested project week 3
Explain the critical path
Understand: The longest dependency chain controls the modeled finish.
Make: Identify zero-float work and compare two recovery options using explicit assumptions.
Check before moving on: Do not assume adding staff shortens a fixed external delivery lead time.
Study companion: Microsoft Project and Visio: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 4 / suggested project week 4
Maintain the forecast
Understand: A baseline and a forecast answer different questions.
Make: Update the plan for a two-day network delay and write a schedule-impact note.
Check before moving on: Retain the original baseline and distinguish actual progress from forecast changes.
Study companion: Microsoft Project and Visio: Free Course. Use its relevant lessons and examples; the independent WikiFree task is not a provider assessment.
Save as evidence: a dated work product and a short note explaining one choice, one alternative and one remaining uncertainty.
Stage 5 / suggested project weeks 5–6
Present your portfolio
Assemble the four work products into Dependency schedule, critical-path explanation and recovery options. Write a README explaining the problem, your assumptions, the decisions you made, tests actually performed and what remains incomplete.
Give a five-minute walkthrough: one minute for the problem, two for the work and evidence, one for trade-offs and one for the next improvement. If you have not implemented a proposed system, label it a design or prototype rather than a deployed solution.
Acceptance: a reviewer can locate each work product, reproduce the key reasoning and identify the limits without a private explanation from you.
The portfolio brief
A small office relocation needs a dependency-based plan. The team asks whether adding people to furniture delivery can recover a delay in network installation.
Deliver: Dependency schedule, critical-path explanation and recovery options.
| activity | duration days | predecessors |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | |
| B | 4 | A |
| C | 3 | A |
| D | 1 | B+C |
Use these small inputs to make the reasoning visible. They are not a representative dataset, a real client engagement or evidence of production performance. Where the brief requires additional sample records, create them yourself, label them synthetic and explain why you added them.
The ZIP includes the case CSV, four stage worksheets, course sequence, decision log, test log, portfolio README template, review rubric and reference reasoning. It is a starter kit for your work, not a completed application, professional report or proprietary project file.
Check your reasoning
A takes 2 days; B takes 4 after A; C takes 3 after A; D takes 1 after B and C. What is the minimum modeled duration?
Write your answer and assumptions before opening the reference.
Read the reference reasoning
A-B-D takes 7 days and A-C-D takes 6. With these assumptions the minimum is 7 days and C has 1 day of total float.
Portfolio review rubric
| Criterion | Points | Evidence required |
|---|---|---|
| Problem and scope | 4 | A clear user, need, boundary and assumptions |
| Role-specific work | 8 | 2 points for each of the four stage acceptance checks |
| Reasoning and validation | 4 | Independent checks, actual results and uncertainty |
| Communication and reproducibility | 4 | A usable README, source links and reviewable work products |
Aim for at least 16/20 as a self-review target, with no missing stage acceptance check. This is a WikiFree practice rubric, not an industry credential or a hiring assessment.
Interview practice
Why did the proposed recovery activity fail to change the finish date?
Answer using the case: context, your action, evidence and limitation. Describe this honestly as a self-directed project. Do not present fictional organizations, invented interviews or practice results as paid work experience.
Your progress
Use this checklist as a personal study aid. Progress is stored in this browser when local storage is available; it is not an account record or a certificate.
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Questions before you start
Will this path qualify me for a job?
It helps you study relevant foundations and produce a work sample. Employers may require additional skills, qualifications and experience. Review actual role requirements before applying; no job or certification is guaranteed.
Are all tools and certificates free?
The linked learning routes were selected for free viewing or reading. Follow the separate access and certificate notes on each course. Paid tools and cloud deployment are optional; document a local design when implementation resources are unavailable.
Can I follow this on a phone?
You can read the path and many learning resources on a phone. Coding, detailed spreadsheet work, design tools and mobile-app development are easier or require a suitable computer. The page is designed to reflow; that is not a claim that every physical device has been tested.
Questions & discussion
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