Although Tadeu Augusto Costa de Albuquerque Meira spent several years working for a prominent Brazilian insurance company in many projects, he lacked the formal education he needed to advance in the area. After visiting a recruiter at a student fair, he knew moving to Canada to pursue PACE’s Project Management Diploma Program was the right move.

“In order to perform my tasks as a product manager, I attended several courses related to project management back in Brazil. None of them were as comprehensive and applied as PACE,” says Tad.

Prior to arriving in Canada, Tad led agile teams responsible for replacing company management software and optimizing customer processes. Despite his leadership role, his focus was more on project ownership than managing specific resources. The Project Management Diploma helped round out his expertise.

“No matter how much time or work experience you have in a specific field, a good academic program can always surprise you with applied knowledge that could improve your performance and results as a professional,” he says.

Tad says that despite the intense workload, PACE is enriched by a sense of “joyfulness” that can be found in everything from student events to the different types of people who make up the program.

“The more diverse the group you are working with — the culture, gender, backgrounds — the more innovative the output that you will have on your project.”