David Goddard Passes All Eight CAFM® Modules During Canadian CAFM® Boot Camp
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David Goddard, Manager, Central Fleet for Capital Regional District in Victoria BC Canada, is looking toward the end of his career rather than the start of it. Thirty years in fleet have given him a wealth of experience, but according to David, that won't get you very far. "'Experience' on its own is risky. What kind is it, good or bad? There's very little way to qualitatively measure that, but CAFM
® certification does. It adds a level of credibility to your experience that you can show."
With that, David said earning his CAFM
® certification was a goal he insisted upon meeting before he retired. At September's Canadian CAFM
® Boot Camp, that's exactly what he did. How he did it, on the other hand, was unique. Only two people have passed all eight of the fleet modules that comprise the program in a single setting. While that was not to be for David, he did the next best thing: he passed half of the tests before the Boot Camp began, and passed the other half afterward.
"Not passing was never an option for me," David said.
He had advantages that other students won't get. "I was with Canadian Forces, Department of National Defense (DND), in their fleet department, from 2003 to 2009, and started with NAFA while I was with them. I had taken the Canadian Forces Log Transportation Manager course during that time, which was structured very similarly to the CAFM
® program."
(A point worth noting: the DND course had, at that time, NAFA's current Director of Professional Development Katherine Vigneau, CAFM®, as an instructor.)
"So I had familiarity with the contents (of the courses), but I felt I needed to have NAFA's certification. The CAFM
® program is the standard for fleet managers," David said. This, according to him, is primarily due to the program's comprehensive approach. "I've seen many different fleet programs over the years, and they featured different bits and pieces, all coming from different directions. CAFM
® is the one program that brings it all together."
When asked how a student should handle the course of study, David recognized many will not have the extraordinary benefits he had, and advocated a modest and careful approach. "There's so much material, students should focus on one or two modules at a time, really work on them and understand them...really understand the concepts. Once you have a handle on the concepts, the facts-based aspects (will better) fall into place."
NAFA's CAFM® Boot Camp is now available online. Learn more about it and register today: click here to get started.
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