I’m considering PMI certification. I never really planned to be in this gig this long but now that I have just under 10 years as an IT PM under my belt it may be time to bite the bullet.
I took a training class several years ago to prepare for the test but the company canceled it ½ way through due to a budget squeeze, so now I’m looking for advice…
Should I try to get certified? Why or why not?
Did you have a good or bad experience with it?
I’m thinking of just reading the PMBOK and taking the test – good idea? Did you fine the test easy? Difficult? Anything I should concentrate on?
My wife has PMP and PgMP certifications. PMP was easy, PgMP was very difficult.
It did help her get her current job as many contracts, particularly for government work, require the bidding company to have someone with the correct certification running the project so her resume went to the top of the heap.
In my honest opinion she didn’t learn anything while studying for the tests that help her be a better manager; it was mostly memorizing their special vocabulary. She does, however, enjoy many of the training programs they put on in this area, which is good since you’re required to do some number of hours of training each year to stay current and keep your certificates.
Because PgMP is so relatively rare the few people in this area with that certification have started an informal dinner club so the extra excuses to go eat at nice restaurants is a bonus.
PMP here for the last 10 years. I often get asked the same question as the OP. My response can usually be boiled down to “it helps you get gigs”. I have known non-PMPs who were brilliant project managers, and PMPs who were horrible at it. YMMV. You will learn the foundations of project management but it will not make you a good PM.
I would say it is probably worthwhile if you plan on staying in the profession any length of time. Having the PMP will get attention on your resume, and give you street cred at your company. Maintaining the certification is actually more interesting than attaining it because the classes and seminars you can take to earn credits cover a wide variety of subjects.
I also advise PMP seekers to limit themselves to one or two sets of study material. That should be enough. PMP study courses are expensive, but investment in a couple of books or learning programs and allocating some of your time for study may be all you need. There is a cottage industry of books and classes on passing the PMP. I estimated about 40 hours of prep/self study and I passed on my first try.
I certified last summer. You WILL need to study to pass, the PMBOK will not cover what you need to know, it isn’t that hard, but mere experience won’t get you through the “PMI way” on the test. I did the Rita Mulchahy boot camp - spent four days in the camp, spent one day studying, took the test on Saturday and passed.
From what I can tell they must teach PMP people to use MS Project for everything. I don’t think they take a trip to the restroom without a 3 page plan.
I happened to get my hands on the PMBOK recently but after cracking up loudly at an assertion along the lines of “PM just got invented” (it was longer of course), I stopped reading. But since I’d like to be a PM some day, I figure I need to learn the right words.
Any recommendations on books which explain the subject without overselling it? Extra points if it takes the human management aspects into account, which the PM courses I’ve seen advertised don’t.
The boot camp instructor, btw, said the same thing - about forty hours is what most people need in order to be able to pass - if they have been doing project management. With the boot camp, they put you in a room for 30 some hours and fed your study to you so there wasn’t much needed self study and you were studying towards what was likely to show up on the test.
Nava, I have never really found a good basic PM book to DO the work. A lot of study guides, a few books on how to use MS Project.
ETA: Zoid, you will need training “contact hours” in order to qualify to sit, as well as, IIRC, 1500 of documented project management experience. The second shouldn’t be a problem for you. The first you are going to need to find, and probably pay for.
I found the pre test work to be harder than the actual test. That is, the resume and documenting the hours of work in each area and finding a person who still worked for the company or who I was still in contact with who could verify those hours.
I’m also a fan of Rita Mulchahy’s programs, not only will it get you the information you need to pass the test, it gets you the contact hours you need to qualify for the test. Win/win.
I postponed certification for years but unemployment finally drove me to it. Now I’m sure there were other factors but I was out of work for 8 months before I finally wrote the test with no PM interviews at all and had 2 interviews within a month of receiving my certification.
IT recruiter here. PMP is not always a requirement on positions I work on, but it is sometimes. Even when it is not, having it catches my eye and will usually merit a call before someone without (assuming all other qualifications match). And if you are working towards it and have a clue when you will complete it, put that on your resume, along with your estimated date.
