The Project management Institute has shown its mettle since 50 years of its formation as an association came into action for providing the International standard credential for professionals engaged in Project management with a global presence in almost every nation. The association is now committed to bringing a revolution around the world and calls it The Project Economy!
That currently has more than 3 million working professionals in the union. Its timely amendments and updates have kept it simple at the top of the food chain. It was possible because of the association’s conviction at its offering, and it leaves no stone unturned in advocating the project management concepts. Every year it conducts extensive market and academic research to raise its standard.
Currently, the PMI offers eight certification programs, and they are as follows:
• PMP or Project Management Professional
• PgMP or Program Management Professional
• PfMP or Portfolio Management Professional
• CAPM or Certified Associate in Project Management
• PMI-PBA the stands for PMI Professional in Business Analysis
• PMI-ACP that stands for PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
• PMI-RMP or PMI Risk Management Professional
• PMI-SP or PMI Scheduling Professional
Employers unquestionably trust these certifications and promote their potential employees to get certified. This trust is because of the presence of 480000 PMI members in any vertical. The project management industry has grown to a mark of $7 trillion this year! And that’s why it has turned a budding global job pool for 16 million professionals. The PMI juggernaut in rendering PMP certification seems to be unstoppable, with a growing community of 1 million certified PMP professionals across the globe.
Breaking PMP
Don’t be intimidated. The article will break every aspect of PMP certification, and in 5 minutes read, you will know its worth & why to pursue. One thing is for sure that it is not for everyone! Not if you are a graduate with zero experience in project management.
The certification is designed for mid-level project managers only; it has set its eligibility requirements tight so that it remains a gold standard. And there is nothing wrong with it because what it focuses more on is the hands-on experience in project management and not in your bulky Ph.D. degree.
The PMI has set two criteria for the eligibility of an applicant, and they are as follows:
1. If an applicant has a four-year college degree, then with 36 months of experience in leading the projects and 35 hours of project management training will make you eligible for applying the certification exam.
2. But if Joe has a high school degree or an associate degree, will that be enough for him? No, unless with the degree he has earned 60 months of experience in leading projects coupled with 35 hours of Project management training.
One can easily notice the education wavier here in the eligibility requirement; the PMI is lenient towards individuals who were not fortunate enough to pursue their education.
If you satisfy any of the two eligibility criteria, then you are instructed to gather your information about your projects like:
• Project location, industry vertical and employer’s details
• The duration of the projects and your roles and responsibilities
• Training details like institute’s name, qualifying hours and courses completed
In a nutshell, the PMI assesses your potency and approves if you are capable enough to take the pain of the certification. The PMI reviews your attested application and forwards your request if you get qualified, then you need to pay the examination premium that is around $555-$800 depending upon your geographic location. If you are a member of PMI, then you get to pay only $405 to appear the exam. Then you can choose your testing center, or you can opt for online proctor mode and schedule your examination date and timing.
The Objective
This certification makes you visible to every employer in job portals and networks. Employers do a double-take when they come across a PMP certified professional. The reason for this astonishment lies in its objectives that ensure a certified professional to be intuitive in assessing risks in the projects and sign off the project at the set time!
The certification makes you a better professional by making your concepts straight in resource management skills, application of work breakdown structure. In a nutshell, it makes you proficient enough to have Omni control over the project execution and applying Project techniques to bring in project success. It makes clarity in understanding all the components of the project in detail & selecting and integration of parts in the right order.
The Gravy Train
Anybody can be a project manager with relentless determination and countless efforts, but PMP certification is like the Red pill that Neo engulfed and embraced the future and simulated through uncertainty with immense ease.
Certified professionals’ testimonies reflect that after getting PMP certification, they have never worked for a salary that would be on an average $110000 per annum, what they were up to then?
They say in IT, Project management has always been a well-paid job after Cybersecurity. What intrigues them is the amount of diversity they get in their job after PMP certification cannot be confined in words. With PMP certification, now they are promoted to handle high-risk projects, and employers with knowledge trust give them autonomy in their work what is more pleasing to be your boss!
The examination
The PMI advocates preparedness, regardless of your years of experience or expertise. An aspirant is recommended to seek as much as possible from every available source to get prepared for the examination as it is not an easy exam.
The examination has 200 question items that test a candidate in five domains of IT Project Management, and they are:
• Initiation
• Planning
• Execution
• Monitoring & controlling
• Closure
It has relaxation in the number of retakes of examination. A failed candidate can retake the test twice a year. The exam duration is gruesome 4 hours, do not take it lightly as it unfolds scenario-based and performance-based questions as you move ahead.
Conclusion
With all this information shared in the article leaves no room for skepticism. It has clearly and concisely delivered all the prerequisites and has given a helicopter view of what the examination is all about. You, as a reader, should know your shortcomings and work towards improvement. Rest assured, if you aspire to be a PMP certified professional, it will certainly outshine you among all the others sharing your profession.
