Project Management Certification

OK, a question for the project mangement certified or experienced.

I am looking at getting certified in projects after I have been working and managing them now for about 4 years.

As far as I know there are the main 2 certs. PMIs PMP which from what I can gather is more widely known. With this though you need to prove experience in Project Management. It also seems you MUST attend training in order to sit the exam but is administered through Prometric which is convenient.

And then there is Prince2 which is quite popular throught the UK and Australia, maybe not so much in the US (which doesn't bother me too much because I doubt they will let me in

). This is a little pricier and requires 2 exams to be completed, a multi choice and a written exam meaning taking more time off work (which isn't good since I'm a contractor). Its also only administered through training companies and may also require a course attendance. I've also heard it has a high failure rate which is fine because it makes it more worthwhile.

So for PMP - who has done this cert and what does it take to "convince" them you have the experience.

PRINCE2 - who has done this either self study or by course? How did you find it?

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Comments

strauchr

Just adding to that for PMP. Do you apply before studying, or study until your ready then apply?

jim_stasz

I work with 4 PMP's, I'll ask them and see if I can get anything for you.

strauchr

That would be cool, thanks

jim_stasz

I asked, "How'd you study? Classes? Books? Which books? Practice exams?" This is from Allen, one of the PMP's I work with. I'll post the other answers as/if I get them.

"Books, took a class, practice exams, studied non-stop.

There are a couple classes out there. We took Doolos (spelling?) and I know there is a class called Cheetah as well. You have to have a certain amount of Project Management work hours before you can take the test though."

strauchr

Yeah thanks for that. Kind of what I already knew though. I am not going to be doing the course and have already done some project management training on the same methodoligies so it will just be refreshing through a book.

Again, thanks.

jim_stasz

Nother one of the PiMPs just got back to me. He used this and just crammed.

http://egweb.mines.edu/eggn491/Information%20and%20Resources/pmbok.pdf

strauchr

Thanks for the link and your efforts. Some people are just not willing to help sometimes

This document is from 1996 though but hopefully it is still relevant.

Anyone else got experience with this, in particular when you do the application, before or after you are ready for the exam.

jim_stasz

The PMP specifically mentioned PMBOK so maybe you can find a newer one out there.

Good Luck

jim_stasz

Here's another reply from another of the PMP's here.

As I understand it the test has changed since we took it, and is now more difficult to pass. (Others might know more about this.)

Last year a few of us from out dept took a "prep course". These are very focused courses that are designed with one thing in mind - passing the test. (Which we all did.) There are a number of companies that offer this training at various rates. Your friend should probably start at www.pmi.org, which is the home page for the Project Management Institute, the organization which actually is responsible for PMP Certification.

The course that we took was through a company called "Doulos". They were the cheaper option. Their site is http://doulospmp.com/. (We had a variety of opinions on the quality of this course, but in the end we did manage to all pass.) I believe J-B and Buzz Key used a higher dollar option at http://www.cheetahlearning.com/

Hope this helps.

strauchr

Thanks for posting that, and your workmate for taking the time.

Its the same whoever I speak to. Every Project management certified person I speak to did the course. Might have to bite the bullet and take a course.

Thanks again.

jim_stasz

strauchr wrote:

Thanks for posting that, and your workmate for taking the time.

No problem. I know how tough it is to find anything about "Certification - Other" out there. As a SAN admin I am finding it impossible to find anything about Brocade, EMC, or SNIA certs other than what's provided on the vendor's site.

strauchr

I looked into SAn certs as well at one stage. Really is frustrating. SNIA seemed quite good but found that the information out there was 'fragmented' for lack of a better word. Bits and pieces here and there but nothing conclusive, giving you the whole picture.

ESOK

There is another lesser known project management certification from CompTIA called Project+. I like the Project+ , it is a hard exam and has slant towards IT projects.

Anyway, everybody knows PMP around the world, so that seems like an obvious choice to go for.

rcoop

PMI (the organization that manages the PMP certification) also has an associate level certification that is a good stepping stone to the PMP, called CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management).

See information here: http://www.pmi.org/prod/groups/public/documents/info/pdc_capm.asp

Although it also has experience prerequisites, they are fairly minor to anyone in most types of businesses.

PMP, and CAPM, require recertification, continuing education, and cost a pretty penny (especially if you are paying for training and certification fees to take the exam).

CompTIA's Project+ (purchased or merged over from Gartner), and previously known as IT Project+, covers similar material (body of knowledge), is Certified for life, and although I hear the exam is difficult, has a relatively low passing minimum score (as CompTIA exams go).

I'm not familiar with Prince2, and definitely the most recognizable project management certification in North America is the PMP.

Take Care,
--Rcoop

strauchr

The more I look into this the more frustrating it is.

Prince2 - no one will just do the exams from someone who self studies. You must do the course

PMP - you have to have 5 years experience managing projects BEFORE they teach you proper methodologies and you can pass the exam. Sure you can learn the methodologies but its hard to get into a project management position without certification. This is different to say MCP where there is no experience requirement and you can setup a lab at home. How do you setup a lab for project experience? Even the CAPM requires experience and/or "formal" education.

Project+ - No one seem to recognise this. All PM jobs (in UK/Australia) ask for Prince2/PMP certs. This becomes worthless to me as already hold the knowledge but need a recognizable cert to prove it.

darkuser

i qualified for pmp and failed miserably .....

i'm more an engineer then a manger ....

strauchr

^^^

Maybe thats what someone needs to experience when deciding whether to go down the technical route or go for a management path.

Let the exam decide

PMPCharmer

Project Management Training Courses offered by PMI asks experience about 5 years on any field.Because these Courses is based on the Professionalism of the persons who are willing to have a certification on PMP.
Some Universities also providing the training courses, but for these courses they asking good skills,grip,and good experience on the Project they dealt with.Here experience is not enough to get certification,because the exam for this is very tricky as much that an experienced professional also even can't passed through the exam with out having proper preparation.