Capm

NByz

I have been on a bit of an education binge lately and I have found myself with nothing scheduled between June and September of this year.

I have been considering the CAPM designation to fill this time-slot but was hoping for some first hand information before proceeding. I would appreciate information on any of the following from anyone who already has the CAPM or PMP, knows someone who does or just knows a lot about them.


Experience requirements:

I can't seem to find a standard wording for what counts in the experience category (not just hours, but content of work). Is it posted anywhere?

I have recently spent just over one full time year managing a team and a region (Vancouver, BC) in a very large (38,000 workstation) refresh project. The hours definitely add up to over 1500, and I think I can come up with a little something for each of the project "phases" (although my position was highly "implementation"-y).


Time to Prepare

I'm used to spending all of my Saturdays studying and usually take a couple weekday evenings as well. Could a reasonably well educated person get through enough to pass the exam in say... just under two months at this pace?


Ways to Prepare

I'm a very good DIY learner. I'm happiest with books and practice questions and generally have little need for schedules, instructors, videos or assigned homework. What is the best (and cheapest; did I mention I was quite thrifty) source for books and practice questions for the exam?


Path to PMP

Is the CAPM a good stepping stone to the PMP designation? I don't currently have the experience requirements (or with my CMA program starting up again in September, the time) for the PMP, but it would be nice to know I could one day. How similar are the competencies? Is the PMP exam really just a far more intense CAPM exam? Have a lot of people decided to go CAPM first, PMP later since the CAPM came out?


Any other info or wild ramblings would be very much appreciated.

NByz

Oh yes. I also did a pretty lazy search for other threads on this topic. If there are any recent and relevant threads, I'd love to read them.

eMeS

NByz wrote: »

Experience requirements:

I can't seem to find a standard wording for what counts in the experience category (not just hours, but content of work). Is it posted anywhere?

It's all explained on PMI's site. Look for the CAPM handbook. When you complete your application, provided it is done the same way the PMP is, you will list online all of your experience in the various areas.

NByz wrote: »

I'm used to spending all of my Saturdays studying and usually take a couple weekday evenings as well. Could a reasonably well educated person get through enough to pass the exam in say... just under two months at this pace?

Probably overkill. I've said it many times here that the PMP was about the easiest certification exam I've ever taken. However, let's be reasonable and say that YMMV on that. However, I do believe that the CAPM should be a lot easier than the PMP, and the PMP was childishly easy.

NByz wrote: »

Ways to Prepare

I'm a very good DIY learner. I'm happiest with books and practice questions and generally have little need for schedules, instructors, videos or assigned homework. What is the best (and cheapest; did I mention I was quite thrifty) source for books and practice questions for the exam?

Look up the Rita Mulcahey books. Here's one for the CAPM: Amazon.com: CAPM Exam Prep: Rita Mulcahy's Course in a Book for Passing the CAPM Exam (978193273520: Rita Mulcahy: Books . I used hers for the PMP and it was more than sufficient.

NByz wrote: »

Is the CAPM a good stepping stone to the PMP designation?

Don't know...I've never met anyone with the CAPM, and there's apparently no demand for it in the market.

NByz wrote: »

How similar are the competencies? Is the PMP exam really just a far more intense CAPM exam? Have a lot of people decided to go CAPM first, PMP later since the CAPM came out?

The competencies should be exactly the same because they're both based on PMBOK. "Intense" would be the wrong word I think, given my experience with the PMP. As far as how many people have gone CAPM first, I would say almost none. I'm around PM types all of the time, and always have been but I've yet to meet anyone with the CAPM. The same is true for the PgMp, it's really rare because the market demand in the US and Canada is for the PMP (elsewhere in the world it's PRINCE2).

MS

NByz

Sounds like you don't have too high of an opinion of the CAPM. Is there any practical and cheap way I could squeeze the full PMP into this two month gap?

Edit: Of course not, without the experience reqs. Well then, I want my original question to apply to everyone else, and the following to you eMes: Is there a better project management (or similar) thing I could squeeze into this 2 month gap? I should mention that my educational background is largely financial (Economics, CFA, CMA etc.), but I've been working in IT more than anything else lately.

eMeS

NByz wrote: »

Sounds like you don't have too high of an opinion of the CAPM.

I think it would be more fair to say that I have no opinion of the CAPM. It's new, and with several hundred thousand PMPs out there, there's really not much need for it. It's not really an opinion as much as it is an empirical matter.

NByz wrote: »

Is there a better project management (or similar) thing I could squeeze into this 2 month gap?

In the US PMP is the de facto cert for project management. Elsewhere it is PRINCE2. You could try for PRINCE2, but that almost takes an act of god to take those exams in the US; you pretty much have to go to a British Consulate to get it done. I don't really believe that there is anything else in that realm that will give you the hitting power of a PMP for project management type jobs.

I'm not saying getting the CAPM is a bad thing, or even that you shouldn't do it. I just don't think it will really make a big difference in the job market for you that the experience that you have won't do for you already.

MS

SrSysAdmin

I talked to our HR about it at my current company and they said there was no reason to get it. In a company of 100, about 30 of us are PMPs (I am not).

PMPs are very high in demand for bidding on federal contracts, which we do. However, I was told they've never seen a contract asking for the CAPM.


You may very well learn some quality information by becoming CAPM certified, but I wouldn't count on any salary increases coming directly from this certification.


If you have a college degree you only need 4,500 hours of experience for the PMP. If you headed up the entire implementation of 38,000 workstations it seems crazy for you to not have 3 years experience in the field.

NByz

I only managed one of the four teams in that project. It was province-wide, and I was just responsible for the Vancouver area. It certainly didn't propel me to bigger and better things. I'm currently doing contract IT work (mostly moving boxes) for a pretty low wage.

I'm mostly looking for something that will both look good on a resume and I can squeeze in my two free months this summer. I applied for about 150 jobs last year and I suspect that fewer than 10% of the (mostly financial) job posters had any more than a cursory idea of what the PMP was (much less a knowledge of any other project management certifications.)

I'm not pursuing a project management career path, although I certainly would if one made itself available to me.

Project management looks good on paper. The CAPM seemed like something that was concrete, credible and achievable in the couple-of-month break I have in the CMA program this summer. Any other suggestions for this time?