There might come a phase in your career when you have to make a switch from a technical role to a role involving project management. On the other hand, you might already be in a project management role, but want to upgrade your project management skills through the medium of a certification. In both cases, you require garnering a reputed project management credential on your resume. Out of all the project management certifications, the biggest one that you will hear is Project Management Professional or PMP for short. A majority of the persons aspiring to become a project manager or looking to become more effective in project management will go for PMP Training and Certification since PMP Certified professionals are highly sought after all around the world.
What does the PMP certification exam contain?
The guide utilized for testing the aspirants, known as Project Management Body of Knowledge is prime in preparing for the PMP exam. PMP exam tests the candidates on five performance domains.
- Initiating the project (13%)
- Planning the project (24%)
- Executing the project (31%)
- Monitoring and controlling the project (25%)
- Closing the project (7%)
The percentages indicate the approximate weight given to each of the above-mentioned domains. The exam consists of about 200 multiple choice questions. Please note that out of these questions, 25 questions are not a part of the final score that you will achieve. You cannot refer to any kind of material when giving the examination.
What are the requirements of the PMP examination?
A candidate must have either:
- A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent.
- 7,500 hours leading and directing projects
- 35 hours of project management education
OR
- Four-year degree
- 4,500 hours leading and directing projects
- 35 hours of project management education
From the requirements of the PMP examination, you can easily judge that the entire process of acquiring PMP certification will help you gain experience as well as knowledge.
How a PMP Certification will boost your career growth?
- Become a globally acknowledged professional
If you are looking for a certification that imparts you the freedom to work in any location of the world, then you must go ahead with PMP training and certification. When you have the word PMP on your resume, employers will prefer you all across the world. The word PMP on your resume will immediately make the employers know that you have the knowledge and the required expertise and skills to manage a project effectively and efficaciously. They will be more than willing to hire you as you will be extremely valuable for their organization.
- You will get paid more
Speaking on an average, PMP certified professionals earn 17% more than their non-certified counterparts. Moreover, acquiring PMP certification will put you in a very good position to negotiate your salary with prospective employers. Since your project management skills will be extremely valuable to the organization; they would have little to no choice to proceed with the significant percentage of your demands.
- You will stay in touch with the top professionals in your industry
PMP certification holders are present globally and they remain in touch with each other through various project management forums and online communities. Therefore, if you have PMP certification in your hand, you can be a part of these online forums and gain useful tips, insights, and knowledge from the experts of the industry. You will stay in touch with the top professionals in your field and stay abreast with the latest development and trends in the industry. The arrangement of these meetings also helps the members earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) which are required in order to fulfill Continuous Credential Requirements, called as CCRs. In order to keep the certification for three years, you require CCRs. Moreover, when you will stay in touch with the top professionals, you will also learn about the various job opportunities available in the world.
- You will get varied job opportunities
Almost, every organization, irrespective of the industry to which it belongs, has projects. Where there are projects there will be relevance and requirement of PMP certified professionals in order to manage the project effectively and efficaciously. Therefore, when you acquire PMP certification, you are not limited to work in one type of industry. You can make a switch to an organization working in a different industry, compared to your current field, as well. This makes better and varied job opportunities available for you.
- You will work on the most critical and important projects
Every organization has challenging projects and only a skilled few are eligible to work on them. With PMP certification you gain the required skills to work on these challenging projects where you get to showcase your abilities. It is needless to say over here that you will be extremely valuable to the organization and they will keep you reserved for the most critical projects. Not all project managers perform in accordance with the desired levels. However, PMP certified project managers perform much better as compared to their non-certified counterparts.
- You will stay safe during layoffs
An economic recession can come anytime. We don’t require saying what happens during an economic recession. A significant majority of the persons lose their jobs during layoffs conducted in recession times. However, this is probably the biggest benefit of PMP certification, when you are a PMP certified professional you are largely immune to recessions. Organizations understand that PMP certified professionals are valuable during recession times as well.
- You will learn important skills
There are many project managers hanging around. In order to stand out amongst all of them you need to have something extra and PMP certification is much more than the extra you are looking for. It is true that a person acquires skills through experience. However, going for PMP certification will help you acquire those skills in less time.
What problems one can face in PMP certification?
- It is expensive
It is expensive than most of the other related project management certifications. You need close to $550 for giving the examination. This doesn’t cover the cost that you will acquire for training, preparatory books, and examination guides. However, this problem seems to be negligible when we compare the same with the benefits that you will acquire with PMP certification.
- It is a difficult examination
It is undoubtedly true that PMP certification is difficult to achieve. However, had it been easy to acquire, it wouldn’t have so much value all around the world. The exam tests not only whether you remember the concepts or not but also tests out the practical application of these concepts. Moreover, since you require answering 200 questions in 240 minutes, it further adds to the pressure on the exam givers. However, the rewards that you will achieve in your career after acquiring PMP certification makes all the initial hard work worth it.
- It requires a lot of time
Apart from mastering the PMBOK, the process of achieving PMP certification also requires you to spend some time in reading guides, attending preparatory sessions, and even give mock examinations of the same. Since most of the people taking up the PMP examination are already doing a job; they find it extremely difficult to take out time towards preparing for the examination. Even the process of applying for the PMP exam is time-consuming and cumbersome.
Final Words
While going for PMP certification does require you to face certain problems, you must remember that once you acquire the certification, you will, indeed, reap the fruit of your hard work as the career benefits achieved via PMP certification are unparalleled and unequaled.