The Relevance of Project Management Certification

Author: David Anderson
              Project Management Professional and Educator

The PMP or Project Management Professional designation has become the gold standard qualification for project management jobs.  Many listings for jobs in project management now say either “PMP required” or “PMP preferred”.

Not all accomplished project managers have the PMP designation, and no designation is a guarantee of success. However, getting this one will show that you have the initiative to successfully complete a project, have substantial knowledge of the project management discipline, and have the intellectual capacity to perform the many tasks required of a professional project manager.

Projects have become an increasingly important form of organization for business. A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result, distinguishable from operations by its non-repetitive, temporary nature. Operations are susceptible to automation, projects are not.

Projects are used to develop new products and services, to conduct research, and to engineer business processes. For many enterprises, these are the core functions of the business. For others, these are key activities that enable the organization to survive and prosper in the context of global competition.

Massive Mergers occur regularly—the effort to bring together two large organizations, each with its own culture and management system, is a major undertaking that has both a definite objective and end. Professional project management is required to ensure the merger achieves its intended result.

Many projects are multi-national, accomplished by teams of workers from different cultures located in various locations around the globe. Getting these heterogeneous groups to work toward the same objective takes the discipline of professional project management.

Finally, there is the breadth of human expertise that is required to accomplish anything employing the advances in technology and management practices available to organizations competing in the 21st century.

To qualify to sit for the PMP exam, the candidate is required to have in his or her background one of the following combinations of credentials and experience:

• Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or global equivalent)
• Minimum five years/60 months unique non-overlapping professional project
• management experience during which at least 7,500 hours were spent leading and directing the project*
• 35 contact hours of formal project management education

     OR

• Four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or global equivalent)
• Minimum three years/36 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience during which at least 4,500 hours were spent leading and directing the project*
• 35 contact hours of formal project management education

*Leading and directing the project as identified with the tasks, knowledge, and skills specific in the Project Management Professional Examination Content Outline:

To qualify for the PMP exam, you needn’t have led a multi-million dollar project. Titles vary from organization to organization, and by examining your own experience considering the PMP exam outline, you may find you have led many projects and easily qualify. If your experience is still short, PMI also offers the CAPM designation, which has a separate exam and requires less experience.

The 35 contact hours of formal PM education may be obtained through a variety of providers. “Boot Camp” courses abound. However, you may find as I do that the best setting for learning project management tools and techniques is a classroom setting.  Most county colleges in New Jersey offer these on a Saturday or evening schedule.  I teach such a course at Middlesex County College.

Good luck in your career development efforts. If you have any questions or comments, please address them to me at david.m.anderson.pmp@gmail.com.

Why Hire the Old Guy/Gal?

Author: Robert Sherby
              Risk & Controls Expert/Consultant

Hiring managers are often leery about hiring those of us in our 60’s for positions for two major reasons, we probably have earned much more than they want to pay and that if we do accept a lower wage, we’ll continue to look for a higher paying job.  Add that to their concern as to when we’ll want to quit and they just avoid all the potential problems.

First the question about higher income.  I have twice in the past taken a step backwards for positions that were attractive to me.  Since at this stage of my life, my children are grown, I no longer need the same income level. I also have other sources of income that lessen the need for the same level of compensation.  I am more interested in finding an interesting challenge at a good company than finding a company that will pay me what I previously earned.  Location also factors into my decision as I’m not willing to endure a long commute so would willingly accept a lower salary to satisfy that requirement.

Looking for a job is a pain in the rear end.  Finding one at a company that meets the above requirements is much more likely to be the end of the search for those of us in my age group.  I have talked to many others who want to keep working because we like to contribute to a company and add value rather than sit around and be bored.  We have no desire to stop working as long as we are healthy. I stayed at my last job for eight years and early on had numerous calls from recruiters about more lucrative positions.  I liked my job and told them I wasn’t interested.

What are the other advantages to hiring the older worker?  There are seldom new problems or new solutions, and older workers are likely to have seen them all in the past.  They don’t have to sit around and wonder what to do to solve the problems and can address them sooner.  If you’re hiring an accomplished manager of people, that person will be an asset to the company as many people with strong technical skills are promoted to management and fail dismally because they can’t manage people.

Hiring older workers can also be a huge benefit to management as they are no longer looking for that next promotion.  They can serve as a good sounding board without worrying that they’re out for your job.

Another way to minimize the risk for those of us in our 60’s is to structure a job offer as contract to hire.  We have the confidence that we’ll be able to demonstrate our value and get that full-time offer. 

Admittedly, this article reflects my views on the subject and those that I’ve spoken to but I suspect that there are many others out there in the labor market that feel the same way.