PMP CERTIFICATION

[rhino]

As I search for new employment opportunities, one thing that seems would be beneficial to my short term and long term success is obtaining Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Some project manager positions require it and many more have PMP in the "preferred" category. Based on my observations and discussions with a few people who have the PMP certification, I think I should pursue it. For what it's worth, I am looking at project management jobs that are not IT-related.

I've seen some 4-day online prep classes for $2000 that guarantee a 100% pass rate on the PMP exam. That seems too good to be true, unless the exam is not that hard or there are some caveats in the small print (or both). Other classes spread out over a few weeks (which appeals to me more) are less expensive (which definitely appeals to me).

Are the classes worth the investment, or should I get some books and study on my own?

Which books are better for preparing for the exam? I see many on amazon.com, but I have no way of assessing which are better for my needs.

All advice and discussion is welcome here!

 

[femurphy77]

 

[yeti rider]

Mr Rhino,
If you go the Amazon route, be careful. My wife just finished school for her masters degree. She bought some books from Amazon that were supposed to have codes you could use on the interwebs to do practice tests that went along with the study guides in the books. She noticed some grammar errors and though it was a little strange. When she was ready for the test, she went to the interwebs and entered codes from the books that did not work. She contacted the publisher of the books, and after some emails back and fourth, the publisher confirmed that the books she bought were "knock off" books. The publishing company was thankful for her help in finding stuff that was not legit, and took care of her in the end. Buyer beware. Always. Who does that with books?

 

[rhino]

Mr Rhino,
If you go the Amazon route, be careful. My wife just finished school for her masters degree. She bought some books from Amazon that were supposed to have codes you could use on the interwebs to do practice tests that went along with the study guides in the books. She noticed some grammar errors and though it was a little strange. When she was ready for the test, she went to the interwebs and entered codes from the books that did not work. She contacted the publisher of the books, and after some emails back and fourth, the publisher confirmed that the books she bought were "knock off" books. The publishing company was thankful for her help in finding stuff that was not legit, and took care of her in the end. Buyer beware. Always. Who does that with books?

Thank you, sir! I would not have thought of that!

 

[KellyinAvon]

Project Management Professionals should've thought about the initials of this certification. It's better than Project Management Systems... I have nothing substantive to add Rhino. Good luck!

 

[WebSnyper]

Mr Rhino,
If you go the Amazon route, be careful. My wife just finished school for her masters degree. She bought some books from Amazon that were supposed to have codes you could use on the interwebs to do practice tests that went along with the study guides in the books. She noticed some grammar errors and though it was a little strange. When she was ready for the test, she went to the interwebs and entered codes from the books that did not work. She contacted the publisher of the books, and after some emails back and fourth, the publisher confirmed that the books she bought were "knock off" books. The publishing company was thankful for her help in finding stuff that was not legit, and took care of her in the end. Buyer beware. Always. Who does that with books?

I keep getting more and more concerned with buying stuff on Amazon due to knock offs, due to commingling of inventory that they do.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I keep getting more and more concerned with buying stuff on Amazon due to knock offs, due to commingling of inventory that they do.

And there are some manufacturers that will not always/reliably honor warranties for product purchased via amazon. Hikvision and Ubiquiti are two that come to mind. The only known good protection is purchases via Prime where it fails within the return window.

 

[miguel]

Don't self-study. Take a class, but do it in person.

About ten years ago, I took one paid for by my employer at the time, but they flew us out of town to take it with a number of our peers in a large city on the east coast. Well organized and it was useful to be face-to-face (not screen-to-screen) with someone we could talk to in real time. (and do sidebars during breaks or after our sessions officially ended)

That said, several of us crusty know-it-alls did not pursue taking the exam afterwards, since we each had 10+ years of hard-core IT experience and felt like all we were really getting were buzzwords rather than tools to make us more effective. We did eat and drink like three kinds of hell that week, however!

I do not regret not having pursued the cert and it has not harmed me economically, ten years later.

 

[rhino]

Don't self-study. Take a class, but do it in person.

About ten years ago, I took one paid for by my employer at the time, but they flew us out of town to take it with a number of our peers in a large city on the east coast. Well organized and it was useful to be face-to-face (not screen-to-screen) with someone we could talk to in real time. (and do sidebars during breaks or after our sessions officially ended)

That said, several of us crusty know-it-alls did not pursue taking the exam afterwards, since we each had 10+ years of hard-core IT experience and felt like all we were really getting were buzzwords rather than tools to make us more effective. We did eat and drink like three kinds of hell that week, however!

I do not regret not having pursued the cert and it has not harmed me economically, ten years later.

Thank you for that insight! I will check on meat space classes, but the logistics of that are difficult when you're working two jobs, taking a class, and have other stuff going on.

I don't have a good feel for whether or not what I might learn while preparing will be beneficial beyond the exam, but the certification seems to be a hurdle to clear for a lot opportunities.

I've also been told that for IT-related jobs, PMP is not the right certification and that others are more useful and respected in those fields.

 

[gregkl]

I would get a job first and let the company pay for you to get your credentials. I work closely with project managers and have at several automotive companies and none of them had the credentials.

I would land the job and then if they deem it important or are willing to pay for the classes, then take them. $2K is a lot to shell out for the "chance" that a job will line up with what you want, where you want to be, what your income will be and whether the PMP is required.

Just my

 

[femurphy77]

None of our PM's have PMP certification, not saying it won't help the applicant when one retires within the next 8-12 months though.

 

[rhino]

I would get a job first and let the company pay for you to get your credentials. I work closely with project managers and have at several automotive companies and none of them had the credentials.

I would land the job and then if they deem it important or are willing to pay for the classes, then take them. $2K is a lot to shell out for the "chance" that a job will line up with what you want, where you want to be, what your income will be and whether the PMP is required.

Just my

That would be an ideal situation, but if the certification is required or candidates with the certification are highly favored, it's going to be tough to work it that way.

Two different friends explained it to me like this. To an employer who doesn't know you, the certification is one of the only benchmarks they have available to assess whether or not a candidate has the basics for project management. I was a project manager for EPA back in the late 1980s and early 1990s and I've been doing PM work for four years in this job (and it's actually my current job title), but that may not be meaningful to a potential employer. They are familiar with the PMP certification.

It's kind of like NRA credentials for firearms instructors. It's not a great way to great way to vet teachers, but right now it's the only thing we have.

 

[eldirector]

Neither of my current PMs have a PMP. They both have experience: as a PM and in the field. One has 10+ years as a PM and past experience in our core business. The other has a few years PM experience, and 20 years in our market as a consultant. I literally had hundreds of resumes with minimal experience when I posted for them, in different markets, and with a PMP cert.

Several of my consultants are pursuing their PMP. As a consultant, it gives them a leg up. Shows initiative and a willingness to branch out. Some PM skills as a consultant can be a differentiator.

That said, if potential employers use some sort of screening service (typical of large companies), they look for keywords. PMP may be one, just to get passed that step.

 

[rhino]

Neither of my current PMs have a PMP. They both have experience: as a PM and in the field. One has 10+ years as a PM and past experience in our core business. The other has a few years PM experience, and 20 years in our market as a consultant. I literally had hundreds of resumes with minimal experience when I posted for them, in different markets, and with a PMP cert.

Several of my consultants are pursuing their PMP. As a consultant, it gives them a leg up. Shows initiative and a willingness to branch out. Some PM skills as a consultant can be a differentiator.

That said, if potential employers use some sort of screening service (typical of large companies), they look for keywords. PMP may be one, just to get passed that step.

I think a majority of employers are scanning resumes for keywords and phrases now. "PMP" is definitely one of them. Maybe I should put "willing to obtain PMP certification" in my resume to trip that particular trigger.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I think a majority of employers are scanning resumes for keywords and phrases now. "PMP" is definitely one of them. Maybe I should put "willing to obtain PMP certification" in my resume to trip that particular trigger.

Maybe you could put PiMP and they wouldn't notice?

 

[rhino]

While I'm mulling the certification process, I decided to move forward on a couple of fronts. I contacted a few of my friends whom I believed would be interested in and could benefit from PMP certification. Two of them seem interested, so I'm giving them a week to consider and learn more about it, then we'll revisit and discuss if we want to move forward. Ideally, I think it would be great if we all completed the same class or used the same study materials (or both), so we could discuss and help each other along the way.

The second thing I did was activate my 30-day no cost trial for the premium version of LinkedIn so that I could start using InLearning to learn more about the formal aspects of project management. Right now I am doing the Project Management Fundamentals mini course. I'm pleases to see that most of the aspects of project management are very similar to the way I learned to solve problems in engineering school and I have done many of the parts of the standard processes. I'm learning the formal aspects which will greatly help me understand the language of project management in a way that is meaningful to the business community. That alone will be very helpful to me! I don't expect to become an "expert" using these (or any other) small courses, but I know it will help me use what I already know and what I can already do in ways that are more advantageous to my employment.

 

[eldirector]

Having a conversation like that ^^^^^^^ right there with a potential candidate is worth more than JUST a certification.

Having some previous PM experience, other relevant experience, and showing a willingness and ACTION on updating your skills, is more valuable (to me) than simply paying a couple of grand for a cert.

Oh, and if you are thinking about IT project management at all, some current buzzwords are "Agile" and "Scrum". Just speaking that language, even without any form of cert, will make developers flush with excitement.

Anyway, best of luck in your "education" and future employment!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I've seen some 4-day online prep classes for $2000 that guarantee a 100% pass rate on the PMP exam. That seems too good to be true, unless the exam is not that hard or there are some caveats in the small print (or both).

"Back in they day" the 100% pass rates for Microsoft preps meant they gave you the answer bank for all the possible questions. Not really "prep" as much as giving you the answers.

 

[rhino]

Having a conversation like that ^^^^^^^ right there with a potential candidate is worth more than JUST a certification.

Having some previous PM experience, other relevant experience, and showing a willingness and ACTION on updating your skills, is more valuable (to me) than simply paying a couple of grand for a cert.

Oh, and if you are thinking about IT project management at all, some current buzzwords are "Agile" and "Scrum". Just speaking that language, even without any form of cert, will make developers flush with excitement.

Anyway, best of luck in your "education" and future employment!

Thank you, sir! I'm in the middle of my second mini-course on LinkedIn and I'm reading Project Management for Dummies, which is based on PMI's standards. As I move forward, I try to relate my past experience to the parts of the project management process that I am studying. It's interesting to me how just applying my engineer-y problem solving methods results in a significant overlap with formal project management. I'm also seeing where I was led (or forced) to short-circuit some aspects of planning and evaluation along the way that should not have been skipped. I'm also seeing that for smaller projects, it's natural and logical to compress the process or even skip some elements that don't really apply, where as the bigger the project is, the more its ultimate success stands to benefit from adhering to the methods and steps.

I've been hearing "Agile" at work for a few years, but my vague understanding was a little off. Now that I have I have a better grasp of a "waterfall" methodology, the concept of an iterative approach that can constantly adjust as needed/warranted like "Agile" makes more sense to me.

Ultimately, I think one of the bigger obstacles for someone like me to overcome will be to learn the language and be able to understand and speak it on demand. Of course, I realize that the language evolves as quickly as the methods and paradigms, but once I have a foundation, I'll be better equipped to maintain pace with the changes.

I'm also seeing that the learning itself is going to be an ongoing process, much like many other worthwhile endeavors in life. Always be a good student.

 

[rhino]

"Back in they day" the 100% pass rates for Microsoft preps meant they gave you the answer bank for all the possible questions. Not really "prep" as much as giving you the answers.

Well, I suppose you could look at PMI's PMP manual as giving all the answers too, but just not as explicitly or with a one-to-one correspondence with the questions!