How Much Worth Is A PMP Certification
Q: I am thinking about trying to become a certified PM with PMI's PMP
certification. But I know little about the value of this certification.
Does anybody have experience of using the PMP certification as an
arguement while applying for job or when negotiating on salary levels?
Is the certification worth the effort?
A:-If you have successfully completed a number of projects highlight them more
than your certification. CEOs, like myself, look for people who can get
things done more than for what a person might be capable of doing due to
training or certification. And a lot of certificates today are bogus
-I obtained my PMP certification in the Fall of 1999. I cannot give you
a value in monetary terms, but I can tell you why I chose the PMP
certification.
Back in 1998, I started taking classes offered by ESI in conjunction
with George Washington University. If I had taken the entire series, I
would have received a Masters Certificate in Project Management. During
one of the classes, someone put a question to the instructor about what
was the best certification. His answer was PMI's PMP Certification was
the most widely recognized certification (world wide). After looking at
my other choices which were to complete the Masters Certificate or get
a Masters Degree in Project Management. I elected to go for PMI's PMP.
At the time there was the idea the company would require PMP
certification in order to be a PMP.
What is the reality now that I have the certification? My boss
has said having the certification is not necessary to be a project
manager. However for me it forces the point so they have to stop the
practice of charging the customer project manager rates while
classifying and paying me a level below. Kind of hard to say you are
still learning. So I expect a pay raise and the ceiling on my salary
level to go up. Some value there.
When I look around the job sites on the Internet, I see some of the job
listings requiring the PMP certification. No way to know if they are
doing it because they are truly aware of the value or use it as a safe
way to find someone with experience and training. At least I would
expect if the decision is between two people with basically the same
qualifications except one has the PMP certification and the other does
not that the PMP certification wins. If for no other reason then the
fact that getting the certification shows initiative. While PMI's
certification is not the hardest one in the world to get - neither is
it easy to do.
Getting PMI's PMP certification is an opportunity to learn and