Have you thought about a career in project management? The field is about to add an estimated 22 million jobs by 2027, with a projected growth of 33 percent. A total of 88 million jobs are predicted to be generated worldwide by that time. Moreover, the average annual salaries of project managers are as high as $116,000 in the US. With such a job outlook, you must be curious about starting a career in this domain. As you can infer that we are talking about a managerial position here, it is quite obvious that the field is suitable for experienced professionals.
A project manager is an important designation in every organization and professionals with specialized skills only can handle the responsibilities associated with it. This individual acts as the backbone of a project and oversees all the phases of the project life cycle – initiation, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing. It is quite difficult for professionals to showcase their project management skills and become in charge of an entire project.
Apart from gaining work experience, people usually seek certifications to gain the right skills. Among many available certifications, the gold standard in this domain is the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). In fact, many people are seeking a PMP certification in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and many other cities.
Adding a PMP certification can bring a lot of career benefits. But, you should first understand how to earn a PMP certification. This article gives you all the information regarding achieving a PMP certification and how to take your career ahead.
What is the PMP Certification?
The PMP certification is something that supercharges careers for project leaders across industrial sectors and enables organizations to find individuals they need to work smarter and perform better. The credential ensures that a candidate is capable of bringing projects to successful completion. Moreover, certified professionals have good people skills so as to effectively lead a project team in today’s changing environment. The certification includes three key approaches called Predictive (Waterfall), Agile, and Hybrid.
You will be surprised to know that over a million people across 200 countries hold a PMP certification and are reaping the various perks associated with it. PMP delivers real value in the form of professional credibility, deep knowledge, and better salary prospects. Though the certification has global recognition, achieving PMP isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. First off, you cannot achieve this credential at any time of your career. There are specific eligibility criteria that are mandatory to fulfill. Post that, you need to pass the rigorous PMP exam in order to prove your worth as a PMP certification holder.
Earning a PMP Certification
Now that you are familiar with the PMP certification, you must be curious about what steps to take in order to become certified. Well, you first need to ensure that you are eligible to take the PMP exam. The requirements include a four-year degree, 36 months experience in leading projects, and 35 hours of project management training or CAPM certification. The first two requirements can be replaced with a high school diploma and 60 months of leading projects.
Next, you should know the syllabus of the PMP exam by referring to the PMP Exam Content Outline. The exam consists of 180 questions having the format of a combination of multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank type questions. There are three domains on which the exam is based; here are the proportion of questions asked from each domain.
- People – 42%
- Process – 50%
- Business Environment – 8%
Now that you have thoroughly understood the syllabus, it’s time to create a study plan. Plan to study regularly and decide how much time you would need to dedicate each day. Stay on track so that the work and family obligations do not affect your plan. If you are looking for exam-prep resources, then you should first refer to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge or PMBOK Guide. You can also look for local PMI chapters that can help you find a study group or members who can guide you.
In the above sections, we had mentioned that 35 hours of project management training is mandatory to be eligible for the PMP exam. So, after going through the PMBOK Guide, you should enroll in a training course offered by the PMI authorized training providers.
Apart from fulfilling the eligibility requirements, a training course will help you prepare better for the exam. You will be guided by a PMP certified instructor who can give you useful tips and tricks to crack the exam. Moreover, such courses are available online and you don’t need to go to any physical location to attend the classes.
PMI also recommends additional resources that individuals can take advantage of. It recommends exploring ProjectManagement.com website which contains plenty of blog posts and community discussions specifically dedicated to exam-prep challenges and advice.
There is also PMI’s LinkedIn project professional group that people can join to post any question about the exam-prep process. There are many project professionals in the group who are eager to clear your doubts and offer their advice.
With all the above knowledge at hand, when are you deciding to achieve a PMP certification?
