198 Comments to “Project Management: Is PMP Certification Worth It?”

• March 7, 2011 at 7:15 am
  PT says:

  It shows to me that when the hiring agent needs PMBOK or Prince2 to pass my CV, this just says:
  1. my engineering degree is not enough
  2. my MBA is not enough
  2. my engineering experience is not enough
  4. my 10 years project management in engineering disciplines is not enough.

  Granted, I will sit this exam. It can’t be as hard as any other exam I have sat for. But it is a sad indictment that other more difficult exams and experience is not sufficient. Even past project management courses don’t count. There is also an aspect of Ageism. I have undergone 8 years of part-time business and management studies (including project management) after my first university degree. At age 29, I said “enough” to further studies. Now in mid-forties I am expected to sit again for exams to prove my knowledge. At an age I should be concentrating on my childrens’ education, I find yet another hurdle to prove what I can already do.

  Refreshing, that one of the Agile founders said he will provide courses in Agile, but not certification, because he believes that certification can lead to mediocrity, as people hide behind their certificates. As this Agile founder said, an exam cannot show a person’s skill on the job.

  I can’t be that smart, staying around in an area that requires more pieces of paper. If I am really clever I should retrain into an area that is “up and coming”. Then it wouldn’t be a chore to sit an exam as I would be learning something new.
• March 7, 2011 at 8:10 am
  Brad Egeland says:

  PT – I like how you think. We are about the same age and I agree with every point you’ve made. There’s no proof that certification makes you better. Ultimately, our customers judge us and if they are still coming to us for projects then I think we’re doing ok. I’m not certified, yet I write for PMI. Seems like an indictment of the system, doesn’t it?
• March 10, 2011 at 7:02 pm
  Nathan says:

  In the paragraph below, replace “PMP certification” with “college degree” and you have the same tired argument from those who didn’t invest the time, effort, and money in pursuing a degree. Second, the PMI benefits as does each and every college and university. It’s the wonderful world that we live in.
  Many of the follow-up comments to this article are from individuals, including the author, that have the good old entitlist mentality: “I have done this (in the past), so therefore I shouldn’t have to do this”. Get over yourselves. Resting on your laurels is so last decade. There’s a new crop of young professionals who will gladly take your job, work for less, and have the PMP certification. What will you do about? Complaining won’t help.
  The PMP certification offers a competitive advantage for those who actually understand this. For those who wish to try and rationalize with the HR Recruiter that their vast experience surpasses some piece of paper, good luck with that.

  Summary

  This article will probably offend some. Remember, I’m not saying PMP certification is a bad thing at all. I sometimes wish I had my PMP cert. But what is bad is that employers are quickly screening out experienced individuals up front for much less experienced PMP certified project managers. It should be a ‘nice-to-have.’ It’s a test, not real life and it should not be an in-or-out screening mechanism but I’m hearing repeatedly from PMs and organizations that it is. That’s frustrating for our industry. And it’s sad that it’s become such big business.
• March 10, 2011 at 8:03 pm
  Brad Egeland says:

  Nathan- Thanks for commenting and I completely understand where you are coming from. It’s not that I feel ‘entitled’. I think that it’s crazy that HR depts. are lazy enough to reduce their search to such an ‘easy’ weed-out level.

  That said, I could see from your email server details that you work for an organization that I led a major project for in the past. I wasn’t employed by your organization – rather I led the project on the vendor side. And when my counterpart at your organization found out that I was no longer with that organization, he canceled the project with my former company and used another organization to complete the implementation because he valued my expertise on the project (which had previously stalled and was in the process of resuming). So I know that personally and professionally, he and your organization were far more concerned with my experience and leadership skills than with certification when the project was on the line. Which is my point completely.

  Brad
• March 10, 2011 at 8:36 pm
  Nathan says:

  Brad – you’ve done an excellent job of creating very interesting and healthy dialog which I think is your original intent of this article.
  I won’t argue your point that HR Departments are lazy or that they may by pass over qualified individuals who do not have a PMP certification for those that do. What I will state is that this is what the market has established, more often than not, as a “barrier to entry” to getting in the door of a prospective company. After that, it’s up to you to sell yourself to the hiring manager.
  I hope you spend the time, effort, and money to get your PMP. You won’t regret it. You will also prove what you already know: a PMP certification doesn’t make you a better project manager. But it does mean that you completed something that you set out to do, much like a college degree. I think that’s why many companies use it as a screening tool. From an HR perspective, it separates the “talkers” from “executers”.
  Good luck! I will look forward to your articles post-PMP certification.
• March 24, 2011 at 5:19 pm
  KG says:

  HS Diploma: Does not guarantee a job or says that you are a talented worker
  College degree: Does not guarantee a job, used as a screening tool
  Master: Does not guarantee a job, maybe says too much education / expensive resource.
  PMP: same as any above. Does not guarantee a job, used as a screening tool, there are probably better PMs out there with more experience.

  If 61% is an easy pass, why dont you get the certification? I m MBA and I guarantee you the test was not easy to pass.
• April 7, 2011 at 10:02 am
  tosha says:

  If the PMP certification draws attention to your resume, then it’s worth the effort–period. After all, that’s the reason most want to obtain it, isn’t it? Just because you don’t have one, and have many excuses in defense, doesn’t mean that getting one is a bad idea
• April 18, 2011 at 6:16 am
  Sadhanas says:

  Good article.

  I am working as a Project Manager and do not have any degree like MBA, MCA etc. Although I have good experience managing projects successfully for quite few yrs. nobody looks into my resume and try to find out my capabilities. An employee being an Art graduate who has worked for many different organizations and helped them grow does not hold any value. I think I should go for PMP cert. What you say?
• May 4, 2011 at 2:35 pm
  Vikas says:

  It’s nice of Brad to say “I’m not saying PMP certification is a bad thing at all” and not let it become anymore controversial than it is.

  I manage few project managers and have come across some that were PMP certified. In my experience, the PMP certified managers (4 of them) consistently and significantly under-performed than their other colleagues (5 of them). I do not know whether it’s something that the course does to you or it was a random case of bad instructor (all of them studied and prepared in the same city). But each one of them was significantly less effective in managing the project successfully.

  Firstly, they had a very narrow view of their own role & responsibility in the project. They expected things to happen as planned. Whenever things didn’t happen as planned, they were clueless about how to assist the team to get the project back on track. Constant push and pressure was the only tool they could use. The level of engagement they could achieve in understanding the problem at hand was abysmally low. They were neither interested in customer’s requirements (role of BA) nor in the proposed design (role of architect).

  The risk analysis and mitigation planning was also very bookish and superficial. They seemed more bothered about ensuring that a mitigation is implemented rather than ensuring that the right mitigation is implemented. For example, one of them identified ’system performance’ as a critical risk (bravo!!!) and planned for performance concerns to be especially code reviewed (great!!!). But he forgot to notice that the person assigned to do these specialized code reviews is the junior-most person in the team with no prior experience or competency in such tasks.

  In summary, based on my limited experience with PMP certified managers, I would prefer NOT to hire anyone who is PMP certified.

  Like Brad, let me add my disclaimer. It may not have anything do to with the quality of certification. Maybe it’s to do with the general profile of people who find such certifications worthwhile.

  - Vikas
• May 4, 2011 at 11:14 pm
  Venkat says:

  This is a pretty good article as well as a healthy dialog that is making rounds. Guys, it is just a matter of luck favoring some & not favoring others.
  Hard work does count, but in the end its your destiny that goes with you till the end. Some PMPs don’t know anything, some PMs don’t need PMP. Some deserve to be architects, but are still developers; whereas some are not even fit for developers & are Technology Architects. Its all in teh way you sell yourself & maintain contacts.

  It is a “Beautiful World”, but sadly this is the way it works!!!
• May 10, 2011 at 5:23 pm
  Kevinjohn Gallagher says:

  Hi Brad,

  I loved the article, but I think you’re missing a particular viewpoint (though I see it slightly covered in the comments).
  You’re forgetting the process of being hired.
  Even in its simplest form these days: You > Recruiter > HR > person short-listing > people hiring.
  Yes, there is a good chance that the person short-listing will also be in the interview, but I can’t remember the last time that the most senior person/stakeholder on a project did the short listing but there is a good chance that they’ll be interviewing you.
  I think it’s also a tad unfair to suggest, even in a generalization, that HR folks are lazy. While some may be, and boy I’ve met a few, the real answer is usually that they are just not knowledgeable in the field. HR folks (be they external recruiters or internal HR) have rarely had on-hand experience to know what to look for on a CV – or more specifically how to weight certain attributes and experiences.
  They are, for the most part, going from a brief that states what their client wants; and not their personal opinion how valuable 20 years experience is against 10 years + PMP. What they are doing is simply whittling down the number of candidates to a manageable number.
  There is a strong chance an external recruiter will not be the sole recruiter on a project, and I know having worked with them (I was Project Manager on a Business Transformation project for a large recruiter last year) that they are told to send over no more than 5 CVs – presenting the client HR rep with the illusion that they have already separated the wheat from the chaff.
  To do that, external recruiters followed by internal HR simply have to go on an iterative process to get themselves to the required number of candidates. They usually start with minimum year’s experiences, then move on to degree, and then to PM certifications (Prince 2, ScrummMaster, PMI etc). At that stage, if they’re not under the maximum number of CVs, it’ll be down to who they think can get hired. Remember, that’s their job. The job isn’t to get YOU hired, it’s to get someone hired. Notoriety of previous companies, quality & look of CV, keyword matching have FAR more impact on staying in the pile than years experience.
  That’s not down to lazy HR people, that is down to people doing their job as per THEIR job description.

  None of us are happy about this process. But thanks to the internet (and the rough economy hasn’t helped) the number of applicants per job has become quite crazy. Just last week I advertised for a PM and BA directly (I thought I’d cut out the middle man/men) and have received over 300 CVs, and still they’re still coming in. If it reaches 400, and I hope to goodness it won’t, I’m firing them all to a recruiter to narrow down to 5 people each. Might I miss a diamond in the rough? Probably. But will I still get to interview 5 good candidates? Probably.

  And that’s the real advantage of certification in today’s market. You’re showing the recruiter/hr/client that you know what is important to them. No CV or interview in the world will ever prove how good a PM you are, so to everyone out there, please stop blaming other people with certifications because you were overlooked for a job. If the certification and the knowledge learned while doing it is not of value to you, that’s grand, but don’t be upset at the value it adds to other people.
• May 10, 2011 at 5:31 pm
  Kevinjohn Gallagher says:

  **apologies for the double post folks, the original had it’s formatting removed to an unreadable state.

  I loved the article, but I think you and some of the folks commenting are missing a particular viewpoint (though I see it slightly covered in the comments)… You’re forgetting the process of being hired.

  Even in its simplest form these days: You > Recruiter > HR > person short-listing > people hiring.

  Yes, there is a good chance that the person short-listing will also be in the interview, but I can’t remember the last time that the most senior person/stakeholder on a project did the short listing but there is a good chance that they’ll be interviewing you.

  I think it’s also a tad unfair to suggest, even in a generalization or joke, that HR folks are lazy. While some may be, and boy I’ve met a few, the real answer is usually that they are just not knowledgeable in the field. HR folks (be they external recruiters or internal HR) have rarely had on-hand experience to know what to look for on a CV – or more specifically how to weight certain attributes and experiences.

  How many PMP’s = MBA?
  How many years experience = PMI?
  How many Prince2’s + years experience = PMP + ScrumMaster?

  Recruiters are, for the most part, going from a brief that states what their client wants; and not their personal opinion how valuable 20 years experience is against 10 years + PMP. What they are doing is simply whittling down the number of candidates to a manageable number.

  There is a strong chance an external recruiter will not be the sole recruiter on a project, and I know having worked with them (I was Project Manager on a Business Transformation project for a large recruiter last year) that they are told to send over no more than 5 CVs – presenting the client HR rep with the illusion that they have already separated the wheat from the chaff.

  To do that, external recruiters, followed by internal HR, simply have to go on an iterative process to get themselves to the required number of candidates. They usually start with minimum year’s experiences, then move on to degree, and then to PM certifications (Prince 2, ScrummMaster, PMI etc). At that stage, if they’re not under the maximum number of CVs, it’ll be down to who they think can get hired. Remember, that’s their job. The job isn’t to get you or me or Nathan hired, it’s to get SOMEONE hired. Notoriety of previous companies, quality & look of CV, keyword matching have FAR more impact on staying in the pile than years experience.
  That’s not down to lazy HR people, that is down to people doing their job as per THEIR job description.

  None of us are happy about this process. But thanks to the internet (and the rough economy hasn’t helped) the number of applicants per job has become quite crazy. Just last week I advertised for a PM and BA directly (I thought I’d cut out the middle man/men) and have received over 300 CVs, and still they’re still coming in. If it reaches 400, and I hope to goodness it won’t, I’m firing them all to a recruiter to narrow down to 5 people each. Might I miss a diamond in the rough? Probably. But will I still get to interview 5 good candidates? Probably. Will certifications be weighted higher by the recruiter than experience? Probably.

  And that’s the real advantage of certification in today’s market. You’re showing the recruiter/hr/client that you know what is important to them. No CV or interview in the world will ever prove how good a PM you are, so to everyone out there, please stop blaming other people with certifications because you were overlooked for a job – regardless of how bad a PM that person is in your opinion. If the certification and the knowledge learned while doing it is not of value to you, that’s absolutely grand, but don’t be upset at the value it adds to other people.

  Be the best PM you can be, make sure your CV doesn’t look like it was written in the 80s, use LinkedIn to get recommendations etc. There’s far more to getting a role that just having done it before.

  take care,
  Kevinjohn
• May 11, 2011 at 5:41 pm
  Tina says:

  Which industries mostly ask for PMP certification?
• May 24, 2011 at 1:38 pm
  Alex says:

  I work in india as a senior software engineer . I wonder how PMP certification would help me land into project management in the US.
• June 29, 2011 at 1:57 pm
  Jigar Pandya says:

  I am preparing for PMP certification dedicated way, If I possess the necessary skills and aptitude how much chance is there to get a job in the management area after the certification. I hold around 6+ of industry experience total. kindly guide and provide your inputs.
• August 2, 2011 at 12:30 pm
  chuck says:

  I went years as a project manager without my PMP cert and did OK landing respectful jobs in the telecommunications industry. However, as the years went on (over a 10 year span), I’ve noticed more and more employers are putting this requirement up front on the job description and will not even do a phone interview if you don’t have the cert. I have to agree with the other posters that say they are missing out on a lot of talented individuals with this screening process. Not fair to those with years of experience the the PM field but have yet to obtain the PMP cert.
  Chuck
  http://pmp-project-manager.com/
• August 5, 2011 at 11:54 am
  tushar says:

  Get yourself updated with the new PMP Question bank based on new PMP syllabus. Get whole new 4000 questions on PMP’s new syllabus. For more info check out the website http://www.knowledgewoods.in/PMP
• August 17, 2011 at 8:00 am
  Denise says:

  I got my current job a few months ago before I got my PMP certification. The job requirements said PMP or Prince2 certification required, but my employers were happy enough that I had met the requirements to sit the exam, which meant I had a certain amount of practical experience. My new job came with a good pay rise, and that in itself was worth the effort of working towards certification.

  One thing I did find in the study group I attended was that project managers who didn’t have work experience in larger projects and a variety of project roles struggled with some areas. The study group helped, but it wasn’t enough by itself without experience.

  I see advertisements for courses which guarantee to get people a pass in the PMP exam, and I wonder if it is the people from such courses who don’t meet expectations even when they pass the PMP exam. I get the impression that some of these courses rely on rote learning and quick tips, rather than understanding project management. Although many of the PMP questions require a bit of thinking, others just require knowing the terminology.
• August 24, 2011 at 4:31 pm
  Umesh says:

  Having certain certification put some confidence in HR’s or Interviewers mind that this candidate know Project Management topics. Though how good he is only come to know after interviewing and asking real scenario questions.

  This is same like college… that if you score more then X% then only you will get the admission. There are many company who have Project Manager but they actually dont know Project management topics and there knowledge is limited to manage people and get the work done from them on time. To Skip those manager it will be good idea to appoint or call candidate who has PMP certification. which will judge there theroy knowledge and then in interview you can judge there practical knowledge.
• August 25, 2011 at 6:10 pm
  Matt says:

  Hello. I’ve really enjoyed reading the comments of this blog. I am a young professional who is looking at getting into the field of Project Management. My degree is actually in Psychology, but for the past 4 years I have been the Director of a website that does media streaming. I have picked up IT knowledge along the way, but much of my job is working/managing the sales, IT, marketing teams to grow the site. I’ve done some research in Project Management and I’m very interested as it sounds a lot like what I currently do. My questions is- It seems like much of the backgrounds for PMs seem to be in the construction/architecture or IT/software fields. What other job fields do PMs holding PMP certifications hold? Are there jobs for PM in all sectors of business?
• August 26, 2011 at 1:24 pm
  seshadeva barika says:

  Dear All,

  I have 5.5 Years of experience on IT Ind. But i dont have experience on the project management. Am i eligible to do this certificate? If yes, how can i do this?
  I am seeking forward for your nice response with some tips and suggestion to do this.

  Regards
  Sesha
• September 14, 2011 at 2:20 pm
  CarolM says:

  Sour grapes?
  61%… It depends on the difficulty level of the questions, doesn’t it, and how well they are written.
  As for comparing to other degress and certifications… PM is a skill set that is different than an engineering degree, etc. If I’m hiring you to be a PM,then I want some confirmation on your PM skills, not your engineering skills. Don’t care otherwise, how smart you are.
• September 14, 2011 at 5:13 pm
  Brad Egeland says:

  CarolM – I understand you want some confirmation of PM skills, but PMP certification won’t give it to you. If you think it will, then feel free to create a PMO and stock it with only PMP certified PMs. Rely on nothing else and see how far it gets you. I’m not saying PMP cert is bad. I would never say that – I actually think it’s great. What is bad is when lazy HR or hiring managers rely on it solely as a weed out factor in a short-sighted hiring situation. That’s really my only point. No sour grapes at all…

  Brad
• September 22, 2011 at 9:01 pm
  Tom Przybysz says:

  Interesting discussion. I am upper-40’s with a PMP. I’m not completely convinced a PMP certification made me a better project manager, but it certainly did not make me a worse one. I have managed PMO organizations in the past and I saw no correlation in performance and PMP credentials. Knowing that a PMP certification is a filter point with many HR organizations is enough reason for me to get the certification. That’s a pretty big incentive especially if I am unemployed. One other thing I’ve learned and have accepted. I have proven myself time and again over the last 23 years in the telecom industry. And I have accepted that I will be required to continue to do so until the day I retire. I worry that the second I think I have proven myself enough and the world should cower to my superior skills, is the day I become obsolete.
• September 23, 2011 at 4:04 am
  Ron says:

  I’ve worked with plenty of good and bad project managers. I would say the ones with the PMP tended to be better but certainly not in every case. I realize my sample size is small.

  Like most certifications it is probably most valuable earlier in a career or like a few above comments suggested, to get past the overzealous HR people at big companies. That said, I think if someone wants to be a top PM it is probably worthwhile to get the PMP cert. You can always keep it to yourself!
• October 10, 2011 at 12:30 am
  ilaria says:

  I am a PhD in Molecular pathology and I am currently working as scientist in the academia. I have been thinking to move to pharma companies and apply for PM positions after completing a program for PMP at nyu. Do you think a PMP certificate would help in my case? I mean, I do not have any experience in PM yet and therefore I thought it could’ve been useful to get some background before applying for a job but i got a little confused now reading this blog…
  Any advice, would be really appreciated!
• October 10, 2011 at 12:55 am
  Brad Egeland says:

  Unfortunately, before you even sit for the exam you must be able to document 4500 hours of project management experience along with specific training courses. So you won’t be able to acquire the certification first. My key frustration with the whole process is not at all directed at the certification itself. I think it’s a good thing. However, I think it has allowed human resources and hiring managers to become very lazy in how they select candidates by using the certification as an early weed-out element, thus passing over very good and very experienced project management candidates for individuals with minimal experience who managed to pass a test. That’s not how I would want to staff my PMO or staff my projects.
• November 14, 2011 at 5:00 pm
  Mgross13 says:

  I have been implementing successful projects BEFORE I even knew what PMBOK was or that a certification existed for a practice that has been in use for thousands of years.

  You are either a communicator / document manager / pitch person or you are not. I have hired people with and without the PM certification. Mine is from NYU and cost a lot of money. I took the courses years after I was in the throes of being a hands-on PM.

  I have a college degree and lots of certifications after graduation. Theory versus practice. There is nothing like experience.
• November 19, 2011 at 6:05 pm
  DonLuken says:

  I am cert. in PMP. I won’t say it’s bad, nor it’s good either. It really just depends on the industry you are in. Study the industry you want to work in, then determine whether a cert in this field will be beneficial or not. When I started, I thought well, I have a certification, it’s a piece of cake to manage any project coming my way. Boy was I wrong. I had to constantly turn to my superiors for advice (whom did not have a cert in PMP). Soon after, I’d realized, the certification teaches everything to me in theory, and tries to put it in perspective. However experience in ‘the specific’ industry still trumps my piece of paper. Mind you, I did have experience, but was just the minimum requirement of PMP, and nothing to do with the job after. But, the big but, it never hurts to have that piece of paper to help me get that position. In terms of lazy HR’s, well, that’s never going to change! I hate to say it, but HR degrees are one of the easiest to obtain. When barrier to entry is low, well, what can we expect from the quality? I don’t want to be stereotypical, but I’ve heard way too many stories, all beginning with HR.
• November 20, 2011 at 3:58 pm
  CD says:

  The same goes with a lot of professional industries like PMs, Paralegals, etc. Mostly because industry leaders and “know-it-alls’ like yourself dont want to take take the time anymore to train and mentor new staff. Businesses and departments frown on on-the-job training and expect people to hit the ground running on Day 1. So, young people like myself cant get in to these good positions like these WITHOUT a cert.

  If you were a department head, would you hire green horns like me, WITHOUT a PMP…would you read past the first 3 lines on my resume where my education is…NO, and if you said yes…I wouldnt believe you.

  Your article is nothing but a whining rant about how people like you are suffering, but it is people like you who caused this shift in qualification demands.
• November 20, 2011 at 7:20 pm
  Brad Egeland says:

  Whoa…CD…hold on. People like me? I’m not whining and I’m not suffering. I’m staying abreast of hiring practices both through canvassing ads and hearing colleague stories. I have 20 years of PM experience and when I was first starting out, no one knew anything about PM certification. I was a PM before I had even heard of PMI. I am merely addressing the ‘lazy’ hiring practices of hiring managers and HR reps who put the PMP cert requirement in job descriptions just to immediately weed out a ton of candidates. If they want to do that, they certainly can. But I make the point that by doing that they are likely weeding out the ‘best’ candidate for the job who is now buried somewhere in that reject pile.

  Yes, if that candidate always wants the right consideration, they should get certified. But it’s still a lazy hiring practice and I will not change my opinion about that. Weed it out on years of experience or some specific project related experience or technology need. But unless you’re filling a role on a government contract that requires certification or you absolutely must have it for some reason, HR reps should stop putting it in there just to make their job easier. That’s my contention.
• November 24, 2011 at 1:40 am
  JM says:

  If you are a talented, value-added employee, then you shouldn’t have too many problems finding work. I have met dozens of experienced engineers and Project Managers that were terrible at their jobs. I have heard these same people discussing how they were so experienced and so valuable to their company. Then they go back to their office and get on Facebook and post about how busy they are. Experience is valuable, no doubt, but all you have to do to get it is “be around for a long time”. It doesn’t make you talented or skilled.

  In contrast, I have also met people who work hard and get Master’s Degrees and PMP certifications that are terrible project managers. They have the skills, but no talent. They are poor leaders and have no street smarts. Some are even inexperienced which compounds the problem further.

  All doctors, even bad ones, went to medical school, but it doesn’t mean they are talented doctors. I would be careful about having surgery by a person who didn’t go to Medical school though. A degree, a license or a PMP is a certification of skill, not a substitute for experience or a sign of talent. My sixteen year old niece has her driver’s license, but there’s no way I loan her my car.

  That being said, why wouldn’t an HR professional want to look for people with a certification of skill? I have interviewed several “engineers” that have degrees such as Early Childhood Development and Psychology. Should their ten years of related experience (on paper) outweigh their lack of education in the topic? Maybe not, but it’s a Red Flag. I might opt to wait for a degreed engineer with similar experience to entrust those job duties to—that sounds like it’s less of a gamble—at least I know you have an engineering background I am familiar with. Besides, people count all kinds of garbage towards their cumulative experience (10 yrs sweeping a machine shop + 2 years as a Mechanical Engineer = 12 yrs engineering experience).

  Looking for a PM is not different is it? If I’m going to give you cost/schedule authority over $2 million of my organization’s money, I’d like to know that you have an understanding of project management. I recently worked with an “experienced Project Manager” who I had to teach what a WBS was…I suspect a PMP should now that one. This guy had 10+ years experience managing projects for a company that just flat out wasn’t very good at running projects.

  The truly talented and hard-working people I know have no problem finding good jobs. In fact, companies often contact them even when they aren’t out looking. A resume can highlight your credentials and, to some degree, your experience–but that’s all. I’ll hire an inexperienced (yet qualified) person over a vastly more experienced person if I know they are talented and hard-working. Having been in the business longer doesn’t mean you add more value, period. It probably does mean that you want more money though.

  Very interesting discussion, but for a group of experienced people that don’t have time to get certified (even though you think it’s easy) this sure is a long thread! Hopefully, you guys aren’t posting from work…
• December 9, 2011 at 4:18 pm
  Praveen says:

  I am not a certified PMP so I can’t comment on the merits and demerits of the same. But that didn’t stop me from noticing a few flawed perspectives in many of the comments above.
  1) People focusing too much on the argument that a certified Project Manager is not necessarily better than an uncertified one: – Yes! We all know that there are no guarantees! Its the same with any form of education. Isn’t it? You can teach the fundamentals to a person… But you can’t make sure that he/she applies them too??? Any set of guidelines (like the PMBOK) is created to summarize the learnings accumulated over years (and across industries), so that people are able to connect the dots faster after reading them. I am still thankful for those boring Project Management (and other) lectures during MBA that I thought were a total waste of time 2 years ago!
  2) HR guys are lazy: – How opinionated, generalized and ignorant can one be? In any organization Its very common to see people blast their colleagues in other functions and call them “lazy” or “foolish”… When we judge others, we use the most stringent criteria… But when we talk about our efficiency, we factor in the practical difficulties. Being a Consultant who has worked with people in almost all functions across many organizations, I can say for sure that such people are ignorant of what goes on in functions other than their own! The HR guy does not check Project Management skills of a PM. Its the user department that would do it. For a single vacancy, will HR shortlist 100 resumes for interviews or just about 10? So how do they shortlist a select few from all the applicants? The answer is that the user department writes out a few guidelines for the HR guy to shortlist. So if the user department says PMP, the HR guy looks for a PMP! This ensures that the shortlisted guy knows the fundamentals of Project Management (And applied them for 3 years too)… The user department shall gauge the understanding and application part during the interview. The certification may help you get shortlisted, but I am sure its only the application and understanding of those fundamentals that would get you the job. So I guess the above mentioned process of recruitment works for the company just fine! The risk of losing a “slightly better” candidate who is not a PMP (which may or may not be the case) is better than the additional efforts one would have to make to find the perfect one. After all recruiting for this one position is not the only job they do!
• December 9, 2011 at 4:40 pm
  Praveen says:

  One more thing… I am very sure that there are many HR guys out there who are as confident about their capabilities as you are about yours… And if they have defined a rule for recruiting only PMP certified professionals, then they must definitely have noticed some trend. Maybe they figured out that the likelihood of finding the right candidate is significantly higher with certified professionals than with uncertified ones!
  But if you truly stand out (and not just in your wishful thinking), I am sure you would succeed in securing the best jobs… even without a certificate!!!
• December 12, 2011 at 3:21 am
  sowmya says:

  Hi, am working as a system analyst in top mnc wit 8months of exp am pretty fresher wit degree of software engineering .Planning to swap my field from analyst to pmo . Can any one guide me on this?
• December 16, 2011 at 5:21 pm
  NBrown says:

  Hi, like many commenting here, I have spent many years doing project management. I decided to try for certification, studied the books, attended the (highly interactive) courses resultingly ended up discussing with other project managers in very different areas of project management from anything I had ever done, and finally wrote and passed the exam.
  In my case, the whole experience leading up to the certification made me spend a few months looking at how I and others do project management from different perspectives from that when one is involved in a particular discipline (in my case IT). I don’t think I was bad before, and I don’t think I am the world’s expert now, but I am undoubtedly a better PM than I was.
  Some of the best PMs may never have done a certification, but I when looking for a PM for my company, AMONGST THEIR OTHER ATTRIBUTES, those that do not rely “only” on experience and a 20 year old degree, but got off their bums to brush up despite a heavy schedule would have a definite plus.
• December 29, 2011 at 5:45 pm
  JB says:

  your Post is only doing good to PMI. It could have been better elaborating on short falls of PMP rather than what the employers are looking for. I think everybody will be on agreement that knowledge has to be acquired and the skills has to be developed. may be like you we would also develop those skills, and a little knowledge to push through the project.
• January 23, 2012 at 1:16 am
  Rmj says:

  Wow!!!! Every time this subject comes up people get touchy. Bottom line a PMP cert does not equal a degree nor equal experience. Companies that place that much weight in a cert is setting themselves up. Project Management is much more dynamic and hands-on than what is described in PMBOK. PMBOK cannot teach you how to deal with difficult clients, how to deliver bad news and more importantly how to be a leader. Being a certified PM only teaches you a methodology. I happen to respect the methodology and I use it. But that alone does not make me a great PM. Years of experience of managing different types of projects, learning from my mistakes, great PM mentors and utilizing the methodology has help me soar. Any hiring manager should know this.

  Also, I think it is a rip off to charge so much money to take the test. Just my opinion.
• February 15, 2012 at 5:30 pm
  Abdul Kader says:

  How PMP Course will help Sale managers?
• March 14, 2012 at 8:24 pm
  PD says:

  I had been a ‘project manager’ for about 4 years before I did the PMP. Initially I only did it to get the cert to bolster my CV and thought of it as just a piece of paper but as I went through the course it really opened my eyes.

  Best practices such as earned value management, risk management, quality assurance to name but a few, I beleive have transformed my PM ability and made me a much better PM- I look back on my pre PMP days and cringe when I think of how I ‘managed’ projects.

  Based on my experience I now believe that there are ‘people who manage projects’ and there are ‘project managers’, the latter are PMP certified. Granted this is just my experience- but of all my qualifications the PMP hs been the one I have found most practical and most valuable.
• March 17, 2012 at 5:26 pm
  George says:

  Thanks Ron, the website at http://sites.google.com/site/pgmpguide was really useful. there aren’t too many free sites with tips and Q&A, and the questions did come in handy. Appreciate it!
• March 31, 2012 at 4:11 pm
  Doug says:

  I have 3-4 years of solid enterprise level project management experience with direct and indirect resources. I’ve been successful managing these projects but having a PMP adds a level of credibility to my minimal years of experience. Most articles i’ve read strongly recommend the PMP cert to PMs with 3-5 years of experience. For those of you who have 10+ years of experience, i’m sorry to hear your accomplishments aren’t enough for HR. Most reqs out there have a PMP cert as a “preferred” qualification. Great article!!
• April 3, 2012 at 12:04 am
  Paul says:

  First off I agree with the author that a PMP is really a waste of time and money…. Lets say you have 20 years PM experience and a degree in management…. What can they teach you that you don’t already know.

  I have been a manager of a PMO for 10 years and a PM with over 20 years experience, I have hired PMP people and non PMP people with experience. Let me tell you that a piece of paper you pick up on a weekend cram class isn’t worth it and neither are the people who hand them out… Of the 300 people I have hired those with the PMP designation were the most incompetent and difficult to work with. First they think they are entitled and second they have no real world experience…. HR people WAKE up your throwing away a lot of good talent for a piece of worthless paper…..

  Second people with PMP designations do not make more money….. Thats misleading in fact if you had one I would pay you less because you were not qualified in most cases to manage sanitation workers…

  I would gladly put 5 of my best experienced Project Manager against any PMP and I will guarantee they will get any project done faster, safer and for less money than someone with a PMP… So a gain human resources managers wake up and realize that your getting ripped off and short changed by those who have PMP’s. Management is an art and a science as much as it is a people skilled profession…… They teach you those things on the job and not in a three day classroom or from some PMBOK…. I read that book twice and its pretty weird if you ask me…. as is the PMP dont waste your time get experience and work with companies who’s HR people know real talent!!!!
• April 20, 2012 at 5:19 am
  BB says:

  If PMP certificate is such a BS and “can be picked up in a weekend cram class”, as Paul “The PM” mentioned, then why don’t you just get it and get over with whining and complaining how PMP certified people are taking the bread out of your hands…..

  It’s just one weekend of studying, especially if you have 20+ years of PM experience…com’on, a piece of cake for someone who knows everything there is about PM….

  After that one weekend you will never come to this site and say how PMP certified fakers are not in the same boat as 20+ experienced PM professionals….

  Grow up people !!!
• April 22, 2012 at 4:15 pm
  Ed says:

  Agreed with BB.
  Paul, I have been running international projects for the last 23 years.
  I agree that the title doesnt mean anything unless you can walk the walk.
  However; most large projects, involving banks, need a credible tool by which to validate the PM´s credentials. The same applies to most foreign clients. The PMP title clearly has been recognized by financiers as a risk reduction parameter. At the very least the hiring process will be quicker, and interest rates charged for Project Finance will be lower. Financial return is, often, the only thing that matters to the client. Beyond that there are a lot of very very good Labor Foremen out there.
• May 4, 2012 at 4:33 am
  Amit Gulati says:

  I have keen interest in PM role, but I am in IT industry.. I am in to MIS reporting.., what should I do? Should I go for PMP, will it be worth for me
• May 12, 2012 at 9:50 am
  CER1projectmanagement says:

  The Project Management Professional (PMP) degree is given by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and has existed for a significant amount of time. It basically certifies you as an expert in project management. The benefits of getting a PMP include potential salary increase as well as better professional recognition and better potential in general. It also looks great on your resume, making it stand out.
• May 13, 2012 at 2:11 pm
  Chuck says:

  197 comments as of this morning, do I dare try to add to what has already been said? Maybe just a little. I worked my way up in the telecommunications industry over 15 years which most of it has been in project management. Never once did an employer asked that I get my PMP nor did they offer classes to assist in obtaining the cert. I know that in general self-improvement is always a good thing and gaining additional PM training in a structured format was a no brainer. So last year I sat for the exam and passed with little difficulty. I’m very glad I did for many reasons that have already been stated here, mainly because being a Project Management Professional shows you have discipline and a firm grasp on yet another project management methodology.

  Go for it!

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