Is PMP Helping Your Job Hunt?

Whether you’re employed right now, independently consulting, or unemployed, we’re all really looking for a job, right?  No job is safe in this economy so if you’re employed you can’t afford to raise any flags for fear you could lose the job you have.  But we’re all looking just in case.  Or looking for our next gig.  And even if you’re independent, you’d still probably take a W2 position – especially in this uncertain economy – if the right option presented itself to you, right?

So, here’s my question.  For those of you who have the PMP certification after your name… are you finding that it is helping your job hunt?  I actually had one recent comment to one of my articles from a reader who stated that the PMP designation actually hurt his job hunt.  He started getting interviews based solely on the PMP certification (insert my comment here about lazy HR reps) only to have the interview end early when they found out that he had very little experience.  Sometimes that hadn’t even bothered to check out his actual PM experience – they only included him in the interview process because he was PMP certified.

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PMI Membership – is it worth it?

I’m a new-ish member of PMI, having joined in January.  There isn’t great cause for the PMP certification in the UK and most people over here expect project managers to have PRINCE2 and/or MSP, which are the informal national standard.  So I wasn’t really sure what benefit I would get from joining up to PMI, and UK Chapter.  If you are wondering whether it is really worth it, here’s my summary of the first few months of PMI membership.

You pay your money, and you expect some things for that privilege.  This is what you get:
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Comment on the new estimating standard

PMI has just announced that it will release a new practitioner standard, The Practice Standard for Project Estimating, during the last quarter of 2010. As part of its standards development process, project managers can add their voice to the exposure draft, which will be available until 13 May 2010.  That’s not very long, so get your comments in now!  This latest standard draft can be accessed in a variety of formats so it should be easy for you to put your point across.  Even if you aren’t a member of PMI you can still say what you think as opinions from non-members are also being sought.  Just become a registered user on the PMI website and you can then access a variety of additional resources including the standard.

The point of having standards is to set global best practice.  PMI has a Global Standards Program and they aim to “develop standards for the profession that are valued by members, the marketplace and other stakeholders”.  All PMI global standards are established by consensus, taking into account the knowledge, opinions and experiences of the standard project teams, subject matter experts and other project management practitioners. Read more »

The PMI Founders

If you were at PMI’s Global Congress North America in the autumn you would have had the chance to meet the PMI Founders in person at a breakfast meeting one day during the conference.  They were very interesting people, and it’s amazing that something that started off so randomly – with little investment or appreciation of what it would become – has grown into the organisation we have now, 40 years on.  If you weren’t able to get to the Congress, you can hear what the Founders have to say about setting up PMI on this video.

Books and Chairs: Industry news

If you have been awaiting the publication of the latest revision of PRINCE2 in your language, you could be a step closer today.  PRINCE2:2009 is now available in French, German and Spanish editions.  It doesn’t look yet as if the Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 book is available in other languages – this is the book for project sponsors and project boards.  However, for project managers wanting to take the PRINCE2 exam, you can now study the Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 book in French, German or Spanish.  They  are available in both hard copy and PDF formats.

The books are:

• Exito en la Gestión de Proyectos con PRINCE2 (Spanish)
• Erfolgreiche Projekte Managen mit PRINCE2 (German)
• Réussir le Management de Projet avec PRINCE2 (French)

And they are all available from the Best Practice website, along with the English versions.

In other news, PMI has announced the re-election of Eugene (Gene) Bounds, PMP, to its Board of Directors, and this year he will sit as the Chair for 2010, after being a successful Vice-Chair this year.  He replaces Ricardo Vargas, who was the first Brazilian Chair.  The volunteer leadership Board governs PMI and is comprised of 15 elected directors-at-large, each serving three-year terms.

“PMI is fortunate to have a board of experienced and knowledgeable individuals who are willing to volunteer their time to advance the project management profession,” said Gregory Balestrero, president and CEO of PMI. “Gene’s extensive experience and steadfast leadership on project management embodies PMI’s philosophy of excellence in project management, and we look forward to his continued leadership over the next three years.”

A retired United States Air Force officer, Bounds has a long history with PMI, since joining in 1989.  He’s travelled about a bit too, being affiliated to the Mile-Hi and Pittsburgh chapters and he’s now with the Washington DC chapter.  “PMI is in a great position to lead the evolution and maturation of the global project, program and portfolio management standards,” said Bounds.  “I am honored to once again be elected to the PMI Board of Directors, and look forward to the opportunity to continue to represent members of our profession.”

I look forward to hearing Bounds speak at Congress next year – in 2010 the North American Congress will be in Washington, so he’ll be on home turf.