The value of project management certifications

There is heavy debate going on about this in the industry. Many of the project managers I adore dont have any certification related to project management and at the same time I have seen many customers insisting on a certified project manager to manage their projects. A certification gives the confidence to the customer (internal/external) that the person who is managing their project understands professional project management. This is more relevant when the client is dealing with you for the first time.

So far I would have trained around 1000 + project managers world over. Many of them are highly experienced and still they want the certification, becuse the industry demands it. When I conduct interviews, if a person with a project management certification sits infront of me to attend the interview - his certification immediately tells me that this person understands the basic project management best practices (nothing more nor nothing less).

In whatever way we look at it, a good project management certification improves your professional credibility, especially when you deal with new stakeholders.

Another question asked very often is 'What should I do after gaining my project management certification?'. What is the next certification?. Here the answer is 'Some people understands things with just one certification... and for some it takes multiple certifications' .

Some of the well recognized project management certifications in predective project management are PMP (project management professional) and PRINCE2 (projects in controlled environment). If you are following adaptive project management (agile family) then CSM (certified scrum master) is a good option.

Again remember " a person who is not reading anything is only as good as a person who cannot read". You may know everything about project management and If you dont have the passion to demonstrate your knowledge and skills then it is all waste.

Would like to hear your views

Comments

Anonymous said…
Again remember " a person who is not reading anything is only as good as a person who cannot read". You may know everything about project management and If you dont have the passion to demonstrate your knowledge and skills then it is all waste.

- I agree! I have also read some successful project managers very passionate on their chosen field even without those certificates or titles attached with their name. They are just dedicated and passionate on their work that they choose to learn and think logically. But still, some of them wants to have certification.

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