All project managers have heard of becoming Project Management Professional certified, but not all of them actually know why getting this certification can be beneficial to their career. There are plenty of reasons to take the PMP exam and become certified, from having the opportunity to earn a bigger salary to getting the chance to meet more colleagues and project managers in the industry, the reasons why you should consider getting a Project Management Certification are plentiful.
What is a PMP project manager and what is the difference compared to a standard project manager? We’ll share with you all you need to know about PMP Certification and why becoming a certified Project Management Professional can boost your career.
What Is The Project Management Professional (PMP)?
So what’s PMP? The PMP is a certification given by the Project Management Institute (PMI) for project managers that want to take their career to the next level. Project managers all over the globe have been taking the PMP to keep up with each other, and now it has become the highest and most desired certification for project managers. Some companies have even made it a requirement for their project managers to pass the Project Management Professional exam and become certified.
Almost 3M project managers from many countries benefit from the guidance and certifications offered by the Project Management Institute. So what exactly are the requirements you need to fill in order to take the next step and become PMP Certified?
What Do You Need To Become Project Management Professional Certified?
Now that we went through all of the details of what a Project Management Professional certification is and what it can do for your career, but before you go ahead and become a candidate, let’s take a look at what you need to have in order to apply.
- A four-year degree
- 36 months leading projects
- 35 hours of project management education or training
Though it is worth noting that you can also apply for the exam even if you only have a high school diploma, as long as you have 60 months of experience leading projects, instead of 36.
How Can You Prepare To Take The PMP?
After seeing the list of everything you need to cover before you can apply for the PMP you might be wondering how exactly can you begin to prepare for the exam, and what kind of questions will it have? Where exactly are you supposed to get that knowledge from?
Well, that’s actually quite simple! The Project Management Institute encourages all aspiring candidates to take a PMP course or training that will go through all the basic knowledge on the Project Management Body of Knowledge.
This PMP® Exam Prep (Live Virtual Instructor) and PMP® Exam Prep (Self-Paced) courses by Brain Sensei can help any experienced project managers pass the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional certification exam. While their PMP exam prep courses focus primarily on exam preparation, their unique course structure allows the learner to gain practical knowledge on how to apply the terms and concepts in the real world.
The Next Step To Get PMP Certification
Once you have the thirty five hours of project management training what you need to do next is to organize all of your study material and create a study schedule with the PMP exam as your goal.
All PMP candidates should think of the exam as another project that should be conquered by the end of your study plan. Once you have the Project Management Body of Knowledge down, there are plenty of study guides and courses online that can help you test your knowledge of both the PMBOK and the PMP Question Bank. In fact, Brain Sensei’s PMP Exam Simulator is able to build realistic PMP exams that you can take before the real thing, with over 1500 questions being generated randomly per exam.
Make sure you pay extra attention to any sections you fail and keep track of your weak points so you can keep revising them, and go through all of the theory until you master it. Once you’re able to get a passing score on the practice tests and you feel confident enough, it’s time to sign up for the real thing.
Getting A Project Management Certification Can Boost Your Career
So what makes a PMP project manager stand out? In case you’re still on the fence on whether getting PMP Certified is a good option for you, let us go ahead and list all of the reasons why you should get a Project Management Certification and what it can do for you.
More Opportunities
Being PMP Certified will let your employers and colleagues know that you are prepared and smart enough to have passed the exam. This will open up more doors for you and make you a candidate for roles you wouldn’t have been considered before.
Higher Salary
A survey made by the Project Management Institute found that having a Project Management Certification will 100% give your salary a boost. According to the same survey, a Project Manager who is Project Management Professional certified can get around twenty percent more pay than someone who doesn’t have the PMP.
International Recognition
As we mentioned before, the Project Management Institute is recognized worldwide, which means handling a project overseas could be an easier task for someone that is PMP Certified, not only because of the knowledge they would have, but because shareholders and partners will highly prefer a PMP Certified Project Manager.
Learn The Best Practices
Studying for the Project Management Professional Certification will open up a lot of knowledge for you about the best practices that are implemented by project managers with more experience all over the world, who have already developed the most efficient ways to manage any projects successfully.
Being PMP Certified Will Impact Your Value In Any Project
Any organization is aware of the value being PMP Certified has, and what a PMP Certified Project Manager will be able to add to any project. You can be sure most of them already know how they can benefit from their project managers having a PMP Certification, and the reasons are very simple.
What being PMP certified can add to your organization:
- Clients are more likely to trust project managers who are PMP Certified much more than those who don’t.
- Organizations have a higher opportunity of getting a project if there are PMP Certified project managers working there.
- Being able to satisfy clients with the knowledge that there will be PMP Certified project managers working on their project, who already know the best practices and have experience successfully completing projects
I’ve Got My PMP Certification! Now What’s Next?
Deciding you want to get Project Management Professional certified is the first step and actually studying and preparing for it is definitely the hardest part. After all of your hard work helps you pass the exam and you become PMP Certified, you’ve certainly done all of the difficult bits! Congratulations!
Now you need to know how to retain it and keep an eye on everything you need to have ready every 3 years so you can renew it.
Don’t Forget To Renew Your PMP Certification
Fortunately for all project managers, renewing your PMP Certification is nowhere near as hard as it was to acquire it for the first time. What you need to do is quite straightforward and easy to remember: every 3 years you need to earn and submit sixty PDUs to ensure your renewal and continue being a PMP.
There are plenty of sources you can get your PDUs from like trainings, courses and you can even do some volunteering work. Check out some of our other articles that detail all of the opportunities PMP certified project managers have to earn the necessary amount of PDUs and keep their certification valid.
The most important thing you should know is that you don’t have to take the exam again! If that was stopping you from becoming certified, you can rest assured now.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about becoming PMP Certified and why it’s such a recognized and international certification, you can go and explore more certifications by the Project Management Institute that specialize in other parts of the industry.
We hope we clarified any doubts you had about the Project Management Professional Certification, and why you should consider becoming PMP Certified.