Project Management Professional (PMP) credential

With so many of us having left journalism behind, I was wondering if anyone has gone out and gotten their PMP certification. From what I hear, it's a great thing to have if you're into project management. And personally, I think time in the journalism field gives you a good start in that direction, especially for editors and their assistants.

I've also heard horror stories from those who have studied for it and taken the exam. One guy I know said it was the most difficult thing he's ever done professionally; way more difficult than getting his Masters degree. He also said that having that certificate can do wonders for your career, as far as job opportunities and salary negotiations go.

Anyway, has anyone gone this route? I'm debating it.

 

A test and a credential doesn't make you a PMP. You have to earn that title in the streets.

 

Get some bling and look mean and you can fake it just fine.

 

It's worth the time and money, and will overcome a lot of other holes in one's resume.

 

I've taken project management classes as part of my master's program, but my master's is not in project management.

My guess is that the PMP certification would be challenging.

 

Please ensure that you put "PMP" in all your e-mail signatures so that everyone you e-mail knows you have it.

The cult of the project manager is running rampant and needs to be eradicated. Bad PM give good one a bad name.

 

I manage many projects and oversee many project managers. I can't think of any reason why a PMP would be more desirable. In fact, of the last three project managers who my company has hired with a PMP, we've fired two of them.

PMP is just a fancy certificate that says you are good at using Microsoft Project...

 

In plotting my escape from Journalism Penitentiary, one of the jobs I applied for was as a project manager. Seemed like a lot of the skills of journalism translated well to it.
The little research I did on the PMP certificate didn't seem like it would be that hard to obtain. I saw one thing that said it was like a 30-hour online course (not sure if that's 30 hours of lessons or 30 credit hours) followed by an exam. If it's the former, it seems like something you could knock out pretty quickly.

 

I write for a company that provides computer services to the government, and a project manager with PMP certification is almost always a requirement to win the bid. You are probably right that it's a bunch of hooey. But it carries a lot of weight.

 

You must have done very little research. Because from everything I've heard, especially from people who have their PMP certificate, it's incredibly difficult.

I know a guy who went through the 4-day boot camp, waited only one week and passed the exam. He said it was brutal.
I know a woman who studied for 9 months, did boot camps, joined study groups and passed the exam.
I know another guy who went through several boot camps, read multiple 500-page books two or three times, downloaded PMP training to his phone to listen while he was running....he studied for 5-6 months. And failed.

It's not a walk in the park. But as LTL said, it definitely does carry a lot of weight. That's a fact.

 

I guess that would be true with government contracts. Complex requirements and RFPs are a big reason why my company doesn't do business with the government.

 

It seems like at a minimum the PMP certification would ensure that you know the language.