Project Management Professional (PMP) credential

[JackReacher]

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.

 

[Big Circus]

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

 

[Ace]

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.

 

[FileNotFound]

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.

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

 

[Buck]

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.

 

[Iron_chet]

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.

 

[McNuggetsMan]

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...

 

[Batman]

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.

 

[LongTimeListener]

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...

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.

 

[JackReacher]

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.

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.

 

[McNuggetsMan]

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...

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.

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.

 

[Ace]

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...

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.

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

 

[HC]

I started to take a course for the PMP but my local college had only the on-line option and I dropped it in the second week. It's not a walk in the park by any means and I hated hated HATED the on-line learning. I may try again when I can take a class in person but it's not easy by any means.

 

[User 11148]

I've taught project management (mostly the heavily technical parts, like PERT and EVA) at the MBA/undergrad level. The certification can't be that hard, because that material is simply not that difficult. It is a pretty broad body of material (Lord only knows how many times I've stumbled across this or that document that purports to tap some portion of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)).

I suspect that PMP certification is probably not going to provide as much of a leg up on the competition as it simply signals that you're at some minimal level of competence. Nothing wrong with that, but it's probably not going to be a career turnaround that some might suggest.

 

[HC]

dq - I suspect it's not that hard if you're a business major but more difficult if you're coming in without that background. Or maybe I'm just an idiot. :)

 

[Amy]

I've taught project management (mostly the heavily technical parts, like PERT and EVA) at the MBA/undergrad level. The certification can't be that hard, because that material is simply not that difficult. It is a pretty broad body of material (Lord only knows how many times I've stumbled across this or that document that purports to tap some portion of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)).

I suspect that PMP certification is probably not going to provide as much of a leg up on the competition as it simply signals that you're at some minimal level of competence. Nothing wrong with that, but it's probably not going to be a career turnaround that some might suggest.

I suppose I should know this since I work for a big corporation and run projects, but what does a project management professional do?

 

[User 11148]

dq - I suspect it's not that hard if you're a business major but more difficult if you're coming in without that background. Or maybe I'm just an idiot. :)

LOL ... I was PoliSci/English as undergrad*. You're not an idiot ... I do think too many folks have a phobia when it comes to more technical/numerical things, though. Perhaps you're one of them?


*I teach plenty of people in the business majors who have 'nary a clue about business.

 

[Iron_chet]

I've taught project management (mostly the heavily technical parts, like PERT and EVA) at the MBA/undergrad level. The certification can't be that hard, because that material is simply not that difficult. It is a pretty broad body of material (Lord only knows how many times I've stumbled across this or that document that purports to tap some portion of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)).

I suspect that PMP certification is probably not going to provide as much of a leg up on the competition as it simply signals that you're at some minimal level of competence. Nothing wrong with that, but it's probably not going to be a career turnaround that some might suggest.

I suppose I should know this since I work for a big corporation and run projects, but what does a project management professional do?

Get everything bogged down in process rather than actually doing things.

Here is what a PM does.

Create a flow chart to dentify gaps in process.
Create a task list based on the flow chart.
Create weekly meetings to update the task list.
Create self serving e-mails to celebrate the project that was never a project being comple when people could have just done the work without needin gto update the douche with the task list.

 

[FileNotFound]

I've taught project management (mostly the heavily technical parts, like PERT and EVA) at the MBA/undergrad level. The certification can't be that hard, because that material is simply not that difficult. It is a pretty broad body of material (Lord only knows how many times I've stumbled across this or that document that purports to tap some portion of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge)).

I suspect that PMP certification is probably not going to provide as much of a leg up on the competition as it simply signals that you're at some minimal level of competence. Nothing wrong with that, but it's probably not going to be a career turnaround that some might suggest.

I suppose I should know this since I work for a big corporation and run projects, but what does a project management professional do?

Get everything bogged down in process rather than actually doing things.

Here is what a PM does.

Create a flow chart to dentify gaps in process.
Create a task list based on the flow chart.
Create weekly meetings to update the task list.
Create self serving e-mails to celebrate the project that was never a project being comple when people could have just done the work without needin gto update the douche with the task list.

There's a little more to it than that, but I will agree that it's not the science that some people make it out to be.

That said, having the PMP certification will, at a minimum, get your application with certain companies at least one more step away from robo-rejection.

 

[HC]

dq - I suspect it's not that hard if you're a business major but more difficult if you're coming in without that background. Or maybe I'm just an idiot. :)

LOL ... I was PoliSci/English as undergrad*. You're not an idiot ... I do think too many folks have a phobia when it comes to more technical/numerical things, though. Perhaps you're one of them?


*I teach plenty of people in the business majors who have 'nary a clue about business.

I'm actually not bad with numbers (and certainly not afraid of them). I think the on-line learning was my biggest issue. I remember faces much better than names so trying to collaborate on assignments, etc with people I couldn't see was really really strange. As I said, I may try again in a real classroom setting. Or maybe I'll just try harder to get a singing job. :)