Achieving the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Credential by the Project Management Institute is certainly challenging. The preparation process requires time, patience, and dedication, as well as financial resources.
Most people who have done the exam agree that it is difficult.
Of course, the commitment can vary: some need only two or three months to get through, while many others have not made it even though they have been preparing for years.
Therefore, one may wonder if it is worth it..
If you are wondering whether to invest your time and resources in the certification process, in this article, I'll share some of the reasons that led me to believe the PMP® Certification absolutely worthy of any investment. Certificazione PMP® assolutamente meritevole di qualsiasi investimento.
Why the PMP®?
- Credibility and international recognition
The PMP® certification is the gold standard of project management (pmi.org), the most prestigious of the PM certifications of the Project Management Institute, internationally recognized as the most authoritative body in the field of project management. Up to date, there are more than one million Credential holders located in over 160 countries.
Earners of the globally-recognized Project Management Professional (PMP) have demonstrated their extensive knowledge and mastery of project management concepts, tasks, and techniques that are applicable across virtually any industry and methodology. Earners are able to speak and understand the global language of project management. Individuals that earn this certification have demonstrated the knowledge and skills needed to initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control, and close a project.
Project Management Institute
Therefore, the certification attests specific skills, knowledge, and experiences in the field of Project Management and bases its authority on:
– a program accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) against the Standard ISO / IEC 17024, Conformity Assessment – General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certification of Persons, thanks to which PMP® Credential Holders can refer to an international standard as a qualification for competence and skills;
– rigorous access requirements, which require the candidate to have at least 3/5 years (from 4,500 to 7,500 hours) of experience in the management and direction of project activities, depending on the qualification, and completed at least 35 hours of specific training in PM;
– a 200-question exam, based on real project management situations, which requires knowledge of and the ability to apply, inter alia, an international standard, the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®), a source of inspiration for the UNI ISO 21500 "Guidance on Project Management" (Guida P.L., Il Project Management Secondo la Norma UNI ISO 21500, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2017);
– a continuous training system for maintaining the certification requires the acquisition of at least 60 training credits (Professional Development Units, PDUs) every three years;
– a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct to which all Credential holders must abide, with specific standards for professionals in the global Project Management community, supervisory systems, and an Ethics Review Committee that adopts disciplinary procedures and sanctions.
- Wage benefits
The latest edition of the "Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey" of the Project Management Institute (2017), conducted in the US and 36 other countries, highlighted that PMP® Credential Holders earn an average of 23% more than non-certified professionals.
- Knowledge and skills
The preparation for the certification allows to acquire and improve knowledge and skills, technical and transversal, important in project management, and to organize them according to the reference schemes of the aforementioned PMBOK® Guide. Guida al PMBOK®.
The Guide, drawn up and updated every four years by the Project Management Institute, represents an internationally recognized standard. Among its 700 pages, it collects the best practices deriving from project managers' experiences from all over the world.
The study of the Guide allows to acquire tools and techniques that can be applied to projects in any sector and geographical area, flexible and adaptable to the model of any organization.
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