Does PMP Certification Help You to Become a Manager in Your Career?

Would you like to become a manager in your career? When asked to list the major milestones in IT professionals’ career development on a social blog, many professionals said that they were aiming for a career as a supervisor, team leader or manager. Getting PMP certification would help them to reach their career goal? Let’s discuss about it now.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leader and the most widely recognized organization in promoting project management best practices. It was founded in 1969 and started offering the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certifications in 1984. Any professionals with 4 years of experience or above can take up the PMP exam. Likewise, professionals with 2 to 4 years of experience can get the CAPM certification.

In my view PMP certification would help a candidate mainly during resume screening. As we all know resume screening is the first step in the candidate screening process for an employer. In general once a resume is received, it will go for an initial screening. Either the Human Resource Department or the person who needs the position will review the resume. Some factors that might be used during an initial screening are previous management experience, education, credentials and the area of interest. When I was looking for a managerial job few years ago in US, I noticed that a few managerial positions indicated that a PMP certification would be advantageous. When I was evaluating the job market few weeks ago, I noticed that a sizable number of openings that were requesting or requiring the PMP credentials are increasing. It indicates that companies are giving more preference to certified PMPs. Hence, I would say a candidate resume with PMP credentials would most likely to cross the first rejection point easily because it tells potential employers that the candidate has gone the extra mile in proving their mettle.

Also, as a certified PMP, it is reasonable to assume that you know or you have learned the life cycle of the project. The conceptual knowledge you gained to earn the certification would definitely help you manage your projects effectively. Even though “Experience is the greatest teacher”, the knowledge gained to become a certified PMP would definitely help you become a good manager. Besides, The Project Management Institute’s (PMI) latest salary survey reveals that in six major countries, PMP-certified project managers reported a $10,000 salary advantage over non-PMP-certified project managers. In summary, as most of the companies started to prefer PMPs when hiring PM positions and even the certification could help you when managing projects, why not become a certified PMP?