Nix and Mike

I thought I would be proactive and take a project management course on line over the next couple of months. Aus seems to like certificates !

Does anyone have an opinion on the following course? Is it recognized? Is it a good company? Are there "better" courses to take for senior project management opportunities?

PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) run by Seek Learning

Any opinions?

Nix

Carrianne

Hi,

It depends on what type of project management this is for. Property seems to be different to Business project management.

Have you got Six Sigma? Or similiar? I was doing project managment in Business in my last job and Six sigma and process improvment. I haven't heard of the course that is run on seek, but if its good and doesn't cost too much you can never really have too many Project management quals. i have also done the training for Microsoft project, there were project managers from all industires there.

Kooky.

According to my husband, who sells related software (and has worked as a PM, as have I), PMI is a respected institute and the PMP course should be ok but Prince II seems to be more popular here in Aus.

Blossom

I've done the Prince2 project management course and also the Microsoft Project Software training. Aus prefers the Prince2 qualification but ...... the cert only lasts for 3 years then you have redo. This is because standards change and to keep up to date you have to keep redoing the training.

spottydog

I thought it was 3 years for Prince too but when I looked at the website it seems it is now 5 years, I assume this changed when the exam changed to all multi guess as I only found out when I checked when mine ws expiring as I thought it ran out this year.

As others have said Aus seems to be Prince2 or PMBOK

Buzzy--Bee

In order to gain a certificate in PMI you have to have x thousand billable project management hours under your belt I think.

Prince2 is easier to get and is as well regarded.

Buzzy
Prince2 project manager extraordinaire.

spalen

PMI has extremely stringent certification qualifications- the course alone wont cut it. If you are looking to get certified you should assess your career history against the PMI Certification requirements. I know when I did it I had to submit something like a 30 page CV showing detailed org charts of the projects I'd run, P&L for them , stakeholders etc... it was tough.

The test itself was also quite hard - lots of mechanics - [ well I thought it was tough but I didnt revise much ] it has a lot emphasis on the work breakdown structure and earned value.

Also when you qualify for PMI you have to re-certify , again based on continued on the job experience, I let mine lapse because I switched careers.

I can remember PMI as a tough 6mths training [ part-time whilst working ] and heavily reliant upon past experience and work experience. I think I was 28 when I did it and really struggled with the experience.

By the way - in terms of recognition - PMI is recognised globally. I have people in my company here in Aust with PMI and in UK - its a requirement for our organisation before you progress through certain promotion levels in the project managemnt organisations or project delivery.

newjersey

^^ what he said.

NJ
Prince2 project manager, Sr., extraordinaire <grin>


Seriously though, Prince2 is much more focussed on managerial aspect of running your project, whereas imho, the PMI leans toward running your project as if it was a separate company.

Nix and Mike

Thanks for the input.
I have been a project manager for many years (and have two degrees, but they are not related to the work I do!) but never got certified in any way, as it has never really been necessary in the countries that I have worked in. I guess I do general business project management.
Ideally, I would like to remain self employed in Aus, and stick with my work experience. Doing a little "googling" of the oportunities, it seems that they all ask for certification....not only work experience.
So I thought I would get that.....
Seems that whether it is PMI or Prince2 it doesn't really make a difference as they simply want paperwork?
So....on line courses here I come !

Nix and Mike

[QUOTE=newjersey;6685121

Seriously though, Prince2 is much more focussed on managerial aspect of running your project, whereas imho, the PMI leans toward running your project as if it was a separate company.[/QUOTE]

Is that not a better idea? What does the industry want?

wongstonn

Having a qualification is indeed a good start, as many agents won't let you get past first base without that (no doubt a billion readers will now site examples to the contrary)! And PMI and Prince2 are of the best ones to have - and I'd say PMI is the more common. After that you end up in an interview which you need to talk to your own experience.

Neil

pmhut

Hi,

First things first, getting a PMP will not make you a Senior Project Manager and I don't think it will even open doors for you for Senior Project Management positions.

PMP is mainly used in North America (PRINCE2 is almost unheard of there) and the rest of the world except for Europe (especially the UK) and a few other countries. PRINCE2 is dominant in the UK and the rest of Europe.

To apply for PMP or PRINCE2 you should be already a Project Manager with a minimum of 4,500 hours of experience (check this article about PMP Eligibility for the full requirements). Note that PMP has a random verification process (eg. they choose applicants randomly and they check if they really meet the requirements or not).

In case you don't have the experience already, then you need to get into Project Management in order to have the proper hours. Now the question is how do you do that when Project Management jobs all require you to have previous experience.

This can be done in multiple ways:

1. Slowly take Project Management tasks in your company.
2. If the above is not possible, then try to volunteer (lots of jobs of volunteering PM jobs out there).
3. Network Network Network: meet people, a lot of people love to help and will help.

I hope I have answered your question.

Nix and Mike

pmhut - thanks for taking the time to reply and giving an alternate perspective. That is the beauty of these forums.
As it turns out, I have not yet actioned the certification, but it is high on my priority list, and I will look into both options very closely.
I have well in excess of 4500 hours of project management experience, as I have been self employed in project management for the last 11 years - first in South Africa, and now Aruba. So I guess the checking will be the challenge, but the experience is there.

Stupid question......is this certification REALLY necessary? It is quite expensive to get certifed from what my research shows....and does it really make a difference when push comes to shove? My CV is quite extensive with many contactable references all over the world....
I currently work on three major projects, have a 5 year old child, and am working on the move to Aus, so liquidating assetts and managing the logistics of moving halfway across the world (literally!)......it would be nice if I was not trying to fit in a certification course (and of course the exam which would involve international travel for me)...... Just a thought.....

Nix

pmhut

Quite frankly, I think it's only necessary for junior Project Managers, or Project Managers with questionable experience (eg. from low profile companies) that are seeking better opportunities. This article about PMI'S PMP Certification is interesting. What's even more interesting is the comments, highlighting whether PMP is really worth it or not.

Passing the exam is not piece of cake btw, even if you're experienced (I had some excellent Project Managers contacting me on PM Hut and saying that they failed the exam). The PMP exam is a theory exam, and your responses to the questions must always be in the context of an ideal project management world (which is a bit weird, you can't just answer a decision question by taking into consideration just one sentence).

Studying hard for the PMP (reading books, taking mockup exams, etc...) is the key, there are lots of people with little or no Project Management experience who passed the exam because they did study hard (very hard). On the other hand, there are some excellent Project Managers who failed the exam because they just didn't take it seriously and thought they had all that it takes (which theoretically should be true) to pass this exam.

PMP is dominant in Australia, so I think it's a good idea to have it and it might increase your value in the job market.

Sidenote Question: Why do you want to leave Aruba?

Buzzy--Bee

Not the case for Prince2. You can certify all the way with Prince2 with 0 hours of PM experience. Applies to PMP only.

Buzzy