The Lazy Project Manager's Blog

Are you working as a project manager? You may want to improve your prospect. There are many certification courses for project manager you should do. We here bring the great options in project management certification. Here you can know the various options available in certification and how to continue in your post.

You as a project manager can increase your skill and prospects of job sharp with certifications. A project manager who combines certification with their degree get opportunities. In the past few years, the PM jobs have got increased to 425%.

Behind all IT projects success, you can find a highly talented and capable project manager. From software to hardware upgrades to security patches, application development and software itself, a project manager has to keep their teams on task and production.

Almost all IT professional can benefit from adding a certification to their IT credentials. It shows how you plan, schedule the budget, execute it, deliver and report them on IT initiatives. If you want a hike in your salary, a certification can give you this.

If you are looking to gain all the above-mentioned points, you can analyze and choose the best project manager certification for your requirements.

First of all, you should know which the best certification is. The top 5 certifications for project manager available are:

1. PMP
2. PRINCE2
3. CAPM
4. CSM
5. PMI-ACP

Let us see, what all these courses have to offer you in details:

Project Management Professional (PMP)

One of the top credentials is the PMP certification (Project Management Professional) for project managers. This is the most widely accepted and popular certification you can find anywhere. The Project Management Institute is the accreditation body for the PMP certification.

About the PMP certification exam structure

The PMP training certification examination can be passed only if you are perfect with all the techniques needed to plan and monitor a project from its start to finish. According to the 8th edition salary survey of Project management, a project manager who has PMP certification should get 17% more monetary benefit than others.

The PMP exam isn’t easy to clear. To be successful, you need to spend about +35 hours to prepare for the exam.

The exam has about 200 MCQs and runs for 4 hours. No extra time is given to you for the exam unless specified otherwise.

No negative marking is awarded, so it’s best you answer everything; even if you aren’t sure of the correct answer.

PMP certification prerequisites

To be able to do the PMP certification, you need to have:

• A 4-year degree
• 4500 hours or 3 years experience in guiding and managing projects
• 35+ hours of PM education

Or

• A secondary degree
• 7500 hours or 5 years experience in guiding or managing projects
• +35 hours of PM education

You can pick a PMP training either from a university or from an online training provider. In fact, in many cases, PMP is integrated into certain master’s degree programs.

This project management certification ensures you possess certain skill and qualification that is necessary for successfully managing all phases of the project. This includes planning, initiating, controlling, monitoring and closing the project.

A manager certified in PMP will be highly equipped in managing every aspect of the constraints of cost, time and scope. The employers will depend on the project manager to manage the budget, track costs and expenditure, ensure there is no scope creep and to identify potential risk factors that could impact the project and minimize such risk to protect the investment of a project.

1. PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 certification course is another important project management credential project managers can take.  was first introduced for the government offices of UK. After the huge success, it came into the corporate world. Now it has become an important certification program in much organization all over the world.

PRINCE2 is accredited by AXELOS and focuses on managing, directing and delivering projects throughout all phases from pre-project to initiation, delivery, and the final delivery.

About the PRINCE2 Certification exam structure

PRINCE2 is divided into two: foundation and practitioner. The entry-level credential is Foundation that tests your basic methodology and terminology of project management while in Practitioner tests the advanced project manager who has passed PRINCE2 Foundation. The key features of this exam are:

• Focuses on business justification
• Product-based planning and approach
• Defined organization structure
• Emphasis is given on projects division into controllable and manageable stages

The Prince2 exam consists of 50 objective-type questions, each of which weighs about 1 mark. The duration of this exam is two and a half hours, with no extra time given for breaks. 30 marks or 60% is required to clear the exam and get certified.

PRINCE2 certification prerequisites

The Prince2 foundation exam has no prerequisites. The Prince2 practitioner exam, however,  needs proof that you have cleared at least one of the following exams.

• PRINCE2 Foundation
• Project Management Professional (PMP)®
• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®
• IPMA Level A (Certified Projects Director)
• IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager)
• IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager)
• IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate)

1. CAPM

The CAPM certification or Certified Associate in Project Management is the precursor of the PMP certification and is also accredited by the PMI. If you are a professional without graduation or project management experience or you want to pursue PMP certification next all together, then CAPM is the first step toward this.

About the CAPM certification exam structure

The CAPM certification in project management is a renowned program for the IT professionals who want their career to grow as project manager. The CAPM certification exam has 150 MCQs that needs to be completed in 3 hours. A candidate needs to retake the exam every 5 years to maintain his or her CAPM credentials.

CAPM certification prerequisites

The eligibility for this certification is:

• Secondary Degree or High School Diploma or an associate degree or any equivalent degree accepted globally
• And you must have a 1500 hours project experience

or

• Secondary Degree or High School Diploma or an associate degree or any equivalent degree accepted globally
• 23 hours of project management education

If you are interested in shifting your career to the project management, get this certification done. When you get CAPM certification, it shows the commitment of yours learning new skills. This also shows you understand the processes and terminology used in this project management.

1. CSM

We cannot mention project management without bringing up the CSM Certification. The Agile methodology has become the standard of all IT organizations. Therefore it is not at all surprising that IT professionals must be qualified uniquely to manage any projects. A CSM certification offers a big jump to project managers starting out as Scrum professionals.

Scrum Alliance is the parent organization that accredits the CSM certification. The Scrum Alliance helps organizations follow Scrum and Agile practices, promote user group and also provide resources for development professionally. CSM certified project managers can facilitate teams in using scrum effectively for successful project organization.

About the CSM certification exam structure

The CSM exam consists of 35 MCQs, out of which you need 24 or more correct answers to clear the exam. Candidates are given an hour to complete their tests, with extra time given for breaks. You can pause and take breaks as and when required.

CSM certification prerequisites

This is a great certification for anyone who is a beginner in the field of project management. There is no set prerequisite for candidates to take this course. While a working knowledge of how scrums work would be beneficial, this isn’t mandatory. Having said that, there are prerequisites that need to be fulfilled for you to take the exam.

These are:

• Attend training sessions conducted by a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST)
• Register and attend the exam within 90 days of completing the course
• Clear the CSM exam

1. PMI ACP

ACP stands for Agile Certified Practitioner. The PMI-ACP certification carries a high level of integrity professionally because it includes agile training by examining the tools and fundamentals of agile projects.

About the PMI-ACP certification exam structure

PMI-ACP helps people address the need of their organizations. It helps professionals apply their skill on different projects in a proper manner.

To get certified, you need to take the ACP test, which consists of 120 MCQs. To successfully clear the paper, you need to answer about 100 of these questions in 3 hours.

PMI-ACP certification prerequisites

If you are a project manager who works in rapidly changing environments, or if you have to deliver products in a short developmental cycle, then you should explore this certification. Its requirements are:

• A secondary Degree
• 2000 hours general experience in project management
• 1500 hours experience in agile projects
• 21 hours training on the agile practice

The PMI-ACP certification helps you discover techniques for managing the project scope actively and learn the principles of Agile to improve the performance of the team and collaborate that to ensure better delivery.

Regardless of choosing which certification is better for you, ensure they are well-versed in all concepts of the project methodology, and you are capable of handling all the aspects of all projects successfully. Now that you understood the basic principles of these top 5 certifications; it is going to be easier for you to choose anyone. You should prepare properly for appearing the certification examination.