If you are looking for a way to boost your project management career, become a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). With this certification, an individual will be able to take on more responsibilities at higher levels in greater companies.
The project managers who are professionals are able to work in an amazingly huge number of work environments and industries.
The project management work is quite broad therefore certified project managers have a large number of responsibilities to shoulder on when considering those job opportunities. The nature of project management experience varies greatly depending on whether you work for a company or as a freelancer.
Moreover, they all will be in some way related to managing projects throughout their life cycle. This will even include delivering timely reports, leading teams, and ensuring that the objectives are met within the constraints.
We can simply say that there are numerous reasons to get certified in project management. Let’s take a look at the importance of PMP certification and the steps to become PMP certified.
Importance Of PMP Certification In Your Career
Increases Your Credibility Rapidly
Organizations that look for project managers frequently use PMP as a criterion to narrow down their candidate pool. You can always rely on your PMP certificate to give you an advantage over non-certified professionals in the job market.
It requires great discipline and experience while planning, guiding, monitoring, and executing a project, and project managers are responsible enough to take accountability for the project. So, after getting PMP certified an individual becomes prepared for just that, holding an upperhand already.
Offers Great Earning Potential
According to the PMI survey, PMP professionals can earn 20% more than non-certified project managers. After surveying 32,000 project managers, 72% of them reported that they got a hike in their annual salary in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Enhances Your Skills
Before getting certified, a candidate must learn all the aspects of project management which include initiation, implementation, monitoring, controlling, and closing. PMP training sessions are intended to introduce candidates to all aspects of a project.
Boosts Your Marketability
It has been repeatedly proven that PMP certification can give a boost to your career. As per the recent studies, some recruiters even divide candidates into two categories i.e. those who have PMP certificates and those who do not. There are organizations that give preference to PMP candidates over Master’s degrees.
Keeps You Up With Industry Trends
It is expected that project managers are expected to stay up-to-date on the latest project management trends. The tools, practices, techniques, and technologies used in project management changes every year. PMI is a highly competent authority that closely monitors and keeps up to date with rapidly changing industry trends.
Steps To Become PMP Certified
The Project Management Institute or PMI created PMP (Project Management Professional) to help the industries overcome the ever-growing complexities and challenges faced by them.
The PMP certification is regarded as the gold standard in the field of project management and is thus in high demand across all industries. Given below are the steps you need to follow to become a successful Project Management Professional.
Step 1: Begin with a Handbook
If you want to become a PMP, you should start your career by reading the PMP Handbook, which will answer all of your questions about the PMP exam and the procedures that should be followed to apply for this exam. All the information that you will need to obtain the PMP certificate is mentioned in this handbook.
Step 2: Check the eligibility
You must first find out whether you are eligible for the PMP Certification Course before applying. If you have an associate degree, a high school diploma, or any other equivalent degree, you must have 5 years of experience in project management, including a minimum of 7500 hours of project leadership experience.
And, if you have a bachelor’s degree or any other equivalent degree, you must have 3 years of experience in project management, including a minimum of 4500 hours of project leadership experience.
Step 3: Find out benefits of PMI Member
After becoming a member of PMI, you will receive the PMBOK guide (PDF File) for free as well as a substantial discount on the PMP exam fees. Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to interact with both senior and new PMPs, whose experience may help you pass the PMP exam on the first try.
Step 4: Schedule your PMP Exam
Once you become a PMI member, you should apply for the PMP certification as soon as possible because having a deadline will motivate in exam preparations. To do so, enrol yourself in any institute that offers this course, complete the application form and submit it to the PMI.
Once the PMI approves the application form, you will be able to book your PMP exam through the Prometric portal.
Step 5: Read the PMBOK Guide carefully
If you want to clear the exam, PMBOK Guide is your key as it contains answers to the majority of the questions on the PMP exam. Therefore, you should carefully read every section of the guide and use it as a reference book.
Step 6: Search for other study material
75% of the questions can be covered from the PMBOK Guide but for the remaining 25%, you have to look for study materials or online courses. You can simply download these study materials from a variety of websites through the internet.
Step 7: Become a part of PMP Workshops
Training institutes, PMI Chapters, and universities from all over the world host PMP Workshops. You can attend these workshops to interact with other candidates and tutors. It will also clear your doubts about this exam.
Step 8: Take up practice tests & sample questions
There are several websites on the internet that contain mock tests including the previous year’s PMP exam sample questions. The questions mentioned in the mock tests are quite similar to the questions asked in a real exam and they also help you in preparing mentally for the PMP exam.
Step 9: Clear the main exam
Following all of the above steps correctly will give you the confidence to pass the PMP exam. As a result, you can schedule your exam and appear for the test either online or at the examination centre.
PMI has also implemented an Online Proctor Test (OPT) to allow the candidates to pass the exam from their homes and offices comfortably.
If you want to start your career in project management, then getting certified in PMP is the best way to do that. PMP certification makes you so proficient and skilful that you can work on different projects at both national and international levels. To conclude, this blog will give you a clear idea of how to get PMP certified.
