Is Project Management certification beneficial?

July 7, 2022

Project managers are an essential part of an organization as they help in handling more than three-fourths of high-end projects and lay a strong foundation for business through project planning and efficient execution. The need for such highly valuable professionals is likely to grow exponentially in the next five years, as one the latest PMI-commisioned talent gap analysis by Anderson Economic Group states that the project management subdivision is likely to grow 33%, giving rise to about 22 million job vacancies by 2027.

The Project Management Professional or PMP is an internationally recognized professional certification offered by the coveted Project Management Institute (PMI), which is an US-based non-profit professional organization. The certification is quite popular among project managers and can be taken by anyone willing to take a leap in their career.

Now coming to our main question, whether the PMP certification is beneficial, we will look at problems and advantages associated with the certification.

Challenges associated with a PMP Certification

Here are the challenges that you may face while taking the PMP certification:

Costly

For the non-members of PMI, the certification costs $550; however, with a membership, you can take the exam just by paying $405 as the exam fee and $139 as the membership fees.. That is because if you are unable to clear the exam in your first attempt and wish to retake the exam, you will be required to pay $275 being a PMI member and $375 if you are not a member. In addition to the exam cost, you will be required to spend a minimum of $750 which includes cost associated with PMI training, exam preparation books, sample papers and many other things. Although it seems that you are saving only $11 after taking the membership, there are a range of other benefits because of which taking the membership would be a wise decision.

High Difficulty Level

A majority of the people accept that the difficulty level of the exam is quite high.Taking this exam is highly challenging as one needs to attempt 200 questions in merely 240 minutes. This poses a serious pressure on the exam takers as they not only need to memorize the concepts but also need to complete the exam in such a limited amount of time. Considering its high difficulty level, the exam is one of the most prestigious exams and acknowledged widely among management professionals.

Time taking

Because of the high difficulty level, PMP aspirants have to invest a considerable amount of time to prepare for the exam. Furthermore, the exam requires you to give an account of projects led by you in the past, which although seems easy but takes a long time.

Benefits of having a PMP certification

To know if the project management certification is truly beneficial, let’s look at the advantages:

Your resume is valued more

PMP certification adds value to your resume and makes you stand out from the rest of your peers. Recruiters while hiring project managers give more preference to the ones with a PMP certification. Also, recruiters often make it compulsory to have a PMP certification, thus making the certification more desirable

Offers higher income

With a PMP certification, you invite innumerable job opportunities and get a chance to get a high raise in your salary. This is evident from one of the surveys conducted by PMI, which states that the average salary of a project manager with a PMP certification is $1,08,000, while for the non-certified ones, it is merely $91,000. Another survey reveals that PMP certified project managers earn 20% more than the non-certified ones. Furthermore, PMP certification has been consistently among the top-paying certifications.

Offers Professional Networking Opportunities

PMI makes arrangements for regular meetings of members in the major cities across the globe. So during such meetings, one gets the chance to connect with like-minded professionals, know better about career opportunities and form a big professional network. Also, these meetings are arranged to aid the members in gaining Professional Development Units or PDUs for meeting Continuous Credential Requirements or CCRs.

Certifies your Job Seriousness

Since attaining PMP certification is a challenging task, your interest in pursuing the certification clearly shows how dedicated you are to your career and the present job role. Organizations value such promising employees and treat them as an asset. Having a PMP certification is a prestigious thing and validates your skills and knowledge for the role.

So coming to a conclusion, a few individuals may find PMP a daunting task as it is time-consuming and takes a lot of effort. While some may be ready to walk an extra mile to boost their careers. So the choice is yours whether you consider project management certification beneficial or not.