The certification that Leads You To Become a Project Manager
If doctors, lawyers, teacher and nurses need to pass the board exam to become authenticated from their respective working fields, project managers also have certifications to get licensed for the PMP job. This is called Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam. This is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to those who are willing to become certified project managers.
Business companies today, even the government agencies require their project managers to be certified or they will not hire them. The reason for this is that certified project managers make up to 40% more successful projects or tasks each year than those who aren’t certified. Their knowledge and skills they practiced during the Project Management course helps them to become more productive and employers would love that progress.
The first step you need to take in order to become a certified project manager is to complete the PMP requirements which are very strict. You are required to have training or PMP experience for several hours according the degree or diploma you are holding.
And then you will need to attend a project management training course. Generally, it should be 35 consecutive hours of training. Within this course, you will learn more about project management, tips from PMP Experts and Professionals on how to pass the exam, workshops and seminars to enhance your skills and many more. You will also have your manuals and other PMP materials for your study. The PMI has provided us a manual called Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK). In here lists all the topics that will come out during the exam. Study it and remember that you must abide to the PMI standard and not based on your experience. They are the ones who made the test, so in order to pass, follow their rules.
After all the preparation, you can now send an application to your nearest PMI Center and they will give you your schedule. Then, you wait. While waiting, review all your notes. If possible, write down all the formulas, acronyms and graphs over and over again so that it would be easy for you to memorize.
With all those hard work in studying, I guess you have the right to take a break. Have some early morning exercise like jogging with your dog; eat some nutritious foods to regain energy, strength and vitamins to your body and brain; and sleep well to have a strong mind during the test.
Now, time passed by and the day of the PMP exam arrives. Before taking it, I just want to give you some important points: This exam is a difficult exam. As you enter the room, you will already feel the pressure and assured stress that will degrade your way of thinking and lose your focus on the exam. Don’t be. I’d say bring confidence with you. You have already done so many preparations just for this day. Next, be calm. Don’t make stress and pressure overwhelm you, knowing that you will be answering 200 questions for 4 hours only, but rather, sit back tight and focus on remembering the lessons taught to you. Lastly, pray. Prayers give us hope that we will be able to answer the questions correctly. Remember that unanswered questions are deducted to your final score, so don’t forget to recheck them.
With all these reminders, I’m sure you will be able to pass the test. You will just find that this exam is not that difficult after all. It is just a challenge you need to face in order to achieve your goal in becoming a certified Project Management Professional.
Copyright (c) 2011 John Reiling
John Reiling, PMP, PE, MBA is an experienced Project Manager and certified Project Management Professional. John’s web site,http://www.pmtrainingonline.com , provides online project management training for PMP exam prep and PDUs. John also writes regularly in his blog, PMcrunch.com (http://pmcrunch.com).