PM certification - is it worth it?

This topic usually ruffles some feathers and inspires some good feedback so be ready with your comments. PM certification? Good? Worth it? Does it help the PM? Or does it make HR personnel lazy, hiring managers mindless, and PMO directors disillusioned?

First let's consider the criteria. And for analysis in this article, let's stick with the Project Management Institute's (PMI) project management professional (PMP) certification...long considered the standard certification for project managers. Here are the requirements to sit for the exam:

• A four-year college degree
• 4,500 hours (a little over two full years) leading projects
• 35 hours of project management training/education

Upon sitting for the exam, the PMP hopeful must then score 61% (approximately) or higher to earn PMP certification.

Cost consideration

Now, while you really can’t put an overall value long term on certification vs. non-certification because you can’t exactly quantify how much certification will help you monetarily in your career path or if it will help you get hired over another candidate, you can look at the overall cost of certification. Let’s consider…

• Membership is $129 initially and then an annual fee of $119 for renewal
• Testing – pass or fail – is $555 for non-members and $405 for PMI members
• 35 hours of education prior to sitting for the exam costs something – several thousand $$’s
• Ongoing certification does require ongoing education – 60 PDUs per every three-year cycle. PDUs can be had for free or low cost, but there is usually some expense and definitely a time commitment.

Lazy hiring tool?

I’m not going to devalue the effort and dedication that goes into the PMP certification process for an individual. It shows a dedication to the profession and an interest in legitimizing your place in the project management world. But what about the PM hiring process? Less than three years ago it appeared that every project management position posted required PMP certification. I was receiving correspondence from job seekers who were very frustrated by this new trend. It seems lately that HR departments and hiring managers have backed down from requiring PMP credentials and now often list them as preferred or helpful.

But still, I can’t help but see the inclusion of PMP certification as a tool for HR departments and hiring managers to weed out options in the applicant evaluation process. They are certainly allowed to do this, but how many very experienced and qualified project managers are they overlooking in the process? I’ve managed and worked with so many excellent and successful project managers who did not possess certification and if I had only looked at certified vs. non-certified I would have certainly missed out on some great candidates and leaders. I see this “requirement” only as a lazy hiring tool…but that is just my opinion.

Call for feedback

How about our readers? What are your thoughts on PMP certification? If you have it and you find it useful in your profession, please let us know. Why is it useful? As a way of finding employment and career advancement, or has it been helpful in managing projects on a day-to-day basis? Or both? And if you are not certified, why have you chosen to go this route? Balking at the expense and time commitment? Does your employer refuse to pay for it or reimburse you for some or all of the expense? Or do you just not see it as a worthwhile pursuit?

For hiring managers…many have cited that hiring only PMP certified project managers for a PMO gives you a pool of project managers who speak the same language (figuratively, not literally) and understand the same terminology. Thus making it easier to implement a common methodology for your organization and have everyone successfully follow it. Do you agree? Personally I consider experience more important than certification, though a mix of both in a PMO is usually desirable. If you have to choose – which do you consider to be the priority? Experience or certification? Let’s discuss…