Does PMP certification matter?

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Good day...

The answer to the above question I believe would be something that everyone starting her career in project management would be looking for. In this posting I will try to share my opinion on the very crucial question.

As we know, there are a number of well-known certification in project management space. PMP and Prince2 are among the most accredited ones. Apart from those two, there are also local certifications at every country. Having worked with many project managers, both with and without certification, I found that being a certified project manager does not necessarily make you a stronger PM than your non-certified colleagues, and vice versa.

Don't get me wrong here. I am a certified PMP myself since 2010 and I found that the framework and methodology being elaborated in the certification course and exam is very useful as a foundation thinking towards the best and standardized project management practice in the industry. The material really helps you to have a structured thinking on different aspects of a project.

On the other hand, I learnt that to become a strong project manager, knowledge is far from adequate. The main characteristics any project manager needs to have in order to be successful in this space is strong communication skill, leadership, people management and result oriented. Without these four characteristics your chance to be successful is less, no matter how familiar you are with project management theory.

Again, whilst going through the project management book and sitting in the exam helps you to accelerate your knowledge, experience in problem solving and dealing with different situations in practice is something can never be replaced by any kind of study. 

I met some very strong project managers without certification, and at the same time, I have also been working with equally strong project managers with certification. However, in my experience, there are a number of job openings with project management certification as an advantage to the candidate. In my l case, I have been engaged by several organizations to help them in dealing with their clients, who required the representative to be a PMP certified.

As a conclusion, in my opinion, although being a certified project manager does not guarantee your quality in leading a project, I would recommend you to take the certification whenever you have the opportunity to, in order to upscale your credibility in the very competitive job market. At the same time, you will enjoy the benefit of having a basic structural thinking on best project management practice. 

-Edwin-