Enabling Career Advancement – But not for you

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

I came a across an interesting article on the Projects@work website, Enabling Career Advancement by Mary Ann Bopp, Diana Bing and Sheila Forte-Trammell, which is an excerpt from their book, Agile Career Development: Lessons and Approaches from IBM.

Their basic premise is that: “Project-driven organizations can benefit in many ways from creating a career framework that gives employees the opportunity to grow — and share — their knowledge and skills by moving across job roles or business units. In the process, they align company values and culture, optimize resources and increase client satisfaction.”

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Is the PMP credential relevant to the construction industry?

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

I received a query from Brian Mascarenhas of Mubai, India. Brian is a manager in the construction industry.

I am a mechanical engineer by profession. I have been working for 3 years in a manufacturing company handling projects and maintenance. This year i have joined a city gas distribution firm in the project division.

I have been reading a bit on PMP certification. I am presently doing my post graduation in construction management.I was thinking of doing my PMP certification after my pg course.I wanted to know is whether this certification is relevant to my field and if yes what benefits does it hold for future growth as i want to pursue my career in the project management field.

Thank-you.
Brian

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Coming Soon . . .

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

New Posts are coming!!

Watch this blog. New posts begin October 1, 2009.

  • Opportunities for “guest” authors
  • Tips for mastering the PMP examination
  • Special topics on PM employment and the economic crisis’ effect on the PM profession
  • “Contact Us” form will be added

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Project Manager is not just a title — it’s a profession.

Project Management and the current financial downturn

Monday, January 19th, 2009

With the current financial downturn, organizations are looking for ways to cut costs. In their haste, these organizations may make some mistakes concerning the value of project management.

DownturnFirst of all, many decision-makers mistakenly believe that project management is a luxury, an overhead expense that, in a pinch, can be done without. After all, it’s the team members who do the actual work, right? The PM is just an administrator, coordinator or status report writer.

Not True!!

Proven project management processes and practices can make the difference between the success or failure of an enterprise’s business strategy. Project management is more than just coordinating the work of others and reporting on their progress. Project management has protocols, methodologies and proven professional practices based on experience, consensus and scholarly research. There’s a big difference between being a general manager and being a project manager. Project management is a well-defined specialty within the management domain.

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Does CAPM have any value (as opposed to PMP)?

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Value of CAPM

In another PMP/CAPM discussion board, someone asked about the value of PMI’s CAPM certification. One of the issues was, since hiring companies value PMPs over CAPM, how can they get the PMP even though they lack the experience qualifications.

I thought I’d share my response with everyone here.

 

Re: “[Since] I don’t have such experience [to qualify for PMP certification] right now, the best option would be start as a CAPM and try to get a new job related to this field.   However, as some people say the CAPM certification would be worthless, is it really a good idea to start by CAPM ?”

Yes, it really is a good idea. Earning your CAPM certification would, indeed, be your best option.  The CAPM designation shows your current (and potential) employers that you have a mastery of project work and a good grasp of project management concepts and standards. Not only will this make you an excellent candidate as a team member on a project, it also shows your potential for promotion to project coordination and, eventually, project management work.

Re: “I’ve already heard from some people that [the] market doesn’t treasure this CAPM certification just because there’s an even better certification called PMP.”

This is like saying that a high school diploma is useless, since the market only recognizes college degrees and, therefore, you should skip high school all together and go straight to college.

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