Project management is a very broad profession. Project managers can work on a very large variety of projects from small that take a few hours to huge projects that last a decade. They can work on project in different fields of expertise from technology to construction from low tech to high tech. But regardless of what the project is the management of all projects has something in common. Project management is the art of managing resources that vary from the gentle human resource to financial budgets physical material and many other tangible and intangible resources.
Like any other profession project management can be learned on two ways. One is by experience or in other words by trial and error. The other is by studying the profession in a methodological way in class from people that have such experience and organized it in a structured fashion. In reality you would learn project management in both ways as simply studying in class is not a replacement for hands on experience. In fact most project management classes would not even accept you before you had a certain number of years of actual market experience for that same reason.
Some people look at project management as a side profession. In other words that look at their university major or whatever expertise that they have for example software and see project management as just a necessity in order to put their real expertise to practice. But looking at project management this way is a mistake that can cost dearly to the individual and the company. Project management is actually a profession by itself and in fact a good project manager is probably not the best expert in the underlying project technology that he is managing. A good project manager should have some understanding of the technology but his real expertise is managing resources planning for the unexpected dealing with crisis and designing comprehensive time and resource plans to meet the project goals.
The best project managers are the ones that take the profession seriously and one way to prove that someone is indeed taking the profession seriously is by obtaining a project manager professional certificate also known as a PMP certificate. It takes significant effort to apply and be accepted to the project manager professional program and it takes further effort to succeed in class. In order to be certified you will have to successfully pass a standardized exam. Having that certificate is a good choice for many reasons. First and foremost it is not the certificate but the actual studies that are important and that can and will make you a better project manager. Second on a practical level having a PMP certificate will help you when looking for a new project manager job or when trying to climb up the corporate ladder.
The first thing to ask yourself is what job you are looking for. If you are interested in project management than thinking about obtaining a project management professional certificate makes sense. Obtaining suck a certificate like many other certificates involves an major investment in time and money. You will need to sign up and be accepted to a project management program in one of the local schools that provides such a program. You will need to pay tuition that can vary a lot depending on the school. You will have to attend class do homework and successfully pass the project management professional test.
In order to get to a project professional program you will need to prove some hands on experience in project management. In other words you can not just decide one day that you like project management and apply for the program. You need to actually have worked for a few years as a project manager before any of the project management schools will accept you. This is a good precaution as it will make sure that you are aware of what the profession requires.
It is also important to take a step back and look at your long term goals. If you are interested in project management you should consider if this is your long term career goal. Would you want to be a project manager for two years or twenty years? If project management is a short term goal for you in order to step up the corporate ladder for higher or just different jobs than obtaining a project management professional certificate might be an overkill. If on the other hand you plan to stay in the profession for a long time and maybe one day managing other project managers or even becoming a company chief project management professional than obtaining a certificate is a good investment.
Project management is a very specific type of management skill. Managing project means taking care of many aspects of taking a project from its beginning to its successful end. The project itself can be anything from designing a new software product to building a new skyscraper to simpler tasks as fixing a hole in the road. All projects have a few things in common when it comes to successfully managing them. There are human resources or in other words employees and people to manage. There are resources that needs to be allocated either physical or electronic. There are unforeseen things that happen during the project that need attention. There are time schedules to follow rules and regulations and other terms that the project must adhere to. Projects can be as short as a day or as long as decades.
Project management is different than general management. If your goal is to be the CEO of a company or to just jump the general management ladder of a corporate than obtaining a project management professional certificate is probably not enough for you. Obtaining a masters in business administration also known as MBA is a better choice for general management.
Hilary Skinner has sinced written about articles on various topics from Credit Cards, Careers and Job Hunting and Finances. Hilary Skinner is a well known author. Read more here about this and other subject.. Hilary Skinner's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.