Anyone here a Project Manager?
 

I'm curious to see if anyone here is a designated Project Management Professional. Or registered with the PMI.

I've done PM work before, but I'm currently looking into taking the Project Management Diploma @ SFU Surrey and get designated down the road. The downside is that it's 7200 for the course and will in no way guarantee you a job (nothing does). The upside is that it can get your foot in the door (as any piece of paper can).

So my questions to any of you who are designated:

1) Did you go to SFU to get your designation, or is there another institute that you went to?

2) Do you find your designation helpful?

are you refering to construction PM?

BCIT as a degree course

Ah good point.

Not so much construction... but generally people oriented things. Internal corporate projects, software etc etc.

I'm registered with the PMI and was working towrads my CAPM and then PMP however, I stopped.

I did my training in-house at work and through UBC (which also costs a lot.) In no way have the courses helped me become a better PM or helped me do my job better, nor help me get a job.

I stopped working towards my designation simply because I discovered and realized in which PMI and its designations are more or less a scam, at least within the industry I work in. If you don't mind me asking, what are you currently doing now? If you can give us more details, we can probably provide more insight. I know that there are a few PMs by trade here on RS.

Shit I just typed a response and hit the back button... damnit!

Anyway... I was a game designer / producer for a number of years and then ended up getting laid off. So I spent some time exploring different industries and realized that you have to get some sort of designation to get a foot in the door... jobs seem to be slim pickings these days :S.

So the PMP designation seemed like a good idea... though I've been hearing some pretty conflicting things now that I talk to more people.

I've also been thinking about taking the CCNA and CCNP courses at BCIT part time as apparently those designations alone are enough to get you a job. True? I dunno but seems like better value than the PMP at this point.

Thoughts?

Strangely enough, I went from pursuing my PMP to going to BCIT part time to do my CCNA.

So far, CCNA > PMP.

What I would personally suggest is to get your foot in the door at a company first to kind of get your feet wet - even if its entry level. From there, explore your options THEN pursue the designation of your choice. Project management in itself is a bit of a double edge sword. In order for you to earn your PMP designation, you need PM related work experience first. The only way is to become a PM first. On the other hand, those who are already PMs don't have the time to go through all the schooling and then the 3000 hours of work experience (or whatever it is) to pursue the exam. Kind of like which came first? The chicken or the egg? Not to mention, I'm a true believer that PMI and its designations are "fad designations."

In terms of practicality, the PMI designations work quite well for construction management. In IT - not so much because there are far too many variables and projects typically are fast and short-term. This is where PMP didn't work out for me. There are a bunch of PMP certified PMs at our work place but they've explained that none of the material is applicable nor practical if you follow their standards of practice. For them, it was experience that got them the job, not so much the designation.

Experience is EVERYTHING

Haha yeah I just saw your post from last year inquiring about the CCNA. How is it so far?

That's what I was thinking about the PMP. It's worth it but it isn't. I think I'm leaning more towards the CCNA anyway.

Thanks for the post... your post basically summed up what I was leaning towards. Even if I do get back into gaming, the CCNA will always be a good fall back.

So far so good. CCNA was a reality check in regards to how little I knew or at least knowing how poor a foundation I had in IT. Doing the work was one thing but being able to explain why and how is another. That was where I fell short in my skill sets. So far, a majority of the course content and hands-on experience has been 100% applicable. I'm glad I took the course.

There are option in regards to PMP training. I believe SFU offers a one-weekend crash course to get started and to give you the pre-reqs to apply for at least a CAPM but I could be wrong. Don't bother with the one at UBC. I didn't think it was that great. Another alternative is to look into Langara's PM program. Tuition is much cheaper and quality of instruction is top-notch. Several managers and colleagues of mine at work took some training through the instructor who teaches at Langara. Some food for thought. :)

Keep in mind - CCNA is becoming general knowledge. Everybody and their cat and dog has CCNA qualifications but it's up to you in how you want to take advantage of its training and designation.

In Oil and Gas, PMP is pretty much becoming standard. It's essentially replaced the MBA combo with XXX undergrad.

^
Excellent point.

The PMP designation can work wonders in specific industries. Oil and gas is one of them. For IT - although helpful, not so much. Best to research the industry you plan to be in.

Cool thanks for the useful input all. I still have some time to decide what I want to do.

edit: sorry think i got the designation confused i'll find out for certain b4 relating his story

CCNA, MCP, and A+ certified here and never had an IT job in my life! Good ol' high school offering the programs back in 2002.

I work in a mixture of both Utilities and IT, and the PMP seems to be highly regarded.

It's PMP.... not PIMP.

Cause everyone knows... pimpin' ain't easy!

:)

Good to know. My friend works at McKesson, and said that he started in IT but is now in a role that involves IT and sales and wishes he had to time to get his PMP.

we all know experience is the biggest factor for winning a job, but certifications like CAPM or PMP are what qualify you in the first place.

in order to qualify for a position, most employers want to make sure they have some tangible evidence (eg, certification) that says you follow by the generally accepted standards for a particular industry.

what this means is employers would prefer somebody that speaks the same PM language as they do.

SFU or sauder PM diploma/certs teaches you the philosophies behind PM, how to understand it, conduct, etc., but they're limited to just that. plus, they might even teach different or even contradicting philosophies! PMP reinforces those core principles, but adds structure which is consistent amongst all regions.

structure in this sense is like language. an example is: in a company with multiple PM's, in order to measure the performance of a PM, there needs to be a standard way of conducting projects. there is no bigger standard than the PMP way of doing things. also, communication, terms, vocabulary, objectives, etc etc, must be carried out in a common way in a team environment. put a sauder PM guy and a waterloo PM guy together and you get chaos.

without an industry standard to follow by, you might as well measure your room layout with your feet and hands. my room is 25 feets long and 14 hands high.

before you quote this and say "well its just a paper, doesnt mean you'll actually do it that way, let alone be good at project mgmt" with all things aside, the certification just proves you have deonstrated the capacity to do things a certain way. like with any certification or diploma, it doesnt guarantee anything (except a foot in the door at project management :))

I know lots of PM in the IT industry, and not one of them have CCNA or PMP. Then again, they are all from the states or overseas and make 150k+ per year.

That's the thing.

For IT (or telecomm for that matter) you had a lot of baby boomers who are making some mad cash with no formal training other than high school electronics, some college or technical education and all they did was spend their lives working.

A lot of the ones I work with have no certifications. They ended up working in the US during the IT boom only to come back here to wait for their phat pensions and retirement.

Let me guess, they landed the job just by "working hard" and getting lucky? We all heard stories like that. Sometimes it's about who you know, rather than what you know. If you know somebody that can land you a chance to climb a ladder like that, then good for you. For OP and everyone else that aren't spoon fed positions, we must prove we're worthy. And to do that you need certifications. If you know another way, let us know this breakthrough and we'll pay you back.