Have you ever wondered what the best project management certification is? Or if there is a project management certification online? You’re not alone. There are thousands of project management certifications and top project management certifications floating around the world wide web. If you’re like me, you’re looking for something that is relevant, measurable, and useful. I’m not talking about useless content that adds no value (insert guilty emoji).
Project management certification online is a vital credential for any fresh project manager to have. It lets them know that they have done everything right and their team can now expect best from them as a result.
Associate in Project Management
The Global Association for Quality Management (GAQM), which administers the Associate in Project Management (APM) — as well as a Professional in Project Management and a Certified Project Director certification — is a global, not-for-profit certification body that offers credentials across a variety of IT specialties. The GAQM’s project management certifications are focused on a broad knowledge base and emphasize effective resource allocation, clear direction, adaptability to change, effective communication and assurance of quality deliverables at minimal risk. The APM program is designed for the entry-level project manager, or for those who want to start a career in the field.
Organization: Global Association for Quality Management
Price: $300
Requirements: GAQM body of knowledge study and e-course; no formal education or experience requirements
BVOP Certified Project Manager
Business value-oriented principles (BVOP) is a newer, agile-based framework growing in popularity in the U.K. BVOP emphasizes business value in all project management activities and practices. The BVOP Certified Project Manager is for senior practitioners with experience in both project management and people management. The focus on a people-oriented culture sets it apart from other project management certification programs.
The BVOP approach helps to develop professionals’ collaboration skills, and candidates for certification gain not only project and product management skills, but also learn to become more people-focused leaders. The exam includes questions from the project management, program management, and product management sections of the course materials.
Organization: BVOP.org
Price: $130
Requirements: No previous professional project management experience required; free study guides and preparation materials available online
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification
- Expected Salary: $100,000 – $110,000
- Course Duration: 3 Years
- Cost: $400 – $555
- Accreditation: Project Management Institute (PMI)
Project Management Professional Certification cycles around three constraints: Time, Cost and Scope. It is a challenging course that constitutes various modules to assist the academia in identifying the weak spots within a project.
As a result, the project manager can brief his/ her team to come up with alternatives for completing the test sprint phase, and eventually achieve all the milestones towards a deliverable product.
The Project Management Professional certification is accredited with the Project Management Institute (PMI). They work constantly to introduce new changes within the course contents to keep it up to date and aligned with the rapidly changing requirements of the industry.
Project Management Professional (PMP) Requirements
- 3 years minimum experience in the project management field
- 5 years or an equivalent 7,500 hours of experience as someone who directed projects in PM-related areas
- Additional 35+ hours of project management education and a qualified person certification
CAPM: Certified Associate in Project Management
If you’re looking for a certification that could distinguish you in the job market and enhance your credibility to manage projects, CAPM is the right choice. It demonstrates your understanding of the fundamental knowledge, terminology, and processes of effective project management. CAPM is valid for five years and doesn’t require any Professional Development Units (PDUs) to be renewed.
Prerequisites
- A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent)
- 1,500 hours of project experience
OR
- 23 hours of project management education by the time you sit for the exam.
Price
- Member: US $225.00
- Non-member: US $300.00
Certified Project Director
The GAQM’s Certified Project Director certification is the credentialing body’s highest-level project management certification. This designation is designed for experienced project managers who are involved in directing multiple, complex projects and programs. The program focuses on managing, budgeting and determining scope for multiple projects, multiple project teams, and assessing and mitigating interdependent risks to deliver projects successfully. The CDP program is only for those who have significant project management experience.
Organization: Global Association for Quality Management
Price: $300
Requirements: GAQM body of knowledge study and e-course; candidates must be familiar with principles and methodologies of project management and pass the Professional in Project Management (PPM) or equivalent exam (see below).
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) – Agile Project Management Certification
- Expected Salary: $85,000 – $80,000
- Course Duration: 1 Year
- Accreditation: The Scrum Alliance
- Cost: $990 – $1,400
The CSM: Certified ScrumMaster certification enables the “certified professional” to overlook a team of individuals who are responsible for working on the behest of the assigned product owner.
The majority of Scrum series certifications are associated with The Scrum Alliance, a globally recognized institute that was initially founded to promote an Agile mindset in the software industry.
The CSM also works as a jump-off/ tipping point for basic level Scrum Practitioners who wish to advance to the next level.
As of the most recent statistics, there are over 450,000 Certified ScrumMasters around the world. Most of these individuals started on Agile Project Management Certifications back in 2,000.
This certification is accredited with Scrum Alliance. They are a nonprofit organization who have been volunteering mostly in the IT industry for a number of years now.
Ironically for a nonprofit organization, The Scrum Alliance charges a whopping $1,000 to $1,400 as examination and training fee. The training course spans over two days, followed by a test, which is held on the next available immediate date, or whichever schedule suits the candidate.
CompTIA Project+
This entry-level certification is roughly on par with PMI’s CAPM credential (above), though the requirements are less stringent. CompTIA’s Project+ solicits feedback from the computing industry, government representatives, research institutions, academia and independent experts to design the certification.
Organization: CompTIA
Price: $285
Requirements: One year of experience managing, directing or participating in small- to medium-size projects is recommended.
Certified Project Management Practitioner (CPMP)
The EC-Council was formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to address issues of cyberterrorism and the information security of nations at large. The EC-Council’s Certified Project Management Practitioner course is for project managers who want to benchmark their skills through hands-on experience and across various management techniques and tools necessary to successfully manage complex projects efficiently. The objective of the CPMP course is to add value to management professionals by developing managerial, leadership and technical skills required to make any project, small or complex, a success.
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Organization: EC-Council
Price: $199 for exam voucher
Requirements: No prerequisites, but it is recommended that candidates attend a three-day preparation course.
PRINCE2 – Projects in Controlled Environments
- Expected Salary: $90,000
- Course Duration: 3-5 Yeas
- Accreditation: AXELOS Ltd.
- Price: $900
PRINCE2 is an advanced tier degree in the project management certifications chain. You need to clear a couple of pre-requisites; otherwise, the governing administration will not allow you to sit the exam. However, that’s not bad news; it just means that you will be able to complete this certification after clearing a few basic milestones first.
PRINCE2 Certified engineers are highly reputed in their concerned field. Organizations expect a lot from these individuals since they are well equipped with the knowledge of validating employees, core project management skills, concepts about IT project management lifecycle – and yes, business development tools as well.
PRINCE2 Certification Requirements
Since we already mentioned that PRINCE 2 is one of the top-level project management certifications, sitting the exam does have a few requirements. Take them as perquisites, because there’s no other way of taking the paper if you don’t have one of the following certifications in hand:
- Any of the IPMA Level A to B Certifications
- Certified Project Management Associate Certification
- PRINCE 2 Foundation Course
- PMP Project Management Professional Certification
Please bear in mind that if you have not previously cleared the above-mentioned project management certification course, you could go for the easy ones. The basic requirement for PRINCE 2 exam is that you need to have at least one certification that qualifies you as “eligible” for the examination.
Conclusion:
Project management is a huge and very lucrative industry, and there’s a ton of work to be had. But the industry isn’t ready for you if you don’t already know best certification. If you want to be in demand and get that higher paying job then this article if for you!