Do I Need to Be Certified in Project Management, to work as a project manager?

Do I Need to Be Certified in Project Management, to work as a project manager?

Will a certification help?

I will reply with the "Norman's answer" Yes and No

(Normans = people from Normandie, north of France) and Norman's answer is never a yes or no

OK, I'll start with the Yes,

1. If you are looking for a job as PM and hiring companies require a PM certification then the answer is "yes", a company may have tools or procedures aligned with certain PM standards (Agile, Prince2, or PMP PMI)

2. If you have customers that have already certain PM certification, like PMP/PMI or Prince2 they rather hire people that have their certification, because they use the standards because you are more likely to fit faster into their environment

3. If you are new in PM a certification will give people (employers or customers) confidence about yourself, about "what you know" and 'what you can do', you are seen differently if they know you went through the PM training, that you understood the fundamental principles of project management (of this flavor) and that you demonstrated that by passing the exam.

4. You will not do simple mistakes that may cost your job or that can waste unnecessary resources, how many times have I heard Project managers saying, "if I had this training before, how many problems I would avoid".

5. If you have PM certification and your customers or employers as well, you are "speaking the same language" which facilitates communication.

While was planning a project in a Marriot hotel Disney (TV, Wi-fi and Optical fiber renewal)

I meet the head of Worldwide IT and other senior managers, When I presented how I was going to run the project I used terms from PMP/PMI, the IT Director looked at me and said "that's PMP" I replied 'yes' he smiled and from that moment our communication went smother, he mentioned later "if we went through the same training we know we are speaking about the same thing", that put them at ease and gave them confidence.

In what case you don't need to be certified

1. You don't need a certification if your employer (or customers) does not require you to be certified, as far as you deliver your projects successfully, I knew a PM in one of my previous jobs he was not certified and he was probably the best PM, he excelled doing his job, he had an excellent understanding and experience performing his job. He was my mentor when I joined this company.
2. If you have been through a PM training and you understand very well PM principles, and you practice these principles, you probably don't need to get the certification,

The bottom line is that you should get it if you need it, if there is a purpose for becoming certified.

I will conclude by saying that if you can do it, just do it!

Our actions are driven by objectives if certification will help you to achieve your objectives why not, just get certified!

Check if your employer can pay for your certification, if you are in Europe there are funds that can pay for it (www.moncompteformation.gouv.fr in France)

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Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™ is going virtual : 8 - 11 November 2021 - EMEA Virtual - All IT Services and Solutions - France