When I lost my job, I wanted to fill my time with something of value, so I thought about working on some certifications. I earned
my ITIL Foundation cert a while back. I got a lot of good advice here and in the real world about what to do next. For many reasons, but primarily because I think it will help me get a job I am very interested in, I am working on my
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI.
I've been part of more projects than I care to think about - as an individual contributor or project manager and everything in between. I hope learning the PMP material will make me a better project manager, but at a minimum it should differentiate me from other candidates - and that is very important to me right now. You have to document your project experience and have at least 4,500 hours and a bachelor's degree (or 7,500 without the degree) to be eligible for the certification. In addition, you need 35 project management education hours. I'm happy to say that I completed my application and it has been accepted. Now I just need to study and pass the 200 question exam.
I am using the
PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam book for the core of my study. YouTube is a great resource as well - see a couple of good examples at the end of this post.
Back to the studying, so my projects don't end up like
this.
Learn PMP Critical Path In 17 Minutes Flat
Learn PMP Earned Value in 10 Minutes Flat