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By Jessica Parklanes

There is much debate about the necessity for a PMP course in preparation for the Project Management Professional (PMP) examination itself. Indeed, there are varying opinions on the importance of possessing a PMP credential on your resume.

Necessary and Important

You will come across employers who will specify that the PMP certification is preferred and/or required. This is usually because the PMP allows for a standard measurement by which prospective project managers can be initially assessed, usually on the basis of the resume. As such, a PMP course and certification is necessary and important, especially in high-profile corporate projects.

Most employers who prefer and/or require a PMP certification do so because it speaks of an employee who can enter the organizational structure, manage projects and people, and achieve desired results without need for more training and supervision. If you have the certification, you can open more doors for yourself.

You will also get benefits from a PMP course beyond the credential itself. It is a great source of theoretical knowledge, which can lead to a treasure trove of research materials and the best practice research available today. Indeed, you can never have too much of updates on the field of project management, especially when you want to make a successful career out of it.

Furthermore, you will see an increased need for project management skills in the business world. More and more, people are encouraged to do more and more with less and less, which demands ample project management skills. If you have the PM course and credential under your belt, you will be more capable to take on the challenges that come your way even in a non-project manager capacity.

Important but Not Necessary

You will encounter people who opine that the PMP training and certification can be of importance but is not necessary. You do learn about project management techniques and principles but application in the real world is another matter. In other words, a PMP credential does not a good project manager make.

There is also the matter of quantifying the certification’s contribution to successful project management. Because of the many variable factors involved, you simply cannot clearly attribute contribution values of the PMP credential, continuing education, changing environment and personal characteristics to project management success. Unfortunately, this is not a cut-and-dried return on investment calculation.

Not Important, Not Necessary

You will meet people whose opinion veer towards the commercialization and commoditization of the PM course and credential. In a sense, it has become a factory assembly-line operation whereby books and software are generated to feed the masses of potential project managers who desire to jump on the bandwagon.

The growing demand for the PMP certification as actually diluted its value. Since more and more people want the certification, it has become the standard rather than the differentiator. There is nothing wrong with establishing standards per se; the problem comes when every Jack and Harry can get one.

In the end, your view of the PM course and certification will depend on your motivation for getting them. Also, you have to consider that actual experience in project management is the ultimate differentiator of project managers. How you actually use the course and the credential depends on you and you alone.

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