I’m very interested in getting into Project Management. I don’t have a degree so I’m looking into certifications to get my foot in the door.
Which certification will be a good stepping stone for someone with no degree and no project management experience?
It depends a little bit on where you’re located, and what industry you’re interested in working for.
Outside the US you’ll probably want to look at the International Project Management Association (see links)
In the US there a number of potential project management-related certifications. The most widely known are administered by one of the following four organizations :
•The Project Management Institute (PMI)
•CompTia
•Microsoft
•The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm)
Microsoft’s certification program is based around the use of its tool, Microsoft Project, and is currently being re-worked.
The asapm certification program is based on well established international standards, but has only recently been launched in the US. It is not widely known, and it is targeted at experienced project managers.
CompTia offers a single project management certificate. It is aimed at entry level project managers. However, it is not widely recognized, and is often, incorrectly, narrowly associated with the IT industry, since most of CompTIA’s other certifications are IT related.
PMI now offers four certifications, the most widely known being the project management professional (PMP). Three of the certifications, including the PMP, are targeted at experienced project managers. However , the CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) eligibility requirements are as follows :
•High school diploma, associate’s degree, or global equivalent
Plus
•Either 1500 hours of project management experience
•Or 23 hours of formal project management education
These requirements were changed fairly recently by PMI, and the CAPM certification has yet not taken off in the same way as the PMP. Whereas there are now over 240,000 PMPs worldwide, there are fewer than 3000 CAPMs. However, there are an additional 4500 people who have submitted CAPM applications and are now qualified to sit for the CAPM exam, suggesting that interest is growing quickly.