Certifications: What's Important to Employers When It Comes to Hiring PMs?

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Career Development   Governance   Manufacturing   Using PMI Standards  

You are a project manager. You have two-plus years of experience and a few projects under your belt…all good things. Now you want to expand on your knowledge and professional credential; you are thinking the certification route is the way to go. But which certifications will best add value to your career? Which certifications are truly worthy of being considered professional grade (certifications that have stringent qualification requirements, maintenance requirements and strong oversight/governance organizations)?

To help answer these and other questions, I did some research on 100 U.S.-based employers seeking project managers to learn what certifications they were requiring. Four states were targeted: California, Washington, Texas and New York. While not a truly statistically valid sample, it does provide a sense of the market in terms of which certifications best serve PMs in the 2017 job market.

In addition, I researched what makes a certification worthy of being considered professional grade. Each of the certifications that surfaced in the research is compared to the certification requirements to achieve and maintain professional standing for attorneys (ATTYs), medical doctors (MDs) and accountants (CPAs). My hope is that this information will help you in your efforts to choose the certification path best suited for your professional development and career.

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