How To Pick Your Next Professional Development Goal

Bruce is the founder of ProjectManagementHacks.com, a resource for growing IT project managers.

  Career Development  

You’ve earned the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification. What’s next? There are three broad choices to continue learning: two traditional options and one innovative strategy you might not know about yet. Before diving into those options, let’s examine why professional development and certifications are worthwhile.

3 Reasons Why Professional Certification Is Worth Your Effort
Putting additional time and energy into certifications as a working professional is a daunting task. You already have a full schedule of activities. The thought of taking on additional studies may feel overwhelming.

But there are a few general reasons why ongoing professional development activities are worthwhile.

1. Career advancement: Some career paths require specific types of knowledge. These requirements range from legally mandated in accounting, medicine and law to strongly encouraged in specific technical fields. In this case, you pursue additional learning because there is a payoff in the form of higher income, status and responsibility. For example, some project manager job postings ask for applicants that hold a PMP certification.
2. The pursuit of mastery: Earning an additional certification can speed you along in your journey to attaining mastery. Earning a challenging certification like the PMP gives you some proof of mastery. However, achieving …

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