The Big Time

Over the years, I've heard so many opinions and read so many articles about what people think of certifications so I thought it is about time to share how the different certifications / designations added value to my Professional Development & Career:

Project Management Professional (PMP)

No matter how many years of exeprience we have, there is always more to learn so getting my PMP helped me get in-depth knowledge of all project management processes, tool and techniques in addition to opening my eyes on how to better manage some critical Knowledge Areas / Processes, specially Effective & Efficient Communication & Stakeholder Engagement. 

Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)

After several years working in the Project Management field and performing different levels of Risk Analysis on almost every project, you will be surprised to hear that getting this certification opened my eyes to so many aspects of the Risk Management and made me realize that there are certain things I can do in a different and better way. 

Green Project Manager (GPM-b)

Many countries are adopting green and sustainability initiatives to protect the environment and the world as a whole. Being in the Real Estate Development Industry, I worked for many years on some sustainability initiatives on many projects. Getting the GPM-b reinforced my knowledge about sustainability and how to apply it in Project Management which enhanced my approach on how to incorporate those initiatives on our projects. 

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt (LSSYB)

Being in the Construction Industry, going Lean in many cases when possible could be the right and only right thing to do. The LSSYB Journey enhanced my knowledge about Lean and how to apply it to different parts of any project or even in the office.

Professional Scrum Master (PSM I & II), Scaled Professional Scrum (SPS)

Although I do have experience in those areas and they might not be highly applicable to construction projects but going through this journey enhanced my knowledge and experience in how Inspection, Adaption and Delivering Incrementally helps reduce waste or errors and keep your product up to date and competitive within the market. Besides other areas when I use Scrum, I actually started applying the Scrum on some parts of our Real Estate Development projects to tell how well it would work and/or add value - You will be surprised, but the results were amazing. I might share this experience in details on another post or article. 

The added value of knowledge combined with my background in Structural Engineering and experience helped shape my career path in a great way. Moreover,  being certified boosted my career advancement because as you can see, all of the certifications that I pursued are very much related to my field of expertise and career path. 

Whenever I seek to evaluate any certification, I ask myself three questions:

• Is this certification or designation related to my career ?
• How will this certification add value to knowledge ? 
• How will this certification add value to my career path ? 

Cetifications are not about adding letters after your name but it is about knowledge and personal / professional development so if you have the experience and knowledge then what is stopping you from getting certified. If anything, it will for sure add to your knowledge and make you stand out in this competitive market. Project Management is one of the most competitive jobs in the market. 

What is next for me & Why ? 

Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP): Having more than 10 Years of experience in Estimating, Scheduling & Planning, it would be great to reinforce this knowledge & experience with a certification from a highly reputable organization like PMI. 

Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP):  Being involved in Agile on so many levels n projects recently and having more than 4 Years of experience, I trust that pursuing this certification will enhance and boost my knowledge in terms of how to appy agile concepts in projects. 

Good Luck to All New Aspirants & New Practitioners ! 

As much as it might sound odd, but I actually find a connection between Scrum & Personal Professional Development:

I always treat Personal Professional Development as a continuous Product that is divided into phases where each phase has its own achievements "Increments".

That being said, it is always healthy to run your own personal "Sprint Retrospective" to Inspect your Achievements "Releasable Increment", Compare them to your original Plans "Sprint Backlog" and Adapt as necessary. 

If your progress is going on as planned then you carry on with your next goal "Sprint". If not, then you re-add what was not achieved to your plan "Product Backlog" and re-order your priorities in terms of professional development and plans your next goal "Sprint Planning". 

The only difference is with the scrum team itself as you are the whole Self-Organizing & Cross-Functional Team taking the role of Scrum Master, Product Owner & Development Team:

1. You are the Product Owner who maximizes the value of his professional development by checking what best serves his career, where the market is trending and what employers look for.
2. You are the Scrum Master who ensures that you are conducting your recaps as necessary and in timely manner. 
3. You are the Development Team who works hard on studying to achieve the goal as planned. 

How much does this make sense to you ? Can you see the relationship ? 

Scrum On Everyone ! 

Do you believe that closed book exams where you have to go to a center to sit for the exam is the best way to offer and run certification exams ? 

I personally think that it is not practical at all especially that we are now in a era of advanced  technology.

Why Closed Book ? 

In real life, if you encounter an issue or you forgot something, you can google it and/or refer to your library for seeking information. How is this any different for an exam that is based on your experience in a certain domain ? Why does it need to be a closed book ? 

If the exam is experience based, then I suspect that no matter how many references the candidate has open in front of him / her, they won't be able to complete the exam within the given time frame if they do not deeply understand the material and have solid experience in that domain. 

Why the Stress ? 

The stress of taking a day off, reaching to a testing center, get checked as if you are crossing boarders has a negative impact in so many ways. 

Does the Closed Book / In-Person Strategy add credibility to the certification ? 

It might but in my humble opinion it will be very minimal. The credibility of a certificate stems from:

•     Strict Application Pre-requisites & Audits. 
•     Education required for Renewal.
•     Exam Difficulty & Passing Mark.
•     Exam Fees (In a sense that if fees are high, you wil need to study hard enough to make sure you do not fail)

What made initiate this blog is that yesterday, I sat for my PSM II Exam. It was an online exam (30 Questions - 1.5 Hours) and I passed but I assure you that I barely had enough time to finish the exam and did not have any chance to open any reference book as even if I did, it won't be of any added value if I did not understand the material in depth and had experience in that domain. 

People might say, 30 Questions in 1.5 Hours is very reasonable. Well, let me tell you something: You can't take the number of questions as a measure for time when you get a question with 4 or 5 choices and you need to analyze each choice in details in order to conclude the best answer - The questions were much more difficult and tough than most of the exams I've ever written as it tested my knowledge & experience beyond any text book. On the other hand, I had the luxury to do the exam on a weekend out of my own place and in my own comfort zone which makes a big difference. 

When the exam is mostly experience based, what would you prefer: 

Closed Book - In Person 200 Questions Exam 

OR 

Online Test with X Number of Question that truly tests your knowledge depth and experience ? 

Many highly reputable organization like scrum.org offer online exams & I think PMI too are heading towards that direction in terms of giving candidates the option of sitting for the proctored exams online from home (With certain rules and regulations). They implemented this on for the CAPM Exam which was a great initiative. 

What is your opinion on this ? 

I am proud to share with you another recent accomplishment. I passed my Professional Scrum Master II Certification with a score of 91.7%.

Preparation 

1- Follow the same steps (Combined) for PSM I, SPS , PSPO I

2- Read a lot of additional documents and case studies. 

3- Completed some simulation exams such as Open Scrum, Product Owner Open & Open Nexus which are available for free on the scrum.org website. 

4- Read additional two references / books. Those were extremely helpful in passing the exam and they are great books to have: 

     - Scrum (A Pocket Guide) by Gunther Verheyen.

     - Essential Scrum by Kenneth S. Rubin

Exam

1- The exam is 1.5 Hour and consists of 30 Multiple Choice Questions. 

2- Passing grade is 85% which means you need to score 26 correct questions out of 30. 

2- It tests your experience & knowledge beyond the any guide. It is a very tough exam so you need to have experience and know Scrum in depth. 

3- Most questions are scenario based or required in depth analysis. 

4- I found this exam the most difficult out of all the Scrum Certifications that I've completed so far. 

What's Next

On my agenda are the following certifications: PMI-SP, PMI-ACP & LEED GA

Good Luck to all New Aspirants ! 

I passed the RMP exam on March 13, 2018 from the first attempt with Above Target in all Domains and would like to share with you my RMP Adventure as it might be helpful for new apirants who are preparing to sit for the exam. 

How did I study ? 

1- Study Time: 2 - 4 hours daily (6 Days a week) for 1.5 Months. 
2- References: PMBOK 5th Edition and Rita's Prep Exam 8th Edition Updated (Read through all chapters with a concentration and detailed study of Risk, Communication & Stakeholder Management Knowledge Areas).
3- Read in details the Practice Standard of Risk Management along with Appendix D. 
4- Reviewed some external articles about specific topics like Monte Carlo & Latin Hyper Cube. 
5- Purchased a simulation exam on Udemy & I also registered on PMSTAR.COM for their eSim and both were good quality questions and contained some good ideas. 

How was the Exam ? 

I can only discuss the exam in general without going into details or specifics as it is against the Code of Ethics: 

1- The Exam was much harder than I anticipated: I thought I was over prepared but I actually was rightly prepared. 

2- Lots of lengthy and medium length situational and scenario based questions. 

3- The exam definitely tests your knowledge and experience beyond any text book. 

4- I finished the exam in 3 Hrs and I was reasonably fast between reading, analyzing and answering.

What is my advise ? 

Study very well and make sure you understand every single aspect properly and how to do it in real life. If you are experienced, you should rely 60% on your studying and 40% on your expertise in applying those skills in real life and the EXAM. 

What is my Point of View ? 

Finding the exam to be difficult is a positive thing that PMI made the exam that way so that it can maintain the value of this certification and only people who really deserve it and have the required skill level can earn it. I believe this is a plus for everyone who is certified as when you mention you are a PMI-RMP certified, people will react "Oh Wow, Great" which makes you feel proud and feel the value of this certification if compared to people saying : "Oh everyone can get it, it is easy".

I am glad that I have finally earned this certification, glad to be part of this community and I wish all the best of luck to all future candidates.

Always Remember: Such Adventures are definitely worth taking !