The PMI PMP is an American non-profit organization that specializes in project management. It was founded in 1969 in Pennsylvania by Ned Engman, James Snyder, Susan Gallagher, Eric Jenett, and J Gordon Davis. The aim was to develop skills and equip professionals with them to manage projects effectively, create a forum to exchange the problems that occurred in this sphere, provide academic research, develop the main terminology and techniques, and offer guidelines for career prospects. In 1996, due to the efforts made to systematize project management approaches and procedures, the first Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) was issued. Currently, the 4th edition of the PMBOK Guide is available for usage, and it should be noted, that it has been recognized by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) considers it to be a standard for project management procedures.
The PMI is considered to be the leading professional association that offers certifications, online courses, tools, internationally recognized norms, digital publications, and communities. About 3 million professionals together with 650,000 members from 213 countries worldwide are served by PMI.
Certifications
The process of building a career in project management is much more easier when you have a certification from a globally recognized IT vendor. Being a certified professional testifies that you are skilled enough to manage a project at each stage of the process. The vendor offers a certification framework, using which you can define the credential for which you are cut out best of all.
1. The first group is designed for candidates with 0-3 years of experience and includes 5 accreditations, such as:
- PMI Project Management Ready which is the entry-level designation intended to equip candidates with the basic skills used in project management, along with agile methodologies and business analytics;
- CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) testifies that you understand the main terminology, processes, and knowledge provided in the PMBOK Guide and can carry out effective management of the project. ($88,000 per year)
- PMI- ACP (PMI Agile Certified Practitioner) validates your competence in using agile knowledge and agile techniques, and proves that you can implement them and be a part of an agile team. ($112,000 per annum)
- DASM (Agile Scrum Master) implies that you are familiar with the essentials of agile and such lean approaches as Kanban, Scrum, and SAFe. In addition, you should be knowledgeable of how to use the Disciplined Agile tool kit to solve the issue you are dealing with. ($101,994 yearly)
- DASSM (Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master) proves that you are a real master in using the DA tool kit, who knows and understands a wide variety of strategies and practices included in it, and is capable to apply them when needed. ($120,635 annually)
2. The second group is intended for candidates with more than 3 years of experience, and contains 4 designations, as follows:
- PMP (Project Management Professional) - is globally the gold standard in the project management field. It implies that you are experienced enough in performing leadership experience and the way of working, as well as in implementing agile, predictive, and hybrid approaches to guide and complete the project at the highest level. ($107,778 yearly)
- PMI-PBA (PMI Professional in Business Analysis) validates your ability to communicate with stakeholders to determine their business needs, form the output of projects, and achieve successful business results. ($86,514 per year)
The two more accreditations included in this group are DAVSC (Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant) and DAC (Disciplined Agile Coach).
3. The third group is known as Specialization. The main designations to be mentioned here are the following ones:
- PMI-RMP (PMI Risk Management Professional): verifies your proficiency in assessing project risks, alleviating threats, making the most of opportunities. ($108,288 per annum)
- PMI-SP (PMI Scheduling Professional): testifies your expertise in the area of developing and supporting project schedules. ($102,000 annually)
Some more certifications you can opt for in the group include:
- AHPP (Agile Hybrid Project Pro);
- AM-MC (Agile Metrics Micro-Credential);
- CD-P (Citizen Developer Practitioner);
- OTF (Organizational Transformation Foundational).
4. The final group includes two certifications that are intended for senior-level practitioners that have more than 8 years of experience.
- PgMP (Program Management Professional) is considered to be an elite accreditation that measures your top-notch skills and experience in utilizing a portfolio of projects to define the appropriate strategy and fulfill the objectives of an organization. It will require from you to have in-depth skills and knowledge, but it is worth obtaining. ($149,641)
- PfMP-(Portfolio Management Professional) is an elite mark on your CV as well as only a few thousand of candidates in the world own it. This designation proves your proficiency as a portfolio manager, who is capable of implementing the coordinated management of one or several portfolios to achieve the goals of an organization. ($150,000)