Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome to the Learning Hub of Projectonomy. My name is Kristin, and in this new series, I will be speaking about project management certifications. Today, I will speak about five top project management certifications you should consider doing. I'll start with the benefits of being certified, and then we'll introduce the most popular certifications in project management. Together, we'll explore the prerequisite, exam format, and the validity period of each certification. Having a certification in project management provides a number of benefits. First, global recognition. Nowadays, most of the organizations are using standardized project management practices for their projects. So industry-recognized certifications, which are accepted worldwide, will provide better career opportunities internationally. Second, salary increase. Certifications can help you earn more. In fact, according to the 11th edition of Earning Power Project Management Salary Survey published by PMI, project management-oriented employees who had PMP certification reported 22% higher median salaries than others. Third, knowledge gain. Project management certification will help you elevate your knowledge and skills, as well as apply new practices and techniques to the project activities. Note that behind every successful project, there is a highly skilled project manager. Therefore, in order to succeed in your projects, have better career opportunities, and increase your income, you should consider the following certifications. Number one, PMP, project management professional. PMP is the most popular project management certification. It is offered by PMI, Project Management Institute, and recognized as the golden standard for project management. PMI works continuously to introduce new challenges in the course content, to keep it up-to-date and aligned with the rapidly changing needs of the industry. It includes predictive, agile, and hybrid approaches of project management that can be applied across different sectors, countries, and industries. In order to qualify for PMP certification, you need to have either a four-year degree, 36 months' experience in leading projects, 35 hours of project management education, or CAPM certification, or a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 16 months' experience in leading projects, 35 hours of project management education, or CAPM certification. The price for PMI members is $405. PMI membership fee is currently $139 for new members, and the annual renewal fee is $129. And the cost for non-PMI members is $555. The exam consists of 180 questions, and it takes 230 minutes to complete. Things get even more interesting after passing the exam, because you have to maintain your PMP status by continuous learning and practicing. There are so-called PDUs, Professional Development Units, which are required to keep your PMP status active. For PMP certification, you will need to earn 60 PDUs per three-year cycle. I'll speak about how to earn PDUs in our future episodes. Number 2. CAPM – Certified Associate in Project Management If you are not qualifying for the requirements of PMP and need an entry-level certification, you can go for another popular certification, which is again provided by PMI and is called CAPM – Certified Associate in Project Management. CAPM is a basic-level certification that will enable plenty of learning and growth opportunities for beginners who want to start a career as a project manager. Since it's an entry-level certification, it doesn't require a lot of prerequisites. You will need to have a secondary degree, high school diploma, associate's degree or the global equivalent, and 23 hours of project management education completed by the time you sit for the exam. The price for PMI members is $225, and for non-PMI members it's $300. The certification exam has 150 questions, and you will have 3 hours to complete it. Similar to PMP certification, you will need to earn PDUs to keep your CAPM certification status in a good standing. In this case, you need to earn 15 PDUs every three years to maintain the certification. Number 3. PMI-ACP – Agile Certified Practitioner Recently, the use of Agile methodologies has become widespread among many organizations worldwide, so project managers with Agile certification are in really high demand. So if you work in Agile teams, or if your organization is adopting Agile practices, the PMI-ACP can be a good choice for you. The PMI-ACP spans many approaches to Agile such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Extreme Programming, and Test-Driven Development. In order to apply for PMI-ACP, you'll need to qualify for the following requirements – secondary degree, 21 contact hours of training in Agile practices, 12 months of general project experience within the last 5 years. A current PMP or PGMP certification will satisfy this requirement, but it is not a prerequisite to apply for the PMI-ACP, and you will need 8 months of Agile project experience within the last 3 years. The certification price for PMI members is $435, and for non-PMI members, it's $495. The certification exam has 120 multiple-choice questions, and you have 3 hours to complete it. To maintain your PMI-ACP status active, you must earn 30 PDUs in Agile topics every 3 years. 4. Certified Scrum Master As already mentioned, Agile certifications have gained lots of popularity in recent years. Moreover, according to Indit.com, Scrum certifications, and especially Certified Scrum Master, were the 9th most requested certification in 2020. Scrum is a framework for managing complex projects based on iterative and incremental processes. The Scrum Alliance offered an entry-level certification, called Certified Scrum Master, to give beginners an understanding of the project management methodology. Prerequisites are the following. 1. General familiarity with Scrum 2. Attendance to an in-person 2-day, which is 16-hour CSM course provided by a Certified Scrum Trainer After course completion, the trainer will give you access to the exam. Once successfully completed, you can accept the license agreement and complete your Scrum Alliance membership profile online. The price varies depending on your selected course provider. It can range from $600 to $1,400. 5. PRESTO – Projects in Controlled Environments The PRESTO Project Management Certification Scheme has two main levels – Foundation and Practitioner. The Foundation certification is an entry-level credential that tests basic project management terminology and methodology. On the other hand, the Practitioner certification tests advanced project managers who have already achieved PRINCE2 Foundation. There is also a PRINCE2 Agile Certification Scheme, which includes the PRINCE2 Agile Foundation and Practitioner qualifications. These certifications are provided by Exelos, a globally recognized best-practice qualifications provider for professionals working primarily in IT service management, project, program and portfolio management. PRINCE2 Certification is wildly popular in the UK, Australia and most parts of Europe. For PRINCE2 Foundation, there are no defined prerequisites. However, it is recommended to have some project management experience and formal training before you take the exam. For the Practitioner exam, it is required to have one of the following certifications – PRINCE2 Foundation, PMP, CAPM or IPMA. PRINCE2 Foundation exam costs $200 and Practitioner exam is $340. There are two routes towards obtaining the PRINCE2 Certifications. You can either take the exam at the end of a training course with an accredited training organization or study privately and then book the exam without a training course. PRINCE2 Foundation is a computer-based exam with 60 multiple-choice questions to be completed in one hour. PRINCE2 Practitioner is an objective, scenario-based exam with 68 questions to be completed within two and a half hours. The Foundation Certification does not have an expiry period. Candidates who pass the Practitioner exam are recognized as PRINCE2 Registered Practitioners. Individuals will remain registered for a period of three calendar years. To maintain their registered status, practitioners must either retake the full Practitioner exam at the end of the three years or maintain their certification through PRINCE2 Membership. Thank you for watching this video. We hope it was helpful for you to figure out which certification fits your career goals best. You can find all the reference links in the description below. Please let me know in the comments what project management certification are you planning to do. Please do not forget to subscribe to this channel and hit the bell button in order to get notified when our next video is up. See you next time.