PM Training & Qualifications

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This subject looks at project and program management training and qualifications, their importance in the current job marketplace, and their effectiveness in identifying competent people.

Topics included in PM Training & Qualifications:

- Training & Qualifications Overview
- Learning & Studying
- Exam Questions
- PM Credentials & Qualifications
- PMP Resources
- CAPM Resources
- PMI-SP Resources
- PMI's CCR System
- Useful External Web-links & Resources.

Other related sections of the PMKI:

- Mosaic's Training 


Training & Qualifications Overview

Training OverviewThe ever increasing demand for more project managers is creating divergent pressures on the project management profession. In one direction, project managers are seeking training and accreditation as a means of increasing their professionalism, raising their profile, and making themselves more marketable in a competitive market. At the same time, many organizations, with limited understanding of the ‘profession and practice’ of project management still appoint almost anyone to the role of project manager, keeping the concept of the ‘accidental project manager’ alive and flourishing. Some accidental project managers have been remarkably successful; but many find themselves blamed for problems and project failures they were ill-equipped to prevent. The purpose of the PMKI is to help project managers be successful not only to encourage them to remain in the profession but also because every project failure is a failure for the Project Management profession as well as the organization that commissioned the project.

Our discussion paper, Project Management Certification Options within Australia looks at the range of PM related certifications available in our business area. The valuation of credentials, and the unique value ascribed to the PMP credential is a complex issue addressed in our discussion paper The Value of your PMP Qualification.

DP: PM Credentials in Australia. Project management certification options within Australia fall into two general categories, competency based certifications and knowledge based certifications based on examination.

Art: Professional Project Management. What does professional project management look like? This article looks at the concept of a formal profession and what this means for project management.

 

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Learning & Studying

Laarning and studyingBased on years of observation of adult learners in both our face-to-face classroom courses and during distance learning courses, it is fascinating to see how the rate of information absorption (ie, learning) varies from person to person. The rate of learning does not seem to be correlated to a person’s IQ, industry, or role in the workforce. If anything, people who absorb the learning more slowly seem to retain the information longer.

It would appear the ability to learn is a skill that is exercised naturally by younger people, but as one grows older this natural ability seems to fade with only some adults maintaining their innate capability to learn, frequently linked to active practice via a recently completed university course, etc. This means assimilating the information needed to be successful in an examination is not easy, particularly if you have not studied for a while. To help, we have compiled a list of suggestions that may assist you to get back into the study mode and help with your exam techniques.

WP: The Art of Learning. Learning new things should be an enjoyable process at all stages of life and career. Learning how to learn effectively is the first step along the journey, this paper has a range of techniques and ideas to help. A comprehensive map of learning theories is available for download.

Art: The Psychology of Effective Learning. Teaching and learning are interrelated, but people learn in a variety of ways and have different learning preferences. This paper and the referenced reports highlight the most effective learning options.

Art: The role of questions in the learning process. You can only pass an examination by effectively answering the questions – it’s not what you know that matters so much as how you interpret that knowledge into answers to a set of questions you’ve never seen before. Conversely, simply studying questions and answers will never provide sufficient knowledge to pass your exam! The role of questions is to sample your knowledge and provide an assessment of your overall understanding.

Course design is also an important factor. In our CPM and EVM courses, our course design focuses on making the information you need to be successful easily available.

 

Exam Techniques (for PMI credentials and similar multi-choice exams)

Managing the overall examination process is an easy way to enhance your score, the trick is to use the time before, during, and after the exam effectively.

Art: Examination Techniques. This paper is focused on PMI’s computer-based examinations; however, the suggestions are generally relevant to all high intensity exams.

 

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PMI Exam Questions

Dealing with PMI's multi-choice questions

Exam stressSuccess in the exam requires you to be good at answering questions! But, simply studying questions and answers will never provide sufficient knowledge to pass your exam! Questions have a key role to play in the learning process, but what you know and what your score is are not the same A good question answering techniques can add 10% to 15% to your score!

Art: Understanding your PMI Score. There is a random 25% chance any answer will be correct (provided you have answered A, B C or D - one option will always be correct!). This paper helps you understand how your actual test score relates to your level of knowledge.

Art: The role of questions in the learning process. You can only pass an examination by effectively answering the questions – it’s not what you know that matters so much as how you interpret that knowledge into answers to a set of questions you’ve never seen before. Conversely, simply studying questions and answers will never provide sufficient knowledge to pass your exam! The role of questions is to sample your knowledge and provide an assessment of your overall understanding.

Art: Examination Techniques. The mid-section of this paper is focused on dealing with PMI multi-choice questions.

In this section Scroll / click down to see our recommended list of free PMP and CAPM questions.



Free Questions (mainly PMP & CAPM)

QuestionsThese are the question sets we like - we are very choosy about who gets on this list!

Oliver Lehmann - https://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/100-free-questions.htm

Oliver provides his sample questions in a variety of formats (no registration required). From the site, you can take a free 100-question simulated, timed (120 minute) exam. He also includes a link-page to thousands of free sample questions as well as a download option (PDF) for an additional 175 sample questions, which is also available in German. Smartphone owners can access another 30 free questions for their iPhone/iPad and/or Android in the iTunes Store and Android Market, respectively.

Cornelius Fichtner

https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/PMP-Practice-Exam-Questions-Sample-Test 120 Free Sample PMP® Practice Exam Questions.

https://free.pm-exam-simulator.com/. Sign up to try Cornelius' Exam Simulator for three days -- free! This PM Exam Simulator gives you the opportunity to practice taking the PMP Exam in a way that mimics the actual exam. The Simulator feeds you questions of the same style and difficulty that you’ll see on the exam and proportionately as far as the correct process group (i.e., Initiation=11%, Planning =23%, etc.). You’ll experience various types of questions, from formula-based questions to interpretational questions. Another plus for this site is that you can take the practice exam in three modes: Real Exam Mode (just like the real PMP exam experience); Timed Mode (receive hints and answers, but still adhere to a limited time); or Learning Mode (receive hints and answers with no time limit).

ErudiCAT.  https://www.erudicat.com

Free resource with multiple questions and straightforward explanations to prepare for PMP exam - start clicking.....

Project Management Academy (USA) - https://projectmanagementacademy.net/free-pmp-questions

This site offers 50 free scenario based PMP questions similar to the exam. After completing the PMP questions you click the grade button at the bottom to see your results and complete explanations.

PreparePM - https://www.preparepm.com/mock1.html

This site offers two different free “mock exams”—the first has 70 questions; the second has 28 questions, and the answers to the questions are included at the end of each exam. You can filter the sample questions by the various knowledge areas covered in the exam (i.e., questions on Risk Management, or Quality Management, or Ethics, etc.), so you can focus your studies on the areas where you think you need the most help. The site also includes a link to a free, timed 200-question PMP practice exam (although you do have to register on the site).

Simplilearn - https://www.simplilearn.com/pmp-exam-prep-free-practice-test

Telephone number and email address required. 200 question timed test (240 minutes) with answers and explanations. This is a test and can be attempted multiple times. You can pause the test and resume later.

Exam Central http://www.examcentral.net/pmp/pmp-exam-questions#.

Registration required. This PMP Exam study site includes a 1000+ sample-question test bank. Once you have registered, you can access the test bank, as well as an unlimited number of full-length mock exams, customizable PMP flashcards, and a PMP dictionary. Two nice features of note: first, once you take a practice exam, you can re-open it for review; second, the practice exam provides you with visual, analytical progress reporting, so you know exactly where you stand during your mock exam.

fabmarks https://www.fabmarks.com/pmp/resources

A set of 20 free questions - quick and easy......  Plus a useful set of hints, tips and links for the exam. 

 

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PM Credentials & Qualifications

PMI Exam Resources

Note: Information on these pages is of a general nature, refer to PMI resources for up to date examination information.

- PMP Resources
- CAPM Resources
- PMI-SP Resources
- PMI's CCR System
 

Valuing Credentials

There are a number of certifications in the Australian market - other places may vary. Our assessment based on observation of the job market is:

  • Diplomas in various forms have virtually no value in the job market and certainly won't help someone get a job without other experience. If you have experience, other higher level certifications are available. The 1-Day PRICE2 Foundation certificate is of a similar low-level.
  • Cert IV in project management. The Cert IV diploma has the benefit of being recognized under the National Competency Framework (and therefore overseas) but is a relatively low-level certification generally sought by people working in organizations that do not see project management as a key competency.
  • CAPM. The PMI Certified Associate in Project Management and the lower level Certified Practicing Project Practitioner (CPPP) in the AIPM RegPM scheme are designed for people entering the project management profession. Both seem to carry significantly more weight than the Cert IV.
  • PMP. The PMI Project Management Professional, the AIPM RegPM Certified Practicing Project Manager (CPPM) and the PRINCE2 Practitioner are generally seen as approximately equivalent qualifications held by practicing project managers. The equivalent IPMA credential has very little traction in Australia but is prominent overseas where the AIPM has no relevance - the AIPM and IPMA credentials are moving closer together.
  • All of the professional qualifications have higher level options that are well regarded such as PgMP and MSP.
  • Academic degrees. the Australian market tends to see academic degrees such as a 'Masters in Project Management as 'academic'....... Over the years we have helped several Masters graduates obtain their PMP to assist in job hunting. I find this hard to understand!

At the project management level choosing between PMP, the RegPM CPPM and PRINCE2 is more difficult. Most job applications seem to see any one of the three as being acceptable - you have done the work and studied project management. Some organizations have a strong bias to either AIPM or PMI and because PRINCE2 is focused on the PRINCE2 methodology, organizations using PRINCE2 have a preference for PRINCE2 Practitioner.

Apart from the obvious PRINCE2 link, generally PMP seems to be preferred in organizations with an international focus, IT, banks, finance, etc. RegPM in organizations with an Australian engineering focus (but this seems to be a fairly mild preference most of the time). The practical difference between RegPM and PMP is that the PMP credential can be obtained by passing an exam; the RegPM credential requires you to be employed as a project manager, using the 'PMBOK processes' in the real world, to demonstrate competency in their application.

Art: The value of Project Management qualifications. Salary Surveys, show a steady increase in salaries for qualified project managers and in the USA, Australia and a number of other countries,

DP: The Value of your PMP Qualification. The real value of a credential to an individual and to an organisation assessing the person for employment.

If you would like to discuss this further feel free to Contact Us we are AIPM members as well as PMI and have held the MSP credential from the 'PRINCE2 family'.

  

Scheduling Certifications

Prs: Should you certify your schedulers? This presentation focuses on initiatives to revitalize our industry by creating a career path for planners and schedulers as well as clearly identifying the benefits of certification for organizations that employ planners and schedulers. New initiatives by Planning Planet are designed to deliver a career framework for professional ‘Time Managers’, taking people from novice, to a practitioner skilled in the art of planning and scheduling. 

Art: The problem with CPM. The problem with scheduling and CPM is not the technology, it’s the people - virtually anyone can learn to use software in a few hours. But being able to push some buttons to make some use of the tool and understanding the basic fundamentals of scheduling are two very different things


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Useful External Web-links & Resources

The Guild of Project Controls Scheduling Qualifications - The Guild of Project Controls offer a scheduling certification structure. For more information visit http://www.planningplanet.com/guild

 

The Praxis Pathway

Praxis Pathway The Praxis Pathway has three component paths: individual, team and organisation. These paths are interwoven and collectively designed to achieve the central goal of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of project delivery: https://www.praxisframework.org/en/resource-pages/applying-praxis

 

AXELOS® ProPath™

Axelos ProPathAXELOS® ProPath™ certification scheme from AXELOS Global Best Practice, has been developed to provide a specially selected combination of best practice qualifications via a clear and progressive pathway: https://bestpractice.axelos.com/propath-project-programme-portfolio-certifications-more-information/
 

PGCS For papers on education and training presented at the PGCS Annual Symposium see:
https://www.pgcs.org.au/papers/general-management/  

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