CAPM Certification: Upgrade Your Career in Project Management Field
A CAPM certification offered by the Project Management Institute is supposed to be just the right entry-level certification for project practitioners who do not have the experience required for PMI PMP but have made up their minds to make a career in the development of project management.
Considering that the certification has been outlined keeping in mind professionals with little or no project experience, the CAPM certification makes you come across as a person with a theoretical understanding of the necessary knowledge, terminology, and methods of effective project management. On the part of the employer, your certification can mean that you are provided with a basic understanding of how to manage the project management processes and teams.
For candidates, who are unique to project management, and for those who may be working as a subject matter expert on project teams, the CAPM can provide a direction to their career path or take it to the next level.
Read: Top 10 Benefits of CAPM Certification
Who Should Invest in the CAPM Certification?
For those involved in the field of project management, CAPM can be the right certification if:
- You have little experience as a project practitioner and are studying to show your dedication to project management.
- You want to enhance your abilities by managing more significant projects and earning additional responsibility.
- You want your resume to reach out to potential employers.
The significant part about this CAPM certification is that it does not need a large amount of project management work experience that the PMP does. Moreover, even though it is based on PMI’s project management framework, as described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), the CAPM is not as hard a stone to crack as the PMP exam.
CAPM Eligibility Criteria:
The CAPM certification is meant for all those willing to get a PMP certification but do not meet the eligibility criteria as required by the PMP certification. This certification demonstrates a professional’s knowledge, skills, and focus on standard project management practices.
All you want to qualify to take the CAPM exam is:
- A secondary diploma High school or the global equivalent, and
- At least 1,500 hours experience, OR
- 23 hours of project management education.
CAPM Certification: Promise and Prospects
A CAPM certified considered employee is seen as someone who is dedicated to making a career in project management. Though managers or recruiters understand that CAPM does not turn to experience in leading and directing projects, it does prove that you are committed to your career. The recruiters know a person would not invest the money, time to prepare for the certification exams, and the efforts to apply and study for the exam without a genuine interest in making a career in the project management field.
Tips to Prepare for the CAPM Certification Exam
If you complement your resume with an intense interview, it can go a long way to ensure a project management position or at least a role where managing projects or parts of projects become a part of your job description.
You must know that even though the PMI’s processes do not represent the entirety of what it means to be a project manager, its framework inevitably focuses on significant aspects of the role. Only breaking down a project into work packages and planning the effort associated with these work packages accordingly can take you a long way towards efficient project management. Success in the project can be attained by sticking to rules, adherence to proper procedure, and development of a strong Work Breakdown Structure, a CAPM basic.
In short, just understanding about project management processes and how to manage time and effort are valuable professional skills that weighed heavily when considering a job profile in project management. Though there have been examples of some hugely successful project managers who have had no professional certification, some good to know about project management can help to set you apart from your matches in this fluidic business circumstances of today.
Once you decide to go for it, the CAPM certification can be the much required competitive advantage in today’s professional market to determine your capability over those who continue left behind in the dilemma of to invest or not to invest in a basic but a vital stepping-stone among the professional certifications.
The CAPM Exam Is Not a Difficult Exam
On the other hand, the CAPM exam is solely designed to test PMI’s project management framework. This suggests that if you study this framework, you will not possess to worry about making zinged by tricky questions that want project management experience to answer. It would help if you were well-prepared for the exam.
Final Thoughts
CAPM is an entry-level project management certification. Its value is not equivalent to PMP. It is beneficial for those who want to get into project management but do not have the requisite experience to sit for the PMP exam. You can start by passing the CAPM exam, gain some invaluable project management experience.