These days, there’s a good chance that someone on the project team has those three letters printed beneath their email signature if you walk into practically any mid-sized engineering firm in Karachi or Lahore. It has evolved into something of a quiet badge, the kind of qualification that doesn’t garner much attention but nevertheless appears in job advertisements. For those who wish to manage projects instead of just work within them, it seems like it’s no longer an option.
The Project Management Institute is the source of the certification, which has been around long enough to become standard rather than trendy. It is currently held by over 1.7 million people worldwide, with the highest concentrations in China, the US, and Canada. It is no longer a specialized credential. It’s more akin to what an MBA was twenty years ago—useful practically everywhere, though no one can quite pinpoint why.
It’s not exactly easy to get there. Three eligibility pathways are outlined by PMI, and they all depend on project management experience rather than merely attending meetings. Three years of that experience plus thirty-five hours of official project management training are required for a four-year degree. It can take up to five years without the degree. The next test consists of 180 questions spread over 230 minutes, with 42, 50, and 8 percent of the questions being weighted toward business alignment, technical process knowledge, and people skills. It takes a long time to sit. Anyone who has taken a proctored exam knows that patience is tested just as much in the final hour as knowledge.
Depending on where someone sits, costs can vary slightly. The exam fee is reduced from approximately $655 to $405 with PMI membership, which costs about $139 annually. Additionally, members receive free access to the PMBOK Guide, which is the closest thing the field has to scripture. Particularly in Pakistan, local training facilities in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi have constructed whole short courses around that 35-hour training requirement; some of these courses cost about Rs. 30,500. Training people to become trained has grown into its own little industry.
The real pay difference is what’s intriguing, and it’s a little overlooked in most of the marketing. According to PMI’s own surveys, certified holders’ median salaries were about 17% higher in all the countries they monitored. That’s a significant figure, but it’s important to be a little wary of self-reported survey data because certification seekers may already be more career-driven, and correlation and causation are not the same thing.
Another worthwhile parallel course is Google’s Project Management Certificate on Coursera, which is intended for those with no prior experience at all. It’s faster, less expensive, and obviously designed for aspiring entry-level workers rather than seasoned project managers. Although it won’t take the place of a PMP for someone overseeing a $10 million construction project, it has made it possible for those who would not have been able to pass the experience requirement.
Another noteworthy development is that, starting in July, the PMP exam will incorporate content related to sustainability and artificial intelligence for the first time. It’s a subtle but telling signal. Both project management and the test intended to certify it appear to have evolved. It is advisable for anyone who intends to take the test after July 9 to confirm that they are studying the most recent version of the material rather than the previous year’s.
