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Any PMPs here?

IndyColtsFan

IndyColtsFan

Lifer
Are there any PMPs here? I have a few questions and was hoping I could talk to someone who recently (say, in the last 12 to 18 months) passed the exam. I'm thinking of pursuing it and have questions regarding the requirements.
 
It looks like the ATOT Smartass Brigade is out in full force this morning. Thanks BrownShoes, I've got a few meetings but will shoot over a few questions later today.
 
I gotta ask what you're doing now? Every engineer I know who becomes a PM loses their technical skills within a year and quickly becomes a people-manager after that.
 
zebano said:
I gotta ask what you're doing now? Every engineer I know who becomes a PM loses their technical skills within a year and quickly becomes a people-manager after that.
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Trick is though PMs are in very high demand, and can be very rewarding financially. I know PMs too that are still very hands on and "in the trenches". The job ranges quite a bit.
 
zebano said:
I gotta ask what you're doing now? Every engineer I know who becomes a PM loses their technical skills within a year and quickly becomes a people-manager after that.
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That's my goal. 🙂 I've been a technical person my whole life (EE, IT) and I'm tired of the treadmill.
 
Homerboy said:
Trick is though PMs are in very high demand, and can be very rewarding financially. I know PMs too that are still very hands on and "in the trenches". The job ranges quite a bit.
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To give some background, I'm interested in leaving IT or at least, the technical trenches of IT. I've led a ton of projects (many multi-year, global projects) so I believe I have the hours necessary to complete the certification. The PMP seems to be the least risky method of achieving my goal of leaving the tech trenches while maintaining or perhaps increasing my salary.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
To give some background, I'm interested in leaving IT or at least, the technical trenches of IT. I've led a ton of projects (many multi-year, global projects) so I believe I have the hours necessary to complete the certification. The PMP seems to be the least risky method of achieving my goal of leaving the tech trenches while maintaining or perhaps increasing my salary.
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:thumbsup:

IndyColtsFan said:
I was an IT manager several years ago. At the time, I hated it, but now, I think I'd enjoy doing it again.
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I did a stint as IT Manager and Sys Admin. It was pretty sweet to be honest. And miss that job. It was kinda the best of both worlds.

Edit: remember though, the grass is ALWAYS greener it seems... until you climb over the fence. I'm not saying that that isn't 100% true, but it often is.
 
The application is a fscking bear (hours and hours of documenting projects you've worked on). I thought the test was easy, but I had coworkers that studied for 6 months and failed twice before passing it. It's computerized multiple-guess, 200 questions, you have 4 hours to complete it.

Feel free to post questions.

Edit: Even though you're a Colts fan.
 
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Yo baby what 'cho want????

pimp-c-ringtone.jpg
 
Merithynos said:
The application is a fscking bear (hours and hours of documenting projects you've worked on). I thought the test was easy, but I had coworkers that studied for 6 months and failed twice before passing it. It's computerized multiple-guess, 200 questions, you have 4 hours to complete it.

Feel free to post questions.

Edit: Even though you're a Colts fan.
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Yeah, I downloaded the app to start filling it out in order to see the gaps I might have. As far as projects go, I believe I have more than the proper number of hours -- I led a global Active Directory deployment/server refresh/workstation migration in the 2003 to 2006 timeframe, with several acquisition integrations as well, not to mention some other corporate-wide projects dealing with wireless devices, etc. I did have a project management course around the 2005 timeframe and a Six Sigma course, so I think those likely fulfill the 35 "contact hours" of PM education.
 
PMI may or may not take those education hours...it is a business after all, and they may require you to take a PMI certified course.

It might be worthwhile to take a PMP course anyway, since the things you know and do every day from a project management perspective may not necessarily correlate to what PMI thinks is the right answer. They have tunnel vision about some things (i.e. a PM should always do the "right" thing, even when it's political suicide in most organizations).
 
IndyColtsFan said:
To give some background, I'm interested in leaving IT or at least, the technical trenches of IT. I've led a ton of projects (many multi-year, global projects) so I believe I have the hours necessary to complete the certification. The PMP seems to be the least risky method of achieving my goal of leaving the tech trenches while maintaining or perhaps increasing my salary.
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Note, you don't need to have been a PM to count for the hours requirement. Being on a project team, also qualifies.
 
Capt Caveman said:
Note, you don't need to have been a PM to count for the hours requirement. Being on a project team, also qualifies.
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Yes, thanks, I'm aware of that. I've never held a PM title but I have managed several projects and been a part of several more, which is what I will include on the list. The question I have is about how they count the hours. Let me give an example.

Let's say I worked on a project from 1/2003 to 12/2003. If I said I worked on that project 50% of my time (a guestimate), that would be 1000 hours. So, that would count for 1000 hours towards the 4500 hour requirement -- correct? It just seems to imprecise, as there is no way you could really be super accurate.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
Yeah, I downloaded the app to start filling it out in order to see the gaps I might have. As far as projects go, I believe I have more than the proper number of hours -- I led a global Active Directory deployment/server refresh/workstation migration in the 2003 to 2006 timeframe, with several acquisition integrations as well, not to mention some other corporate-wide projects dealing with wireless devices, etc. I did have a project management course around the 2005 timeframe and a Six Sigma course, so I think those likely fulfill the 35 "contact hours" of PM education.
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Since you've been a PM and had some training, that's a great head-start, however, the PMBOK and PMP Exam are very specific in regards to using their terminology.

Also buy the latest copy of the PMBOK.

I would recommend taking a PMP Exam Prep class, like this one - http://www.butrain.com/share/scedesc.asp?CID=15863

I took a weeklong in class PMP Exam Bookcamp course. I found that it basically follows the standard SDLC with it's own nuances.

fwiw - being a PM is a very high-pressure, stressful and frustrating job. Personally, I'm looking to get out of it and back into Mgmt.
 
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