Become a Certified Project Manager
Online business management and MBA degrees can certainly prove to be highly beneficial for you, if you want to become a project manager. But what can you do if your B-school or university does not provide a specialisation in project management?
The best way to learn the essential skills and gain relevant knowledge is by pursuing the most suitable diploma and certification programmes that have been designed specifically for project managers. Project management diploma and certification courses can help you get an edge over your competition and get your desired job, irrespective of your knowledge level.
MBAs and Project Management
If you are pursuing a MBA degree and wish to build a rewarding career in the Information Technology (IT) industry, then you will be able to choose from various job roles. For MBA graduates, pre-sales is the most widely available entry level positions in IT companies. Apart from marketing, project management is the most lucrative and popular positions for MBAs. Although there may or may not be need for specialisations in specific technical fields, but your awareness about this area will certainly add value to your resume.
What Programmes Can You Do?
Here you can find out about some of the most useful programmes that will help you in your career path to become a project manager-
Certified Novice of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (CNERPS)
Today ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning has definitely become one of the most crucial factors for effective management and organisational success. For graduates with an MBA degree, the CNERPS certification is most suitable and beneficial as it provides an excellent platform for building your career in the ERP management division of any large corporation.
Apart from enabling you to acquire necessary project management skills, this certification programme can also help you to progress into SAP consulting or NetSuite consulting. These options can provide you with further career advancement opportunities. CNERPS is primarily an online exam which you can follow up with a certification in CIERP.
Project Management Professional (PMP)
This advanced certification programme, offered by the Project Management Institute, has been designed for project management professionals. This programme is suitable only for those applicants who have already gained adequate experience in project management before the MBA.
The basic requirements for the PMP certification are at least 4,500 hours of project management experience and a Bachelor’s degree. However, in case you do not hold a Bachelor’s degree, then you will need to have a minimum of 7,500 hours of project management experience and a high school (secondary school) diploma. The programme is rather challenging as the exam will require you to answer 200 multiple choice questions in just 4 hours.
Advanced Project Management Certification (APMC)
The APMC programme is a 66-hour certification course which you can complete within a period of 3 months to 1 year. Similar to the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, the Advanced Project Management Certification has been designed for advanced professionals. Thus you will need a minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience to pursue this programme.
The programme includes 6 courses which you will need to pass. Each course exam consists of 30 questions that can be answered online.
Online MBA Degree
However, if you do not have any have previous experience in PM or if you are uninterested in pursuing the CNERPS programme, which is designed for beginners, then pursuing an online MBA degree or an online business management diploma programme specialising in project management can be an excellent option.
Although traditional full-time MBA programmes are still most popular among students and young professionals, the fact is an online MBA programme can help you to acquire the essential skills. It can help you to become an expert in project management and achieve your career goals.