Community Post

24 OCTOBER 2011

Four Professionals Tell How PMI Certifications Helped Advance Their Careers

PMI’s certifications increase your credibility, are sought after by hiring organizations and customers, and can lead to higher salaries and career advancement.

A recent job search indicated that more than 50,000 project management job postings worldwide either prefer or require candidates to have a PMI certification. Further, PMI’s Salary Survey – Sixth Edition showed that in certain countries, practitioners with the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® credential earn upward of US$10,000 more in salary than their non-certified counterparts.

Four professionals from around the globe provide their first-hand accounts of how their careers progressed or benefited from having earned several of PMI’s certifications.

Name: Imran Malik, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMP, PgMP
Title: Director – customer program office, professional services
Industries: Telecommunications
Home: United Arab Emirates

“One of the main reasons I dove deep into PMI’s credentials was the wide acceptance that project management has been experiencing in the Middle East.

“Earning the credentials has broadened my intellectual and strategic thinking skills. I have received recognition from various government organizations; centers of excellence in the region have sought my expertise and advice; and in the past four years, I have received two international project management awards in Krakow and Rome.

“I am now much more confident handling complex mega-programs, developing enterprise-wide dashboards and instilling the project management governance measures on large programs.

“The project performance within the organization has improved significantly because we know where the focus should be on our projects and programs. This knowledge comes through experience and professional development, which is all part of the PMI credential experience.”

Name: Harrison (Li Chou) Chen, CAPM, PMI-RMP, PMP
Title: Project manager
Industries: Financial services
Home: Oakville, Ontario, Canada

“The CAPM provided me a better understanding… and helped me to identify areas to improve in order to become a project manager. Less than eight months after I earned the CAPM, I got a promotion.

“Preparing for the PMP next, I developed good skills and fundamental knowledge of managing projects properly. I got a promotion within a year after I received the PMP certification.

“Earning the PMI-RMP helped me fine-tune how I control risks to increase the health of my projects. I got a salary increase within six months after earning the PMI-RMP credential.

“In all, my salary increases ranged from 5 to 8 percent after earning the credentials.

“Since becoming certified, I have been able to take on larger and more important projects to manage because my knowledge and skills are recognized.”

Name: Fabio Pitorri, CAPM, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMP, PgMP
Title: Program management consultant, lecturer
Industries: Health, telecommunications, construction, customer service centers, defense and aerospace
Home: São Paulo, Brazil

“When I earned the PMP credential six years ago, I got a 100 percent salary increase.

“After achieving the other couple of credentials, I did not receive a promotion in my organization, but I got job offers and accepted a position with a 50 percent higher salary.

“Now I work with government projects and a lot of government contracts request that the project/program team has at least one certified professional.

“The main driver for getting the credentials was to measure my knowledge and my experience once I had had several years in project, program and portfolio management.

"My advice is to try your best using good practices in your day-to-day work."

Name: Gareth Byatt, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMP, PgMP
Title: Head of a portfolio management office
Industries: IT, construction
Home: Sydney, Australia

“I’m always motivated to improve my skill set, which is why I earned four of PMI’s credentials.

“After 15 years of practicing project, program and portfolio management, I earned the credentials and found that my performance improved.

“Having a well-rounded knowledge of global project management standards and practices helps me to get the projects and programs I oversee delivered to expectations. The biggest benefit to me is in applying the theory they represent into real actions in my job.

“My advice for others is to pursue credentials that are relevant to your work and not to treat them as ‘poster credentials’ to have on your CV.”

A version of this article first appeared in the September 2011 issue of PMI Credential Passport.