IT oriented cert: Prince2 vs PMI

Blackpitts

hi guys
I'm a business analyst with 10+ years of experience (4 of them as project manager) and I want to boost my CV with a certification in project management.
Therefore I need a course which is:
- part-time (as I have a full time job from 9 to 5)
- IT oriented
- not too expensive
- not too long (as I might relocate somewhere in Europe within 6 months)

I was told Prince 2 is more IT oriented whereas PMI is applicable for everything from IT to construction, but PMI is recognized worldwide while Prince2 is just an UK/irish thing...plus PMI cert takes ages and a lot of money.
can you confirm all of the above? do you think Prince2 is the right compromise considering my needs?

thanks in advance

Stheno

Both Prince2 and PMI are adaptable for any industry, my trainer who taught me Prince2 had worked in Construction all of his life as a PM.

Prince2 originated in the UK, and tends to be looked for more than PMP in the UK, over here it's a mix of both or either that would be required. Worldwide both are recognised but PMP would be more visible imo.

PMP originated I believe in the States.

To apply for PMP and sit the exam you need to have the experience outlined here and constantly earn professional credits to maintain it.

To get Prince2 certified you do a five day course for the Practitioner qualification with an exam at the end.

Blackpitts

Stheno wrote: »

Both Prince2 and PMI are adaptable for any industry, my trainer who taught me Prince2 had worked in Construction all of his life as a PM.

Prince2 originated in the UK, and tends to be looked for more than PMP in the UK, over here it's a mix of both or either that would be required. Worldwide both are recognised but PMP would be more visible imo.

PMP originated I believe in the States.

To apply for PMP and sit the exam you need to have the experience outlined here and constantly earn professional credits to maintain it.

To get Prince2 certified you do a five day course for the Practitioner qualification with an exam at the end.

how long does it take to get a PMP? 1 year or so?

where did you take your Prince2? in Dublin?

thx for the info btw

Stheno

Yeah I did PRINCE2 in Dublin.

Not having done PMP I don't know how long it takes to get, sorry.

fti

Blackpitts wrote: »

how long does it take to get a PMP? 1 year or so?

Except for gaining the experience requested by the PMI to sit at the exam, 1~2 months is enough.
The process si:
1) create an account
2) fill the forms (online) to demonstrate tour experience as a PM (1~2 hours)
3) wait for PMI to tell you are OK to proceed (~ 1 week)
4) pay for the exam : $555 for non member or join PMI ($129) and pay for the exam as a member $405 (so a bit cheaper 405+129=$534)
5) schedule your exam.

It took me 3 weeks working 4 hrs a day with a study guide and I passed it on my first try...

mickman

Blackpitts wrote: »

how long does it take to get a PMP? 1 year or so?

where did you take your Prince2? in Dublin?

thx for the info btw

to do the pmp you need to have a certain ammount of hours of project mgt experience , you also need to do the course.

then an exam to get the cert

fti

mickman wrote: »

... you also need to do the course.

IMHO, if you have a good experience as a PM, no need to attend any training session.
Just pick a study or review guide (mine was Kim Heldman's), read it carefully, do the review questions at the end of each chapter to assess your understanding of the chapter.

I even bought the PMBOK but hardly ever opened it, if only to check a some very precise formula on cumulative CPI and SPI. Shouldn't have bought it, pretty much useless for the exam.

For the last week before exam do as many mock test as you can (some are included in the review/study book in companion CD and you can find some on the internet, most of times, just sign in on a e-learning platform, do the complimentary free tests and then search for another e-learning website and so on )
It will train you to stay 4 hrs concentrated and to decrypt tricky questions (usually the ones with "Which answer is the best")

I found most mock tests much harder than the actual test (passed my PMP on July 2011)

Did my book reading for 2 weeks (4 hrs/day 5d/wk) then 1 week (6hrs/day 5d/wk) of mock test taking and it worked quite fine for the exam (Proficient everywhere, except for Initiating & Closing PGs: moderately proficient ).

Last piece of advice: At Prometric they let you write whatever you want on the provided sheets of paper (using provided pens) as soon as you get into the room before the actual start of the exam. It means that you can learn by heart a few "cheat" pages and recreate them as soon as you get into the room (e.g. the mapping between the 5 PGs and the 9 Knowledge areas)

testy12

I've successfully completed my PMP at the end of August.

To allow you register for the exam you have to fill in online all your previous project experience, usually its about 3 years solid of experience, more if you dont have a degree. You also have to have at east 35 hours (I think) of Project Management Related training - this could be anything from classes on process to stuff on MS project etc.

To plan out my various projects and research what I did when etc took me about 4 or 5 hours.....to input them all took about 2 hours or so as you need to put down all the hours you spent at each stage and a brief description of the project etc...as well as list your sponsors....so if you are audited then they will contact all your previous sponsors and ask "Did Mr John Doe work on the ABC project from march to december 2009 ?" etc etc

So dont tell lies - you will be caught out !!

I used the Rita Mulcahy Book, "PMP Exam Prep" and I used the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition.

I read through both books.

Then I used some study guides I bought online which had a test engine and over 2000 questions.....I kept going through the questions...checking every answer to see if I was correct...if I wasnt I made notes to myself or looked it up etc.

Overall I spent about 4 weeks, 4 hours every evening, 6 hours on a saturday and sunday doing questions, questions, questions......

In the exam I finished in about 2.5 hours...I got moderately proficient in most and proficient in 2 or 3 sections.

Its hard work but doable.

Now I have to keep earning PDU's to keep the certification but doing more training or volunteering etc...think 60 every 3 years.

Its a fairly well respected certification.

Eric.

testy12

Sorry forgot to mention costs-

PMI registration - about $129
Books - about 100 euro
Study Guide + Questions + Simulator - about $29
Prometric Exam fee - about 350 euro (sorry cant remember)

The big cost is the 35 hours of training classes.....think you can use any you've done in the past few years.....I was lucky that my employers have access to online Skillsoft PM classes....so I got my 35 hours worth there....not fun though !!

Hope this helps.

Eric.