ON THE EDGE
PMP®, EVP, CPA, M-O-U-S-E
by Carl Pritchard, Pritchard Management Associates
My wife, Nancy, is a certified public accountant. When she sat for the exam at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, there were just over 1,000 test-takers. Of that group, 40 earned their certification that day. 40. That's four percent. Four percent of those who sat for the exam earned the right to put "CPA" after their name. The pass rate on the PMP® project management certification exam is reported at between 60% and 70%. The Pennsylvania State Bar exam had a 2004 pass rate of about 80%. Does this say it's tougher to be a CPA than a PMP®? And tougher to be a PMP® than a lawyer? Not necessarily.
What it does say is that there are hurdles we must overcome to be recognized as skilled professionals. But the question becomes, "Which skills are we emphasizing?" In 1992, there were less than 1,000 PMP®-certified project managers. Today, the count is over 100,000. In June, the American Association of Cost Engineers rolls out the EVP…the Earned Value Professional certification exam. It's being piloted in New Orleans. It will be nationwide in July. The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (ASAPM) plans to roll out a competency-based certification as part of their 2005 agenda. Certifications abound. IPMA (the International Project Management Association) has a competency-based certification model. More and more options, both general and specific, are cropping up. The key is going to be to recognize which are valid and requisite to be acknowledged as a professional, and which are just initials that roll out after your name.
Picking a Certification
To put the current quandary in perspective, the first public accounting societies formed in the late 1880's. Despite efforts at cooperation and early certification, the CPA in its modern form really didn't take hold until the mid 1930's. That's 50 years without certainty as to how the certification would shape up.
The past decade has seen a proliferation of certifications. From software certifications to the exponential growth of the PMP®, more and more organizations are looking to certify their members as competent professionals. But a valuable lesson may be learned from our friends, the accountants. According to the Journal of Accountancy (October 1996), the 1936 merger of the largest accounting associations paved the way for true professionalism in accounting. It opened doors as it created an environment where true standards could be established, audited and enforced.
Today, by contrast, different professional associations of every stripe strive to generate interest and support for their varied certification programs. Consider the list of certifications that a rudimentary Google search generates:
- BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program)
- ESTCP (Environmental Security Technology Certification Program)
- CSDP (Certified Software Development Professional)
- LPI (Linux Professional Institute Certification)
- CFCM (Certified Federal Contracts Manager)
- CCCM (Certified Commercial Contracts Manager)
- CPCM (Certified Professional Contracts Manager)
- Certified MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®) Professional
And the list goes on. In fact, a search for "org" with the term "certification program" yields just under a million hits.
Picking the right one has its rewards. Project managers who got in on PMP® certification early take great pride in having PMP® registration numbers under 100 (or even under 1000). That's why it's noteworthy that two new certifications make their debut this summer. With ASAPM and AACE both adding fuel to the certification fire, the question is whether or not the certifications will last. If they do, early participation has its rewards. To be among the early adopters later in a career makes one seem more sage, more insightful, and more grounded in the profession. However, if the certifications don't have staying power, it can be an exercise in administrative procedure with little or no reward.
Testing for Certification Staying Power
How do you know? First, look at who's behind it. The individuals in charge should be recognized, published players in the field. Do they have the credentials and the broad national (or international) support to make it work? ASAPM has the big plus of being allied with IPMA. AACE has an historic working relationship with PMI. Do they have the membership to make it happen? IPMA's reach is extensive in Europe and Asia. They may have the potential for influence on ASAPM's behalf. AACE has its tendrils woven deep in the federal government community, and those alliances may have potential. AACE has been around for half a century.
Is the certification for real? Is there a challenge associated with getting it? Does it require more than just a rubber stamp and a check? Assuming so, that's a key component. If it's too easy to achieve, its weight will rapidly vanish.
Will the certification last? That's a question that's sometimes tied to how long the profession will last. While still recognized as an achievement, the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals no longer lists the CDP (Certified Data Processor) as one of its active certification exams. While the credential is still worthwhile enough to be maintained on quite a few resumes, it's becoming a professional anachronism. The more narrow the certification, the greater the possibility it may be supplanted by a newer approach or technology. Yet the narrower the certification, the more powerful the acknowledgement that you are its master.
Where Do We Go from Here?
For those of us who are already certified, the next question is whether to go down another certification path. My contention is "yes." There's value in the rigors of any certification process, even if the value doesn't come from the letters one gets to pin after his/her name. The value comes from the forced march through a new set of content, the drive to clarify the nuances of a practice and the satisfaction of knowing that the "old dog" can learn new tricks. The value also comes from being able to cite oneself as a ready adopter to new approaches to information and new ways of doing business (or as a veteran who truly understands the intricacies of the old ways).
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