A Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification is the most sought-after credential in every industry, be it IT or Finance and Accounting. You probably put in a lot of work if you’ve successfully crossed the PMP certification milestone. Your skill set and practical project management expertise are validated by your PMP certification. This gives you access to a plethora of opportunities, such as a pay raise or a whole new, better position!
So, to keep this adrenaline rush going and to further your growth, the question arises: Which is your next peak to conquer?
It is essential to know the future scope that works best for you in order to see a clear career path. Your goals become clearer when you realize the numerous possibilities and challenges in your way. Let’s look at the pathways that open for PMP Certified personnel.
What To Do After You Get PMP-certified?:
After gaining a PMP Certification, you can either go on a job hunt and get selected as a top candidate because of your certification or opt to study further and fetch more credentials. You also will have to earn PDUs to keep your PMP certification current. PDUs are Professional Development Units that show the hours you’ve dedicated to learning, mentoring, or participating in discussions. Each unit equals an hour of time. The PMP certification lasts 3 years, and after this period, PMPs must earn 60 PDUs to maintain it.
Continue Learning To Maintain Your Credential
Here’s how you can earn the PDUs:
- By enrolling in online or offline instructor-led courses offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) or PMI-authorized training partners, like ProThoughts Solutions. ProThoughts offers different plans to earn all 60 PDUs for PMP renewal. You can do so via advanced courses of your choice and gain vital skills.
- By attending global and local events held by the PMI or any PMI-authorized training partners. You can attend webinars, meetings, keynote sessions, and more to earn PDU. You can also use this opportunity to network with fellow certified individuals to further your growth.
- Through self-paced learning using the resources provided by PMI and through structured professional discussions with PDUs assigned to each hour, for example, mentoring sessions.
Study Further
As mentioned earlier, one of the ways to earn PDUs is through professional courses. So, here is a curated list of PM certification options for you:
Program Management Professional (PGMP) Certification
ThePgMP Certification enables you to stand out from thousands of PMPs. PgMP is a very prestigious certification and is quite exclusive when it comes to training and assessments. To give an overview, the PgMP certification holder or a Program manager keeps the organizational goals in mind while considering the projects and teams under it as a sub-component. Essentially, the program manager has an eye for the bigger picture rather than just a single aspect of it, as it would in the case of a project manager. Thus, you can work to get involved in the decision-making procedures of an organization after your PMP.
Disciplined Agile (DASSM)
Getting into Disciplined Agile can help you flourish in your career by equipping you with tools and techniques for leading more complex initiatives for your organization. The Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) Certification can help you gain prowess in the agile mindset. It uses methodologies like Scrum and Lean within the DA toolkit to choose the best Way of Working for teams.
Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC)
Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) is a certification designed to make you an Agile Coach who can help enterprises achieve true Agility. An Agile Coach is the expert authority to consult on Disciplined Agile and lead organizational teams. The DAC certification can uplift you from managing projects to coaching teams at an organizational level with your Agile knowledge and experience.
DAVSC Certification
PMI’s Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC) certification teaches you how to scale Disciplined Agile across your organization and deliver value quickly. Its curriculum includes practices from Flow, Lean, Theory of Constraints, Organizational Development, and more. With the Disciplined Agile toolkit, you can effectively optimize enterprise-wide value streams.
Negotiate Job Offers
The PMP certification demonstrates your superior project management skills. It also shows that you are capable of winning new projects while managing them effectively, thereby building customer satisfaction. Globally, project managers with PMP certification earn salaries that are 16% higher than those without it on average.
Studies from PMI show that a certified PMP employee is entitled to a pay increase of 20%. You can negotiate with current employers or seek opportunities elsewhere for better job satisfaction.
The Bottom Line
You can either pick one of these courses or even go after each challenge head-on one by one. The only condition that binds you is your future goals and whether they align with the challenge you end up taking!