Like I said, I’m usually a bit cynical about the whole certification issue in general, but as a pragmatist, I would have to say that if you’re going to suck it up and do it, then do the one that people are going to recognize. Even after having spent a decade in this field, I have only heard of the Project+ certification a couple of times. For people outside the field — and face it, if you are job hunting, the first people to usually scan your resume are NOT in your field — sticking to a ‘name brand’ like PMI is likely to serve you better.

Even if you do not have the hours to be eligible for the PMP, you will have enough for PMI’s more junior certification, which is the Certified Associate Project Manager (CAPM) cert. (See the same website I linked to in the article for the PMP; the information for the CAPM is there, too.) Happily, that one is also (supposedly) a bit easier to pass, because whereas the PMP test uses a lot of scenario-based questions that more heavily rely on your real life experience, the CAPM test is based strictly on the PMBOK text itself. Even better, for those who care, the average salary for CAPMs is almost the same for PMPs. One could easily argue that it’s a better bang for the buck.

Good luck!

~Alora

Have you obtained or considered the Project+ from CompTIA? It seems like an entry level cert, so I’m trying to figure out if there’s any value. (I don’t believe I have enough projects managed to qualify for the PMP)

Thanks!
-John