Part time Project Management courses

john999

Guys,
I am currently researching part-time and distance project management courses, both here in Ireland and the UK. I come from a production engineering background and think formal training in project management could be of benefit to me. I am particularily interested in your comments on the following:

- What courses are highly regarded, be it cert, diploma or masters levels?
- Is there much difference between APM and PMI accreditation, from an international point of view?
- Does the PMP membership really matter?
- Is there any preference between PRINCE2 and PMBoK methods?
- The Univ of Limerick, Smurfit or Trinity - Are they worth the expense? Are there other equally good, less expensive colleges here or in the UK?
- Any general advise/comments?


Thxs,
john999

Oriel27

john999 wrote: »

Guys,
I am currently researching part-time and distance project management courses, both here in Ireland and the UK. I come from a production engineering background and think formal training in project management could be of benefit to me. I am particularily interested in your comments on the following:

- What courses are highly regarded, be it cert, diploma or masters levels?
- Is there much difference between APM and PMI accreditation, from an international point of view?
- Does the PMP membership really matter?
- Is there any preference between PRINCE2 and PMBoK methods?
- The Univ of Limerick, Smurfit or Trinity - Are they worth the expense? Are there other equally good, less expensive colleges here or in the UK?
- Any general advise/comments?


Thxs,
john999

get PMP certification, go to www.pmi.org

PMP is far more internationally recognised that the Prince2.

Prince 2 is UK based.

PMP (PMbok) is theorietical based, Prince 2 is more templates and technical approach.

PMP is well hard to pass. it took me 3 times to pass it.
Prince 2, i dont have a notion.


but really at the end of the day they are only buzz words for the CV. every company has their own way in doing things.
like any course, ye wont use it.

Spinnaker

I agree CV buzzwords but actively used a criteria for screening CVs.

I explored PMI seriously in the past but found information, interaction very fussy, not user friendly. Maybe they should get in a project manager!

Where did you do your PMI course. Which one ?

• Project Management Professional (PMP)®
• Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM)®
• Program Management Professional (PgMP)®
• PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)®
• PMI Risk Management Professional (P

Oriel27

Spinnaker wrote: »

I agree CV buzzwords but actively used a criteria for screening CVs.

I explored PMI seriously in the past but found information, interaction very fussy, not user friendly. Maybe they should get in a project manager!

Where did you do your PMI course. Which one ?

• Project Management Professional (PMP)®
• Certified Associate of Project Management (CAPM)®
• Program Management Professional (PgMP)®
• PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)®
• PMI Risk Management Professional (P

Lad,

this is exactly how it works.

Firstly you have to have 45000 project management hours completed before you do it. now that equals about 3 years work.
then you have to complete 35 hrs of thought project management modules.
Then you have to sit a 4hr exam.

I done the Project Management Professional (PMP)®.

basically i bluffed my way into it. You have to prove you done 4500hrs of project. completing the application form can take a few weeks.
they do check up whether you done it or not, but not everyone. luckily they didnt get me.
its expensive enough, is a few thousand.
my company i used to work for paid for it, as soon as i got it, i left.
for the 35 hrs my company organisied BT training Solutions for this course.
the 4 hour exam is well hard.
there is a few good books like PMbok or Rita Mulcahy PM solutions.

When you get the above, you have membership for 3 years.

above all, the whole thing is a farse,, but sure so is all other qualifations these days for that matter. in my experience it doesnt matter what ye have. the way i see it ye do this course just to get the hour of an interview.

john999

Thanks guys for the comments.

I have over the 3 years industry experience, but being in a production environment it was mostly day-to-day fire fighting I was involved in; with only the occasional long term project to juggle during the everyday mayhem. I reckon though I could total the 4500 hours at a stretch (most projects get delayed, don't they!!). These projects followed rough timelines, budgets, resources etc. and didn't follow any neat project charters and tracked MS Project gantt charts. I also wasn't labelled a "Project Manager" with formal reports and pretty much executed most of the work myself, albeit with fitters, technicians helping occasionally. (When validating the 4500 hrs, do they require some PMBOK-like structure to be followed??) The projects were mostly along the lines of new production equipment, new product intros and cost saving exercises.

The more I research the PMP the more of a racquet I think it is, with the maintainance fees, seminar fees, reference materials etc. I can't seem to find an affordable all-in-one, rolled-up costing for either the entry level CAPM or the PMP, done via online/distance. I got a call from a UK training crowd who quoted me over £3000 Stg for a 5 day intensive course at their centre near London, accommodation, meals and exam included. A bit steep. Currently I don't have an employer who will fork out that much for a training course for me.

Any good, all extras included, PMP training providers out there?

At the end of the day, is it as good and as useful an accreditation as it's marketed to be?

Rgds,
john999

copacetic

If you do the 6 month part time diploma course in smurfit run by the IPMI then you'll have done enough study to take the PMI exam.

petergfiffin

john999 wrote: »

- What courses are highly regarded, be it cert, diploma or masters levels?

I've found most companies are looking for "a project management qualification", most are specifically looking for Prince 2 or PMI rather than a qualification from a particular university or college.

john999 wrote: »

- Is there much difference between APM and PMI accreditation, from an international point of view?

Prince 2 is effectively a British qualification (no bad thing) but the PMI is US and has a more global reach, also, I think Prince 2 is more IT oriented whereas PMI is applicable for everything from IT to construction. It's worth checking your own area though to see what people are looking for as it could be that some industries favour one over the other.

john999 wrote: »

- Does the PMP membership really matter?

Being a member of the PMI doesn't matter but having the PMP would. As far as I know it's really up to yourself whether you want to join the institute or not, I'm in it really only cause my company pays for it.

john999 wrote: »

- Is there any preference between PRINCE2 and PMBoK methods?

All depends on the company, some are PMBoK aligned, others are PRINCE, most are just happy that you have any formal training, I'd imagine there's a lot of overlap anyway (open to correction there) and I'd rather have PMI going for a job looking for PRINCE (or vice versa) than having nothing!!

john999 wrote: »

- The Univ of Limerick, Smurfit or Trinity - Are they worth the expense? Are there other equally good, less expensive colleges here or in the UK?

Dublin Business School also run a 6 month course (Advanced Diploma in Project Management) which is effectively a prep course for the PMP which is handy because firstly you get the diploma from DBS & secondly you're ready for the exam (do it STRAIGHT away though!!). Overall I found DBS OK and for what I paid I got what I wanted out of it so I'd definitely recommend it. My friend did it in the IMI and found the workload much higher. If cost is a factor (and lets be honest it is for everybody!), you have to take 2 exams to get to practitioner level and then sit exams every 5 years, with PMI you only have to sit 1 exam and you can keep your certification through Professional Development Units (PDUs) which don't require you to spend more money, probably not a huge difference overall in the cost but maybe just something to consider

john999 wrote: »

- Any general advise/comments?

My own 2 cents....I wouldn't get too caught up on whether you do it in Trinity, UCD or anywhere else, ultimately all that will happen is somebody looking at your CV will check the box to say you have PMI and your experience and personality will get you way way further than where you did your course as project management is about experience and common sense. I had thought myself about doing a Masters in PM but have to say looking back it wouldn't have opened any different doors than just having the PMI.

john999

petergfiffin wrote: »

My own 2 cents....I wouldn't get too caught up on whether you do it in Trinity, UCD or anywhere else, ultimately all that will happen is somebody looking at your CV will check the box to say you have PMI and your experience and personality will get you way way further than where you did your course as project management is about experience and common sense. I had thought myself about doing a Masters in PM but have to say looking back it wouldn't have opened any different doors than just having the PMI.

Thanks peterg for the advise.
I am currently living in the west so is it possible then that I could study the whole PMP via an online/distance provider, rather than attend any courses. Could I even just purchase the PMBoK manual and a good PMP book (PMP exam prep by Andy Crowe is recommended on Amazon) and sit the exam, after booking it myself?

Basically what is the cheapest option, right the way up to the most recommended option to pass the PMP exam?

(...Anyone got any comments about the detail of documentation necessary for the 4500 project hours required for the PMP?...)

petergfiffin

As far as I'm aware you can't sit the exam unless you've done x number of hours of accredited training so I don't think you can just buy the book and do the exam, although I'm not sure if the training has to be classroom or whether it can be online. If you are doing it online though just make 100% sure it's accredited so it counts, might be best to see if there's any links on the PMI.

If you're looking at prep books for the exam the Rita Mulcahy one is usually the one recommended, not saying it's the best or anything but I found it quite good. As our lecturer said to us at the time, the thing about the exam actually that makes it quite difficult is that typically you have 4 choices and while 2 may actually appear correct what they're looking for is the PMI answer (if that makes sense), I'd also recommend doing practice exams first if you can.

For the documented hours I didn't go into anything too detailed, it was pretty much just like doing my work history from my CV (in fact that was what I used), I know a random sample are audited so I'd say if they need more detail you could always provide it at that stage but I suppose it's always better to put something in even if it's not needed than having them coming looking for it

Spinnaker

Thanks Oriel , Peter for demystifying P. Mgmt options

A friend, a professional project mgr, whose opinion I rate highly took Dip PM at DBS. He was after the qual and then PMP to copper fasten his career history. e2k though for 14 nights ovr 6 months or so.

I've heard that there are equivalent 5 day fulltime courses that also satisfy the 35 hour training requirement. Anyone know who the providers might be ?

Dermot'

Hi,

My job was recently made redundant and i was thinking of upskilling abit and sitting a diploma in project management by distance learning. Choosing distance learning because who knows where my next job will be.
The only suitable one i can find is in the Fitzwilliam institute

http://www.fitzwilliaminstitute.ie/project_management_course_distance_learning.php

It says the course it accredited by the I[FONT=Verdana,Bold][FONT=Verdana,Bold]nstitute of Commercial Management

Has anyone completed this course? Accredited by I.C.M is this a good awarding bodys? Anyone any thoughts on this course in this college are am in better to look else where??

Thanks in advance
[/FONT][/FONT]

fidelma_1

copacetic wrote: »

If you do the 6 month part time diploma course in smurfit run by the IPMI then you'll have done enough study to take the PMI exam.

The 6 month course run by the Institute of project Management of Ireland used to be run in Smurfit but now is run in the National College of Ireland in the IFSC. I think they also run it in other venues around the country. PMP is an excellent qualification but if you don't fit the requirements or want an alternative qualification you can take IPMA Certification (which is internationally recognised) with the Institue of Project Management. I did their course m self and it was excellent as they have different lecturers every week that are specialised in each topic that they lecture on.

noelo

fidelma_1 wrote: »

The 6 month course run by the Institute of project Management of Ireland used to be run in Smurfit but now is run in the National College of Ireland in the IFSC. I think they also run it in other venues around the country. PMP is an excellent qualification but if you don't fit the requirements or want an alternative qualification you can take IPMA Certification (which is internationally recognised) with the Institue of Project Management. I did their course m self and it was excellent as they have different lecturers every week that are specialised in each topic that they lecture on.

I have 10 years project management experience and a degree which contained a 45 hour project management module over a semester, were would that get me in relation to what your talking about? thanks

Static M.e.

This is a 2009 thread?

noelo

Static M.e. wrote: »

This is a 2009 thread?

yea! so what.do you not think I noticed that?....its 2011 now. its epic.

david4791

Which should I choose?

Is the PMP Cert worth more than a level 9 post grad in project Mgmt from TCD?

Certainly the PMP Cert would save me thousands over the tcd course?

AsianDub

david4791 wrote: »

Which should I choose?

Is the PMP Cert worth more than a level 9 post grad in project Mgmt from TCD?

Certainly the PMP Cert would save me thousands over the tcd course?

Old thread I know but does anyone have any advice about the above question?

I find myself in the same boat in 2015...

petergfiffin

The reality is it'll never hurt having the post-grad but if it came down to having to choose I'd go for the PMI (including over Prince or IPMA). If you do a search on a lot of the job boards you'll see a lot of jobs specifying PMI now, in reality it won't really matter that you have a diploma, you'll probably still end up having to sit the PMI or equivalent just to get the industry recognition.

Don't forget though if you're planning on sitting the PMI you'll still need the requisite number of training hours. For me the Dublin Business School Adv Diploma in Project Management (http://www.dbs.ie/advanced-project-management/evening-diploma) was the best of both worlds.

AsianDub

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I think you're right in saying that having both wont hurt.

manjosh

Also just to add, it better to consider an online PM programm than the very expensive offline ones.