A couple of months ago, I released a video all about the Google Project Management Certificate. There seems to be a lot of interest in the certificates that Google is offering. They also have other areas such as Data Analytics and other IT-related certificates. But I wanted to focus on the project management one because one of the things that many people are asking is
“Is it worth it?”
“Should I take it?”
“How is this comparable to the PMI certifications (i.e., CAPM and PMP)?”
I just wanted to spend a few minutes talking about them and what I recommend as someone who’s constantly hiring people and is a Program Manager. I’m constantly seeing a bulk of resumes come my way.
Google just released the Project Management certificate. They say that if you take the certificate program, which they say usually takes about six months, you’re going to be connected to some of their partners who have partnered up with them for the certificate. You’ll be able to get an interview and possibly a job with these companies. One person commented on my video and said they took the IT certificate program, and nothing happened. With a new program, it sometimes takes a while for there to be any type of progress. It might be something that may be in two years down the line. I’ll probably revisit because Google will be able to have a chance to tweak some of the programs. They’ll be able to have more data, more feedback from people who’ve taken the program, as well as their partners, who’ve possibly hired people and make the program even better. Usually, when people think about project management and what certificates they should take, people think about the PMP. This project management professional certification (PMP) is offered by PMI. With that certification, some requirements have to be met, and especially if you’re starting out, you’re not going to meet those requirements. With that, PMI also offers the CAPM. And that is for someone who has started doing project management but they don’t have the extensive experience that someone who’s taking the PMP will have.
One thing to note is if you’ve already been doing project management for a year or two, I do recommend that you go for the CAPM. If you have more experience than that, and you meet the requirements of the PMP, definitely get the PMP instead. The PMP is the gold standard. Suppose you’ve never been exposed to project management, and you’re trying to delve into it. You don’t want to go into a four-year program or a two-year program. In that case, I do think that the Google project management certificate program is a good one to have. And the reason I say that is because one of the things that Google says on the website is that all those hours that you take taking the Google project management certificate program, you can apply that to the CAPM, when you’re ready to take that.
I think that it’s really great that Google is saying that the hours that you’re spending in this program, you’re able to apply it to take your CAPM and your PMP. And I think that’s great because the CAPM and PMP requirement is you have a certain amount of hours of experience or education. So I just really quickly wanted to say that because there has been some confusion about it. And I’ll just break it down real quick. Again, if you’ve never had any exposure to project management, go ahead and do the Google project management certificate program. Suppose you do have some project management experience. In that case, I do recommend that you go for the CAPM, which will be more recognized than the Google project management certificate. But if you really have extensive experience, and I want to say it’s five years, I got to check the guidelines to see if they changed that it could be three, but I have to check the guidelines, and I’ll post it there.
If you do have the amount of experience to qualify for the PMP, don’t waste your time on the Google management certificate. Don’t waste your time getting the CAPM; go for the PMP.
The other thing is that there has been a debate if you need a four-year degree college is even worth it. And that really is a personal choice. More and more. I’m starting to see that hiring managers are not focused on degrees and certificate certification. I’ve always been an advocate of the fact that if you’re looking at a resume, you don’t have to focus on if the person has this degree or that certification because believe me, I have met plenty of people who have all these certifications, and they are not the best. I’m trying to say that in the nicest way possible.
Let me know if you’re doing the Google project management certificate program. If you’re doing the CAPM or doing the PMP, I would love to know, and I will talk to everybody later, have a good week. Bye.
