Is Getting a CAPM Certification Worth It?

Are you committed to your project management career? Are you excited to earn credibility as an enthusiastic project manager by learning the desired knowledge? If yes, then CAPM Certification (Certified Associate in Project Management) could encourage you to climb the corporate ladder quickly. CAPM Certification works as a necessary stepping-stone for the project managers as well for the administrative-level professionals.

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As per the market research, project management experience is in higher demand in virtually all organizations, and by 2020, approximately 1.57 million new posts will be created globally. Thus, qualified project management practitioners are in need. To meet this growing demand and experiences gap, experienced and new project management professionals are advised to take the industry-recognized certifications, and PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification is one amongst them.

However, when PMP and PRINCE2 certifications are there, it requirement be significant uncertainty in your mind that – is CAPM Certification worth it? To answer this, let’s take a broad understanding into the details by assessing the benefits of CAPM certification, CAPM certification cost, CAPM certification requirements, etc.

What Is CAPM Certification?

The CAPM Certification is an entry-level certification designed by PMI for associates who need to become a certified associate in project management. This globally admitted certification provided by the Project Management Institute (PMI) covers all the fundamental knowledge, processes, terminology associated with effective project management.

Moreover, CAPM certification is composed based on the PMI framework and supports the standards as mentioned in the PMBOK Guide-6th Edition (A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge). The exam tests a candidate’s knowledge of various project management knowledge areas and process groups.

Achievement of CAPM Certification ensures that a candidate possesses the necessary skills and knowledge about the principles of project management. Besides, this certification enables individuals to control the primary difficulties of project management.

The CAPM Certification course outline is as follows:

  • Knowledge Areas Covered:

  1. Introduction to Project Management (6%)

  2. Project Environment (6%)

  3. Role of the Project Manager (7%)

  4. Project Integration Management (9%)

  5. Project Scope Management (9%)

  6. Project Schedule Management (9%)

  7. Project Cost Management (8%)

  8. Project Quality Management (7%)

  9. Project Resource Management (8%)

  10. Project Communication Management (10%)

  11. Project Risk Management (8%)

  12. Project Procurement Management (4%)

  13. Project Stakeholder Management (9%)

Benefits of CAPM Certification

The best response to the predicament “Is CAPM Certification Worth It?” Is understanding the benefits of CAPM certification. Getting a CAPM certification can further your career in multiple ways. Let’s have a look at the benefits of CAPM certification.

Roots of Project Management Reliability and Knowledge:

CAPM certification evaluates a candidate with PMI particularized powerful guidelines which require the candidate to satisfy specific criteria of the candidate’s experience, professional knowledge, and education. The evaluation process of CAPM certification requires the candidate to abide by the industry-standard ethics and code along with the professional conduct. Thus, CAPM certified associate is highly skilled and trained on project management witness. Consequently, this certification undoubtedly encourages the professional credibility of a candidate.

Help You Become a Confident Project Lead:

CAPM certification not only advances the project management knowledge of a candidate but also inspires the leadership abilities into them to lead in the workplace. As this is an entry-level project management certification, it also encourages new functions in project management to learn how to manage a team entirely in a kind of working environments. A CAPM certified associate in project management can thus perform as an essential resource in any business function.

Learn the Best Project Management Practices:

The PMI PMBOK guidelines as given through the CAPM certification makes a professional get informed with the best project management skill sets practices. It gives professionals to obtain necessary skills related to project management activities like project planning, execution, monitoring, and controlling a project towards the achievement.

Excellent Career Opportunities:

Like all the professional courses, project management is also a range of competition as the market for the certified associate in project management is on a continuous rise so as the CAPM certification around the world. CAPM certification is a globally recognized certification and approved by all major companies.

The most interesting part of this certification is even if a candidate has limited project management experience, this certification serves to meet the gap of project management skills and have knowledge related to managerial roles. Hence, a CAPM certified professional gets extended opportunities in the job market.

Opportunity in Ready Job Profiles:

CAPM is an entry-level certification in project management which is designed for professionals with little or no experience in the project management field. As the CAPM program highlights the basic theories of project management, its terminologies, and best practices. Thus, it starts up many job profiles for them behind project management.

Some of the job portraits that a CAPM certified professionals can apply for are:

  • Consultants

  • Business Analyst

  • Relational Administrator

  • Operational Support associate

  • PMO

  • Senior Project Manager in IT

  • Marketing Coordinator for Communications and many more.

Prospects of Raised Salary:

As the CAPM certification validates a candidate’s project management credentials with PMI standards, no doubt, it works as a bonus and sometimes helps to raise the salary up to 25%. Even in the same organization, a CAPM certified professional can demand a higher salary than the non-certified professionals as a result of the increased demand for CAPM certification amongst the employers.

Additionally, as certified by PMI, CAPM certification is recognized as one of the highest paying certifications in project management stream.

CAPM Certification Exam Information

The next instant question that comes into a candidate’s mind is – what is the eligibility criteria and cost to take CAPM certification? Here are the details:

CAPM Certification Requirements:

As conducted by PMI to appear for CAPM certification a candidate must meet the following criteria:

  • Educational background with a secondary degree that could be a high school diploma, an associate degree or the global equivalent

  • 1500 hours of professional experience on a project team which consists of 5 process groups – Initiating Process, Planning Process, Executing Process, Monitoring/Controlling Process, and Closing Process

  • Or have 23 contact hours of formal project management education to satisfy the prerequisite requirements

CAPM Certification Exam Pattern:

  • Number of Questions in the Exam: 150 Questions

  • The format of Questions: Multiple Choice Questions

  • Duration: 3 hours

  • Maintenance Time: The candidate must retake the exam every five years.

  • No negative marking.

CAPM Certification Cost:

CAPM certification cost can be assessed in two categories:

  1. Training cost

  2. Exam cost

1) Training Cost:

If a candidate does not attend the 1500 hours professional experience standards, then he must take online training from PMI which costs for:

  • PMI Members $350

  • Non-PMI Members:$400

Furthermore, this training cost may change based on the locations.

2) Exam cost:

As per PMI’s CAPM Handbook, the CAPM is a computer-based training (CBT) test which costs:

  • PMI Members: $225

  • Non-PMI Members: $300

Besides, the candidate strength also has to pay renewal charge for CAPM certification in every five years. Preparing for CAPM certification? Check your current level of preparation with CAPM practice tests.

CAPM Certification Salary – A Decisive Boost for Career

As mentioned earlier, PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is regarded as one of the highest paying certifications in the industry. As per the one of the salary report, a CAPM associate can draw an average annual salary of up to $101,103.

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Concluding Words

Are you still in difficulty whether you should go for CAPM certification? Well, from knowledge and career prospect, it is an advantage at any level of project management profession. However, like any other certifications, CAPM certification also require proper preparation as you are going to invest the right amount of money and cover a broad curriculum. Besides PMBOK guide, enough training along with sample questions make sense in this perspective. Also, time-bound exam simulators like practice test range can be very much helpful to qualify the exam without much trouble.

Presenting this in mind, the practice test questions and material are entirely based on 6th edition of PMBOK guide which will help a candidate to prepare with the latest exam pattern without any confusion. So, why late? Join us today and experience your aimed career in project management by becoming a CAPM professional.

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