Bucket List Item:
Get PMP Certified. This was on the Bucket List more from an accomplishment standpoint much more so than a ‘hey, this would be fun’ kinda thing. Because it wasn’t fun. In fact, it sucked. It sucked hard, like few things in my life ever had or have since. I am thrilled to death to be done with it though.
For those that aren’t familiar with the PMP Certification, it stands for Project Management Professional. It is an extremely difficult certification to get, not only because of the difficulty of the curriculum and the certification test but the whole process is cost prohibitive as well. My good buddy David Quesada and I started on this journey in early 2012. I remember joking with him that just the application process was painful, that I wasn’t sure I had it in me to actually run the gauntlet to certification. I was only half way joking about that part though. The application took me about 3 hours to complete. They wanted a detailed breakdown of every project you had led for the prior 6 or so years… including every phase of every project, who you worked with, their contact info, expected outcomes, actual outcomes and whether or not you stayed on schedule and on budget. Did I mention the PMP certification process sucked? That was just one part of the application process.
Needless to say, I wouldn’t be blogging about it if I didn’t complete that grueling 4 – 12 hour days of training followed by the grueling 4 hour test. I wouldn’t wish that hell on anyone. Except for the part that I am now certified and it feels great.
Not only that but, I was so inspired by completing the PMP, I also went out and got the PMI-ACP, CSM and CSP certifications.
Up next, SPC certification… Wish me luck!
PMP – Project Management Professional
PMI-ACP – Project Management Institute – Agile Certified Professional
CSM – Certified Scrum Master
CSP – Certified Scrum Professional
SPC – Scaled Agile Framework Program Consultant
