Hello Folks

Been following this website for the past couple of months, appreciate all who have been contributing to this site and have been sharing your experiences. It is very helpful to people like me hoping to immigrate to Canada in the near future.

I wanted to find out if there are any PMPs in this group, is the certification valued in Canada and will it help in my job search. I have a Bachelors degree in Engineering from India and MS in Management from an US university, have 5 years of US experience with a Major telecommunication company.

Let me know if PMP will help me find a job in Canada. I expect to be there latter this year or early 2005.

Cheers

Yes, Absolutely.Go for it .

PMP is the next big thing in the projects industry. I am not a PMP but i wish i was, maybe i will take it after i finish what i am working for right now .

The exam is not that tough, but you need to be a real good projects experience to take it and clear it in one shot. It is a little pricy , can cost you around $1000 with training material,s but it is well worth it.
I am glad you bring it up because PMP is one certification which generallly now specified on many projects these days . they need to have one PMP certified person on board on some major public funded projects, i've even seen private corporations specifying it (AT&T).

And another great advantage is that it becomes easier to switch fields, i've seen an engineering person switch over to financial projects with a PMP.

If you can get the certification, go for it , it will not hurt , but you got to watch out that you need to work for sufficient PDU's everyyear to maintain your PMP.


Good luck and let us know how the cetification process goes!!

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What can be imagined, can be achieved.

What does the course of PMP entail. Is it for engineers or persons with Math/Science background, or even pure accounting professionals like me (who are not good at either math or science) can do it too?

Chandresh

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Chandresh,

PMP is a certifiacation for Project Management Professional. It has started gaining popularity in the last 10-15 yrs in the projects industry of every field, mostly in engineering and IT but is also getting popular in banking, finance , medical , agricultural , film making and every industry. The common binding thread in all these fields is that the work should be project oriented. You do not need to be a pure math/science person , but knowledge of basic math and accounting helps greatly.

A project can be defined as any temporary endeavour undertaken to achieve a unique product or service.

Any work in any field which falls under this defination is a project . Even in accounting and finance, there could be project oriented work , a good example would be merger of two banks. It is temporary ,time bound effort not monotonous , and it is undertaken to achieve a unique goal which is to merge the two banks.

PMP is conferred by Project Management institute, it is a body setting standards in Project Management and has many chapter all across the world including Canada and ontario.

I am guessing you live in Mississauaga , and here is the listing of the chapter closest to you. i am involved with PMI since 97 and attend the events @ the Toronto chapter.

http://www.pmi.org/info/GMC_ChapterListingOutsideUS.asp#P462_8064

To get membership you have to show affiliation of projects in your field and pay annual fee of PMI about $150 US and the local chapter fee $20 anually.
They keep conducting seminars everymonth for professional developement and other networking events for different industries .

http://www.pmi.org" rel="nofollow">LINK is the website of the parent body and they publish the PMBOK - project management body of knowledge.
this document is being accepted as the bible for all projects world over.

If a person has been working in project oriented industry for over 1500 or 2000 hrs , it becomes easier for him/her to grasp the concepts and appear for the PMP exam. Once the certification is recieved there is niche market for these PMPs in every industry.

Now, dont get me wrong, PMP does not guarantee immediate success, i've met many looking for a job but I have met a very large number of PMPs working on dream "once in a lifetime" projects. One such person was a relative of mine who went on the indian expedition to antartica.

There are about 86000 PMPs world wide, not a very large number but one feels very well equiped to handle complex projects.

I have not taken the exam yet but have prepared for it and i realized that just going thru the materials makes one feel strong in understanding of project related work.

Wether you are interested in the PMP test or not, i highly recommend reading the PMBOK for everyone, it is a free download form the pmi.org website.

After reading the book i realized that even our life is a project ...

time bound and temporary , made for a unique purpose and goal.

but thats my cynical way to look at things.

Hope this info helps...any one needing further info ... please dont hesitate to contact me.

I will be glad to share info.

Good luck .

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What can be imagined, can be achieved.

Mishtar India

Thanks, for your reply. I have been toying with the idea of pursuing PMP for a couple of weeks now. Will definitely go for it; want to make sure I have maximum ammo before I take the plunge into the Canadian job market.

Keep up the good work.

MSM