Is a project management course right for me?

Thinking about becoming a fully-qualified project manager, but not sure whether you’ve found the right course for you?

If you’re interested in a career in project management, there are a number of different qualifications out there which might suit you. In fact, with so many options available, choosing the right one can often be a confusing decision – especially if you’re starting from scratch.

To make sure you find your perfect match, we spoke to online learning specialists e-Careers, who gave us a quick guide to the top project management courses:

What is project management? 

Project management is the process of applying a structured approach to a particular project – usually based on the knowledge, skills and experience of the Team Leader, or Project Manager.

To help provide some specific guidelines, a number of project management professionals have come up with their own tools and methodologies that you could use.

These helped turn project management into a growing profession, which many companies see as essential to their productivity and success.

 

What are the benefits of taking a project management course?

There are many great benefits of gaining a project management qualification, including:

  • Better job opportunities
  • More lucrative salaries
  • Global recognition of your skills
  • Increased productivity and efficiency
  • More successful and better delivered projects for your business

What’s more, with project management professionals being sought in almost every industry, becoming certified means opening doors to a career in a number of different sectors, cities and even countries.

So if you’re looking for a career with real recognition and progression prospects, project management might be for you.

 

What project management qualifications are there?

There are a number of different qualifications you can take in project management. However, the main three qualifications are:

 

PRINCE2®  

PRINCE2® is a world-recognised project management method. In fact, over one million exams are taken in Prince2 each year – that’s two exams every minute*.

It’s available at three different levels: Foundation (entry-level), Practitioner (intermediate) and Professional (advanced) depending on your expertise.

The latter two levels require the previous qualification/s in order to begin studying, however, PRINCE2® Foundation has no formal prerequisites.

Benefits of PRINCE2® include the fact that it embodies proven best practices within the industry, as well as providing a common language for project management professionals.

PRINCE2®: What you need to know

View all PRINCE2® courses

 

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a data-driven process-improvement program, which aims to improve the quality, efficiency and performance of your projects.

There are several different Six Sigma certifications, or ‘belts’. The most commonly used and accepted Six Sigma Belts are Yellow, Green, Black and Master Black.

Six Sigma aims to improve customer loyalty and time management, whilst also reducing cycle time. Each level takes somewhere between 40 and 60 hours to complete, and are particularly aimed at those who work best within an agile methodology.

And is Six Sigma successful? Motorola, the developers of the methodology, certainly think so. In fact, they have stated that adhering to six sigma processes will result in 99.99966% of all manufactured products can be expected to be defect-free.

Only 3.4 defective parts for every million worked on? That’s not a bad return…

Six Sigma: What you need to know

View all Six Sigma courses

 

PMI

With more than 700,000 members worldwide, PMI is the world’s largest professional membership association for Project Managers.

Aside from membership, they also offer several different certifications, the most well-known of which being PMP (Project Management Professional). PMP demonstrates that you have the competency and experience to lead projects (three years of previous experience in Project Management is necessary).

Unlike other certifications, PMI is not based on one strict set of principles and is easily transferable, making it a great qualification for those looking to switch industries. You will also become a member of the PMI community – a worldwide community of 357,000 professionals.

As for the benefits of PMI, it’s members are amongst the best-paid project management professionals anywhere in the world, across a range of different industries and disciplines. In fact, 71% of recently PMI certified project managers reported increases in their salaries over the previous 12 months**.

PMI: What you need to know

View all PMI courses

 

How do I know if a project management course is right for me?

If you’re still not sure, a project management course might be right for you if any of the following apply:

  • You’re looking for a career in project management
  • You’re looking for quick career progression within project management
  • You want to become certified
  • You want to round off your skills
  • You want to make the most of your organisational and leadership skills

 

Why study with e-Careers?

e-Careers offer both online and traditional classroom-based courses, depending on which one works best for you. So whether you want to study alongside others, or from the comfort of your own home, the choice is yours.

The training videos are led by experts within their field, many of whom possess at least 15 years’ experience in their profession.

And aside from competitive prices and excellent customer support, they offer, visual presentations, quizzes and exam simulators to help make your course as interactive and supportive as possible.

To find out more about what e-Careers can do for you, take a look at all of their current project management courses now.

Prince2 courses with e-Careers

Six Sigma courses with e-Careers

PMI courses with e-Careers

 

What are their students saying?

“Their PMI Project Management Professional course was easy to follow. It’s set out well, and I received a lot of help from the staff involved if I had any queries. It’s also very convenient to be able to do at my own pace. I would recommend e-careers to anyone wishing to pursue a career in project management.”

(Liam Hackett, Project Manager)

 

*Source: APM Group

**Source: PMI Project Management Salary Survey.

 

ecareerse-Careers support over 300,000 students across the world, helping them fulfil their potential and earn qualifications in everything from project management through to IT, accountancy and more. Reach your goals by taking an e-Careers course today. 

 

 

Not sure which course is right for you? View all available courses now.