Formal education and specific certifications in case of a number of fields of life are often not as important as the skills you possess. Skills and knowledge of the field tend to be the first requirement. Yet the formal degrees and certifications are helpful in the search of a job in even the fields where they are not always required.

There are different project management certificates you should look into. One of them is definitely PMP (Project Management Professional). PMP is offered by Project Management institute (PMI) . According to wikipedia there are currently just over 350 000 PMP certified individuals globally.

In order to obtain PMP, you must document 3 or 5 years of work experience as a project manager, you must complete 35 hours of project management related training and you must complete PMI’s multiple choice examination.

Another certification you might want to look at is PRINCE2 certificate. PRINCE2 is a project management method – PRojects IN Controlled Environments and this method is currently de facto standard for project management in the UK. Compared to PMP Prince2 is a general framework for successful project management while PMP is more about specific techniques.

Some reasons why you might want to consider obtaining project management certifications:

• You get recognised for your knowledge throughout the credentialing process
• Your certificates show your potential employers your dedication to the project management profession
• They reflect your knowledge. Instead of just trying to get the potential employer to take your word on it – you have something to show them.
• Certifications often result in higher wages.
• Getting certified is not as simple as taking an exam – you need to learn for them first and this learning (often maybe just reminding you the things you had forgotten) always has its own benefits.
• Certificates tend to make employers put more trust you, your knowledge and your skills.

By the end of the day – project management certificates give you better understanding of the profession, gives newbies more information on what the employers might be expecting from them, give professionals better dollar numbers and makes your peers think more of you.

There are a lot of different project management certifications out there and for someone just starting to look into getting the credentials for him- or herself, the decision to which certificate to commit to, might not be an easy one. Below is a short introduction to the main certifications in project management field.

PMP (PMI Project management professional)
PMP is a certification offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the holders of this certification have on average the highest paying jobs in the industry (around $100k annually).  PMP has been created to demonstrate a strong level of project management leadership skills.

CAMP
Another certifications offered by PMI. The CAPM certification is mainly meant for project team members designed specifically for project team members.

Project+
Project+ is a project management certification offered by Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). The CompTIA Project+ certification is globally recognised and validates your skills of fundamental project management. It is meant to identify quality project managers. CompTIA Project+ is relatively inexpensive and not as sophisticated project management certification than some of the others.

APMC (Advanced Project Management Certification)
APMC is especially meant for senior project managers. This program focuses on widening the project managers knowledge of high level strategic project management.

PRINCE2
The name means PRojects IN Controlled Environments (Prince2) and is currently de facto standard for project management in the UK. Used a lot in private sector both in UK and around the globe. In order to keep their certification, project managers are expected to re-take the exam every 3-5 years.

AIPM
Project management certifications through the Australian Institute of Project Management) are mainly meant for Australian market – yet they are based on international standards.

IPMA
This Swiss organisation (International Project Management Association) represents 45 national project management associations and offers a four-level project management certification.

AAPM  – American Academy of Project Management
AAPM offers PME, CIPM and MPM certifications (three different levels). All these these certifications are meant for executives and expect you to have graduate degree and years of experience experience in the field.

BrainBench
Brainbench project management certification is based on PMI’s project management certification, but it is more targeted towards organisations than individuals.

These are just some more known project management certifications offered – by no means is this list complete.