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May 2, 2021

The Complete Guide to Project Management Institute

The project management field has evolved over the years. New technology, project management methodologies, frameworks, and project management software have changed the way PMs oversee projects throughout different industries.

One thing that has remained constant is the Project Management Institute (PMI). For over 50 years, this organization has become the go-to resource for project management professionals across the globe.

For those of you who want to learn new skills and advance your career in project management, you need to get familiar with the PMI—and this guide will explain everything you need to know.

What is the Project Management Institute?

The Project Management Institute is a nonprofit organization and certification provider that was founded back in 1969. It’s globally recognized as an industry leader in training, research, networking, and credentialing for the project management industry.

The PMI has assisted 3+ million project, program, and portfolio management professionals across the globe.

This organization has developed industry standards in the project management field. They offer everything from project management tools to project management job boards, awards, and events related to project management.

3 PMI Tools to Improve Your Project Management Skills

There are dozens of resources available from the Project Management Institute. But these are my three favorite tools that can immediately improve your career as a project manager.

#1 — PMP Certification

The Project Management Institute offers lots of different certifications. But the PMP Certification is arguably the most prestigious and most reputable. This is the world’s leading PM certificate and includes predictive, agile, and hybrid frameworks. It’s one of the best ways for project managers to instantly make themselves more appealing in prospective job opportunities.

According to the PMI, PM professionals with a PMP certification in North America are paid 25% more than those who aren’t certified.

To qualify, you must have a four-year degree, 36 months of experience as a project leader, and 35 hours of project management training (a CAPM certificate nullifies the last requirement). If you don’t have a four-year degree but have a high school diploma or an associate’s degree, you’ll need 60 months of experience leading projects to qualify.

The PMP Certification exam fee costs $405 for PMI members and $555 for non-members.

#2 — PMBOK Guide

The PMBOK Guide is the Project Management Institute’s flagship publication. It’s an essential resource for managing projects in any industry. This guide contains the foundation and knowledge required to be an effective project manager. If you’re only going to read one book on project management, this is my recommendation.

PMI members can download the PMBOK Guide for free. Non-members can purchase a physical paperback copy of the book for $99 or download the digital ebook for the same price. It’s something that you can always refer back to throughout your project management career.

When you order this book, the PMI will send you a free copy of the Agile Practice Guide as well. With agile project management skills in high demand, the extra book is a nice bonus for any project manager to have on their bookshelf.

#3 — CAPM Certification

A Certificate Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is the perfect credential to start your career as a project manager. It’s ideal for existing project managers that want to start managing bigger projects or prospective project managers that want to stand out in a competitive job market. For a fast way to add credibility to your resume, I highly recommend the CAPM certification.

To qualify, you need to have a high school diploma or an associate’s degree. You’ll also need to complete 23 hours of project management education before you take the exam. Unlike other PMI certifications, you don’t need any experience as a project manager for the CAPM. The CAPM exam fee is $225 for PMI members and $300 for non-members.

The Basics of the Project Management Institute

To say the PMI’s offerings are vast would be a drastic understatement. But everything that this organization provides can be summarized in the following core elements:

Membership

The PMI has membership opportunities for project management professionals who want to advance their careers.

There are over 600,000 members in the PMI community. Joining the PMI community is one of the best ways to network with peers in your industry. Anyone can create a PMI account for free and use it to track their certification status (more on this shortly). But to get the most out of your account, I’d recommended upgrading to the paid PMI membership.

The cost to join is just $129 per year, plus a one-time application fee of $10. But the paid membership pays for itself almost immediately.

In addition to joining the PMI community, you’ll also get to download the PMBOK guide for free—normally $99. The PMI also gives you access to over 1,000 free tools and templates as part of your membership. You can take these templates and immediately apply them to real-world projects that you’re managing. Use your membership to find relevant career opportunities on the PMI job board as well, which is only available to members.

Another top benefit of the PMI membership is the discount that you’ll get on project management certifications. Members pay a lower exam fee than non-members. For example, you’ll save $150 on your PMP certification with a PMI membership.

Certifications

The Project Management Institute is a reputable certification body for project management professionals. With a globally recognized certification, project managers are able to advance their careers, seek new opportunities, and get paid more for their added value.

A certification from the PMI is a big deal. It shows organizations that you’re qualified to manage certain types of projects. Available certifications include:

Project Management Professional (PMP)
Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
Program Management Professional (PgMP)
Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)
Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)
PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)
PMI Project Management Ready
Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM)
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM)
Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC)
Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC)

Each certification comes with a certain level of prestige attached to it. For example, the PMP certification is known as the gold standard in the project management field. Whereas the Project Management Ready certification is designed to prepare students with basic information related to project management.

All certifications follow the same standard process. First, you must meet certain eligibility requirements. The criteria are typically based on education level, completed training, and experience as a project manager.

If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can complete an application with information. You’ll also need to submit audit materials with proof of your eligibility. Once the application has been approved and you’ve submitted payment, you can schedule an exam appointment. The PMI will officially issue certifications after you’ve passed the exam.

Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program

Earning your certificate is just one step. But to maintain your certifications from the PMI, you’ll need to complete some additional requirements.

That’s where the CCR Program comes into play. It’s designed to help project professionals continue to grow and develop skills while maintaining their certification status.

Each certification requires recipients to earn a certain number of PDUs during a three-year cycle. PDU stands for “professional development units.” Each unit represents a one-hour time block for learning, teaching, or volunteering.

The number of PDUs required will depend on the certificate that you’re trying to maintain. For example, the PMP certification calls for 60 PDUs, while a CAPM only requires 15.

Track your progress on the PMI’s CCR system, a simple online tool for reporting PDUs. This will make it much easier for you to renew your certifications.

Education and Training

In addition to the project management certifications, the PMI is also known for its training resources. The PMI believes that professional development in the project management industry is more than just a one-time thing—it’s something that should be an ongoing component of your project management career.

The PMI has developed an ideal skill set for modern project management, known as the “Talent Triangle.” The triangle contains three crucial aspects of project management—technical project management, strategic and business management, and leadership.

There are training materials offered directly by the PMI, including online courses, disciplined agile toolkits, seminars, and webinars. If you have a PMI membership, you’ll have full access to 1,000+ webinars on projectmanagement.com. These contain tips, best practices, trends, how-to tutorials, and so much more. It’s also an easy way to earn PDUs for maintaining certifications.

The PMI also has authorized training partners that have exceeded rigorous standards for quality. You can discover these third-party training resources directly from the PMI website.

I enjoy the thought leadership resource from the PMI as well. This contains the latest ideas and principles from industry leaders in the project management field. It covers everything from portfolio management to cost management, sustainability, business analysis, scheduling, and everything else you could possibly need. Use this resource to gain a fresh perspective on certain areas of project management.

Events

Another excellent way to network and further your career as a project manager is by attending events hosted by the Project Management Institute.

Through uncertain times and struggles with in-person learning due to a public health crisis, the PMI has gone digital. You can still attend virtual events from the comfort of your own home.

In-person events will slowly get back to normal over the coming months and years. But in the meantime, virtual events are the next best thing. In some instances, this provides you with better access to an event that you might have otherwise been unable to attend.

There are also local PMI chapter events that you can join with your PMI membership. The events calendar is updated on a regular basis. So be sure to check it out to see what’s available and register online for any virtual event.

Core Values

The PMI stands out from other organizations in the project management space by maintaining a set of common values. These values remain unchanged, regardless of management trends or changes to business environments.

The Project Management Institute’s core values include:

Project Management Impact
Professionalism
Volunteerism
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Community
Engagement

As you continue to familiarize yourself with the PMI, you’ll see that these core values are a staple in everything that the organization offers.

For example, if you refer to the requirements to maintain different certifications, you’ll see that you can earn credits for giving back, which would fall into the volunteerism and community core values categories.

3 Tricks For The Project Management Institute

Apply these quick tricks and best practices to get the most out of your experience at the Project Management Institute. These simple steps will make your life much easier.

Trick #1: Get a PMI Membership

If you truly want to commit yourself to a career in project management, start with a PMI membership. You’ll get tons of benefits for joining, all of which we discussed in greater detail earlier.

But aside from those perks, the membership symbolizes your commitment as a project manager. You’ll be more likely to obtain certifications and maintain credentials throughout your career. The membership will give you access to exclusive materials and other useful pieces of information that you can apply to real projects.

As a leader, your team will always look to you for guidance. This is not always an easy position to be in. So it’s really helpful if you have a community of peers that you can fall back on for advice and insight.

Trick #2: Take Advantage of Free Online Courses

Not everything from the PMI will cost you money. There are plenty of great free classes as well. This is perfect for project management beginners or students who are considering a career in project management.

Before you dive in head-first, these free courses can provide you with a basic overview of project management to see if it’s something you’re interested in pursuing further.

Just head over to the PMI store and search for eLearning materials. Then sort the options by price from low to high, and you’ll see a handful of free courses. Examples include Project Management For Beginners, Free Introduction: Basics of Disciplined Agile, Foundations of Change Management, and Business Continuity.

Trick #3: Use Practice Guides

Earlier, we talked about the PMBOK Guide, which is arguably the most popular and well-known publication from the PMI. But there are other excellent practice guides that can be used to apply PMI standards in specific disciplines.

Some of my favorite practice guides include:

Agile Practice Guide
Governance of Portfolios, Programs, and Projects: A Practice Guide
Benefits Realization Management
Managing Change in Organizations: A Practice Guide
Navigating Complexity: A Practice Guide
Business Analysis For Practitioners: A Practice Guide
Requirements Management: A Practice Guide

All of these can help take your project management career to the next level.

April 12, 2021

The Complete Guide to Project Management Interview Questions

Before you can plan and execute a project from start to finish, you need to get hired for the position. If it’s your first time getting ready for a project management interview, it’s normal to be nervous. But those nerves subside if you’re well prepared.

Even if you’re an experienced project manager, it’s always in your best interest to prepare for an interview instead of just relying on your resume. If the decision comes down to you and another candidate, nailing the interview can seal the deal in your favor.

Every project is unique. Hiring managers look for key indicators during an interview to see if they can fulfill the required responsibilities.

I’ll teach you how to prepare for project management interview questions in this guide.

What are Project Management Interview Questions?

Project management interview questions come after you’ve already passed the first phase of the hiring process.

By now, the hiring manager has already reviewed your resume and pre-qualified you for the position. If you’ve made it to an interview, whether it be in-person or virtually through Skype or another video chat solution, you’ve made the shortlist of roughly six candidates for the job. There will be multiple rounds of interviews for the hiring manager to narrow the field in some instances.

All of the candidates will be asked similar interview questions related to project management. If you’re well prepared and know how to answer these questions effectively, the job is as good as yours.

3 Resources to Help Prepare You For Your Project Management Interview

These are three excellent resources to help you prepare for project management interviews.

#1 — Project Management Institute

The Project Management Institute has been around for over 50 years. This nonprofit organization is a global leader in the project management industry. At PMI, you can find tons of great resources to take your project management skills to the next level. The site has learning tools, training resources, and other ways to advance your knowledge in project management. This will definitely help you prepare for interview questions.

Furthermore, the PMI is also known for its project management certifications. If you hold specific certifications, you’ll be able to stand out from other candidates who aren’t certified. You’ll still need to do well on your interview, but you’ll have a leg-up by impressing the hiring manager with your credentials.

#2 — TopInterview

TopInterview is an online interview coaching service. It’s a great way to run mock interviews and practice answering questions before you face actual interviews. The platform offers one-on-one coaching via phone or video chat. Every session is recorded, so you’ll be able to go back and hear yourself at a later time.

Another benefit of TopInterview is the personalized action plan you’ll receive. Your coach will create a blueprint for success that’s related to your specific needs. TopInterview has helped people land jobs at some of the best companies in the world, including Google, Qualcomm, Spotify, and Boeing. Interview coaching services from TopInterview start at $149.

#3 — Big Interview

Big Interview is another popular online service to prepare for job interview questions. The platform is unique. It’s a combination of training lessons and interview practice. But what makes Big Interview stand out from similar platforms on the market is its AI technology. You’ll benefit from customizable behavioral-based and occupation-specific questions to prepare for your project management interview.

The curriculum involves in-depth training from industry experts. You’ll also have the ability to work at your own pace to get prepared. Interview scheduled for tomorrow? No problem. Big Interview even has a fast-track program to help people prepare for last-minute interviews. Training starts at $79 per month with no long-term commitments. A 30-day money-back guarantee backs all purchases.

The Core Elements of Project Management Interview Questions

Nailing your interview is more than just question preparation. You need to understand the big-picture scenario of what hiring managers are looking for.

Company Culture

There are certain components of a project management interview that are entirely unrelated to project management. Yes, you read that correctly. You could be the best project manager on the planet and still not get the job if you don’t fit in well with the company’s culture.

Project managers have such a unique position. They must lead teams while simultaneously balancing their responsibilities to executives in the company. So you need to look beyond the basic day-to-day tasks of running projects and think about the big picture of the organization. What is the ultimate goal of that company? Aside from specific projects, what does the business stand for?

Show the hiring manager that you’ve done your research and you fully understand the company’s long-term goals outside of turning a profit.

Be prepared to answer why you want the job in question. “Getting money” is not an acceptable answer to this question. But if you explain that you’re interested in improving green energy initiatives or whatever else the business might be prioritizing, it shows you’re a good fit for that company’s culture and understand their overall goals.

Scenario-Based Interview Questions For Project Management

It’s very common for hiring managers to ask you hypothetical scenarios during an interview. So being well prepared for these types of questions will give you a leg-up compared to other candidates.

Depending on the question, you could potentially refer back to a real-life experience of how you’ve handled that exact scenario during a previous project.

Examples of common scenario-based project management interview questions include:

Assume a project has gone off the rails. How would you get it back on track?
A customer is not happy with the final deliverable. What’s your approach to dealing with an unhappy stakeholder?
There is an internal conflict between two members of your team. How will you resolve the problem?
Every project has risks. What are some types of risks that you could face during a project?
It’s midway through a project, and you’re on pace to go over budget. Describe your course of action from here.

Stay calm during these scenario questions. Project managers are faced with critical real-time decisions every day. So keeping cool during an interview when the scenarios are hypothetical is a must. Managers will be judging more than just your response. They want to know how well you stay composed in pressure scenarios as well. If you struggle to get through the interview, they might be hesitant to put you in a high-pressure role managing projects with many moving parts.

Leadership and Communication Interview Questions

Being a leader is a crucial aspect of project management. But leadership is more than just telling people what to do. There’s an art to delegating tasks and leading a team to success. Effective communication is a significant part of this core element.

Project managers must be able to communicate with everyone. In addition to communicating with the team members, you’ll also need to regularly communicate with stakeholders, sponsors, clients, and executives.

Questions related to project management leadership and communication could include:

What were some of the communication challenges you faced during your most recent project?
What is your communication style?
What software or technology have you used to improve team communication?
How have you adjusted to working with remote teams?
How do you delegate tasks?
How do you monitor and track the responsibilities that you’ve delegated?
How do you handle a team member who isn’t pulling their weight?
In what ways do you motivate your team or bring up morale?

Be specific here, but stick to the point. You shouldn’t go off on a 10-minute rant about one particular story. Your responses should be specific with just enough detail to avoid ambiguity or boilerplate responses.

Technical Knowledge and Skills-Based Interview Questions

You should also be prepared to explain your skill sets in the field of project management. Knowing how to answer a question about being a leader or painting a hypothetical picture won’t be enough here. Every project management interview will have some questions to truly test your knowledge.

Examples of questions related to technical knowledge and skills include:

What are the five phases of project management?
Can you explain the concept of RAID as it applies to project management?
What’s your process of defining the scope of a project?
What strategy do you use to track actuals vs. estimated costs?
What is your preferred project management methodology? Why?
What project management software have you used in the past? Which tool is your favorite?
How do you prioritize tasks for a new project?
How do you track your team’s progress and make sure they’re hitting deadlines?
How do you allocate resources effectively?
How do you estimate costs and manage a budget throughout a project?

These questions might be a bit more challenging than some of the other categories. That’s because there’s no fooling anyone here. If you don’t know your stuff, you can’t fake your way through these questions.

5 Tips For Getting Hired as a Project Manager

If you want some easy ways to prepare for your interview questions, apply these hacks and best practices. These tips will help you nail your project management interview.

Trick #1: Don’t Memorize Responses

You might be tempted to memorize all of the common questions in this guide and prepare memorized answers ahead of time. Don’t do this.

For starters, it’s a huge waste of time. The common questions on this guide, or any other guide for that matter, are just a point of reference. You might be faced with variations to these questions that won’t fit your memorized response.

Even if you knew exactly what questions you would be asked in an interview, memorizing answers word-for-word is ineffective. Have you ever listened to someone give a speech that was memorized? It’s tough to hear. It sounds unnatural, and the second they forget a word or a line, the whole thing gets derailed.

The same concept applies to interviews. If your response sounds memorized or unnatural, the hiring manager will see right through it.

Trick #2: Be Confident

Walk into an interview like you’re the right person for the job. You belong in that room, and there should be no doubts about it.

If you feel like you’re underqualified or don’t think you should get the job, chances are, you won’t get it. Hiring managers need to know that you feel fully capable of leading a team and managing successful projects.

Trick #3: Practice Interviews

Practice makes perfect. This age-old expression holds true for interviews and nearly everything else in your life. Just like you can’t expect to hit a home run your first time swinging a baseball bat, you can’t expect to get hired during your first interview.

If you’re fresh out of college or new to the job market, you probably have minimal experience with interviews. That’s okay.

Take some mock interviews online or hire an interview coach. These are the best ways to learn from your mistakes. By the time the real interview comes around, you’ll be much more comfortable.

Trick #4: Use Your Network

Don’t be afraid to use any resources at your disposal. If you have connections to a company through a friend or family, ask that person for a referral.

When you land an interview based on a referral, it can break the ice and offer some common ground between you and the hiring manager. If the two of you share a common connection, you might start the interview by quickly talking about that person or sharing a quick laugh. That helps you build rapport and ultimately makes for a more relaxed interview.

This isn’t a replacement for good preparation, but it’s an excellent way to gain an advantage.

Trick #5: Record Your Practice Interviews

Hearing yourself on tape is extremely valuable. It is one of the best ways to learn from your mistakes and prepare for the real thing. You could think that an interview went great. But when you go back and hear the recording, you might realize that you sound nervous. Or maybe you’re not as confident as you thought.

Recording your mock interviews can help you prioritize what to focus on for improvement.

July 10, 2020

An Ultimate Guide to the Scrum Project Management

If you've spent even a small amount of time in the field of digital project management then you must have heard about the Scrum methodology. Scrum, which was initially designed for software development teams now, finds its application across many other fields like marketing, project management, and many more.

According to a report by a Project Management Institute, more than half of the project managers who use the Agile framework uses the Scrum methodology. Not only this, but a PMI survey also shows that around a combined total of 55% of organizations "Sometimes", often", or "always" uses Scrum.

Tag: PMI