Boston University offers a pretty nice looking online certificate in Project Management which comprises 4 courses and can be completed in 9 months. I would be interested in that program, but I have absolutely no experience whatsoever in project management. I have several years of experience in IT (Cisco networking) and a graduate certificate in Business. I have spent the past two years, though, as a middle-school Math and Social Studies teacher in Europe (IT jobs were hard to come by just a year ago!). I would now like to transition back into IT or the business sector. This is why I am considering several online MBA options at the moment. But this BU cert in PM looks like it could really add something nice to my CV in a relatively short period of time and it would be an intermediate step betwen my Business cert and a full-on MBA. But with my lack of experience in project management, would this be a useless certificate for me? Or would this be a great start to getting into the middle-management ranks of an IT team and working on my first real project?
The project managment certificate at either Boston University or Aspen University cover the PMBOK which is the material upon which the CAPM and PMP certifications are based from PMI. With little project management experience you can apply to write the CAPM exam and then after gaining the requisite number of hours in project management activities you could apply to write the PMP. Having PM skills can be useful whether working in an official project management role or managing other facets of an organization.
You should also consider the project management certificate at Stanford: http://apm.stanford.edu/certProgram.html It's expensive but perhaps a good way to put a solid brand on your resume. Dave
Excellent advice. I am completing a computer security certificate at Standford University for that very reason - school name recognition.
Stanford sees its PM cert as being advanced-level material, above and beyond PMBOK-centered courses available in most other university programs: 1. Do the courses follow the same methodology as the PMBOK®? The PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge) provides a solid, fundamental groundwork for project management, as a discipline. The Stanford Advanced Project Management program does not supersede PMBOK®. In fact, the curriculum of the overall Stanford Advanced Project Management Program is designed to enhance the basic learnings from the PMBOK®. It is considered to be the "next step." http://apm.stanford.edu/faq/faq.html
You may want to start with CompTIA’s Project Plus which is an entry level PM certification. After you have more experience, you could move on to the CAPM and eventually PMP. However, keep in mind that the Project Plus cert has limited utility.