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What Exactly is a Project Management Professional and What Do They Do?

Also known as PMPs, project managers are the people who make sure everything goes according to a plan they helped design. In a nutshell, it is their job to keep things organized between the team they are assigned and help team members stay productive while encouraging collaboration and cooperation.

Plus, the demand for skilled project managers is on the rise. According to Project Management Institute’s 2022 Job Report, there will be around 2.3 million annual job opportunities by 2030 in this field. This shows there is room for growth for anyone interested in a PM career.

If you’re interested, check out the steps to becoming a Project Management Professional and the skills that make you a good candidate.

What is a PMP?

The term Project Manager (PM) is a rather wide umbrella as it covers a range of tasks.

In fact, the PM is often wearing quite a lot of hats, so their skillset needs to be broad. They organize, plan, and monitor the execution of a project according to the established timeline.

Also, they are in charge of putting out fires, and they are the intermediaries between the higher-ups and the rest of the team.

PMs carry a lot of responsibility on their shoulders because they are the first to take the blame if a project fails. But there’s also an upside – when a project succeeds, they receive part of the credit for a job well done.

Becoming Certified as a PMP (Project Management Professional)

If you plan on building a career in project management, it’s a good step to get certified. While some companies offer on-the-job training and certification, you have better chances at a well-paid position if you’re good to go from the start.

PMP certification places you in the professionals’ team, and most employers would happily select you over someone they have to train. Plus, the skills you learn during your certification training can be translated across all industries and projects.

The good news is that you can up your skills online, on your own time, by applying to a PMP certification course from Dooey. You learn everything you need to know, and you have a good chance of passing your exams with great marks!

What Does a PMP Do?

In broad terms, a PMP is responsible for a project from its inception to its completion. This means they will:

  • Defines the project’s scope (not in all cases, though)
  • Establishes and makes sure the timeline is followed
  • Builds a budget plan and sticks to it
  • Manages all the project’s resources, including human and financial
  • Documents the progress, trials & tribulations, and success/failure stories
  • Keeps stakeholders up to date and conveys their requests to the team
  • Assess risks and develops a backup plan
  • Troubleshooting
  • Conflict management and upholds open lines of communication

Now, to do all these and more, a PMP needs a unique set of skills rooted in openness to communication and understanding others. You’ll also need leadership skills since you need to know how to lead your team to achieve the set goals.

Since you are the main point of contact between team members and clients or stakeholders, you need to be organized and capable of multitasking. When you are organized, it’s less likely that you will commit costly mistakes, which is an extremely valuable skill to have.

It also helps to know how to use various tech tools to ease up your burden (such as project management software, note-taking apps, online chat apps, and so on).

Lastly, it doesn’t hurt to have a good sense of humor. A positive attitude does wonders when the times get tough (and they will), and your people need a boost of energy.

Wrap Up

Since it involves so many tasks and skills, the job of a PMP is never boring. However, it can be stressful if you don’t know how to keep things under control. This is why PMP certification is crucial if you want to build a successful career in project management.