This article takes a brief look at the meaningfulness of project management certifications and what they are expected to provide. We will then compare the most important traditional certifications. Finally, we will take a look at how these certifications affect a project manager’s salary.

Let us start with an overview of the chapters.

• Project management certifications – The expectations
• A comparison of important project management certifications
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)®
  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®)
  • GPM-IPMA, Levels A – D
  • PRINCE2 Foundations and Practitioner
  • Additional project management certifications
• A comparison of project manager salaries
• Conclusion – Project management certifications and salaries

Project Management Certifications – The Expectations

Employers and clients view project management certifications as a sign of professionalism. Job ads and requests for bids often specifically require these certifications. The importance of the individual certifications varies along with their value and impact on salaries.

For a comparison, the easiest factor to measure is therefore: money.

What types of certifications are expected for the various project manager roles?

1. Project managers for internal projects: These PMs hope for a better standing than those involved in line functions and expect projects to be handled more effectively and efficiently.
2. Project managers for projects in which substantial parts are outsourced: These PMs strive to be seen as possessing greater expertise than the contractors and possible subcontractors. They also hope to be treated as a VIP client as a result of this expertise.
3. Project managers for client projects: These PMs hope that the certifications will pave the way to attractive projects at a lower cost. Often, all that really matters is fulfilling the client’s bid request requirement to have a certified project manager.

This third expectation is clearly about the hope of generating more income from the project business. The first two expectations are more difficult to ascertain.

In all three scenarios, however, we can assume that the expectations and their fulfillment are reflected in the project manager salaries. After all, there are costs associated with achieving such a PM certification.

Before we take a look at the issue of increasing income through certifications in the project environment, however, let us examine the most important ones of these.

A Comparison of Important Project Management Certifications

The number of project management certifications available is almost overwhelming. However, there are a few favorites with regard to name recognition and prevalence.

In this section, we will examine the most well-known and important PM certificates. We will provide recommendations for the budget needed to prepare for, and take, the relevant examinations.

The budget is based on our knowledge along with information given by each provider and the experiences of our customers. The budget amounts have been rounded up to the nearest hundred or thousand euros and do not include travel expenses. Note that this information is provided without guarantee.

Project Management Professional (PMP®)

Certification as a Project Management Professional® (PMP) is provided by PMI®, the U.S.-based Project Management Institute.

There are now over 1 million PMP-certified individuals worldwide.

To be admitted to the certification exam, you must have:

• 36 months / 4,500 hours of project management experience for candidates having a bachelor’s degree -or-
• 60 months / 7,500 hours of project management experience for applicants having only the equivalent of a high school diploma (in Germany, the requirement is a diploma from a university of applied science).

Also required are 35 “Contact Hours of Project Management Education”. Most candidates gather these hours as part of a 5-day PMP preparation seminar to help applicants prepare for the PMP exam.

Learn about the PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition – the basis of the PMP exam.

The PMP examination process: the exam is a computerized test with primarily situational questions. The test consists of 200 questions that must be answered within four hours.

A computerized test has the advantage of having an international focus. The exam is the same worldwide, and using the same terminology and having a shared understanding of the processes and methods makes it easier to work with colleagues overseas.

Another advantage is that you do not need an appointment with the examiners, but rather can simply choose the most convenient date and test center.

In Germany, the PMP certification exam is offered at four test centers, which are located in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich.

German translations of the source documents and the PMP certification exam itself are available so that even those without a perfect command of English can take the exam.

Budget: € 2,800*

Are you interested in the PMP certification? A PMP seminar to help you prepare for the exam is available here.

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®)

CAPM is an entry-level certification for project management that is also provided by PMI.

As a prerequisite, it requires either 1,500 hours of project management experience or 23 “Contact Hours of Project Management Education”, making it suitable to project management beginners as well.

Many CAPM candidates attend a PMP exam preparation seminar to prepare for this. This preparation is somewhat too broad in scope but still applicable. It fulfills the “35 Contact Hours” requirement for later advancement to the PMP exam.

The CAPM exam is also a computerized test. There are more test centers for the CAPM exam than for PMP.

Budget: € 300 to € 2,500*

Interested in a CAPM certification? This seminar will help you with the preparation: CAPM Training for Exam Preparation

GPM-IPMA Certification, Levels A – D

These certifications are issued by the German project management association “Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement” (GPM).

GPM is a member of the industry association IPMA (International Project Management Association), and its certifications are aligned with certifications issued by the respective national associations and mutually recognized by these.

The most popular GPM certification is the Level D certification.

Successfully passing the Level D exam entitles a candidate to call themself a “Zertifizierte(r) Projektmanagement-Fachmann/-frau” (Certified Project Management Associate).

The IPMA refers to this certification as “Certified Project Management Associate”.

The exam consists of an oral and written exam that includes an essay. It is administered by GPM examiners in Nuremberg but can also be held at a company site if there are sufficient candidates and the company supports this effort.

Budget: € 4,700*

PRINCE2 Foundations and Practitioner

These two certifications are issued by the company Axelos, in which the British government is a partner. The exam confirms knowledge of a specific PRINCE2 methodology.

This expertise is especially useful in organizations employing this methodology. The minimal requirements with regard to training and experience along with the low cost have made this a very popular option.

Budget: € 200*

Additional Project Management Certifications

There are additional project management certifications specifically designed for particular aspects of project management such as:

• Agile methods (for example: Professional Scrum Master I or PMI-ACP)
• Risk management
• Scheduling

Note: This article answers the question “Why are agile certifications important?”

Six Sigma certifications are also discussed here. The focus is on having a process for applying project management in quality improvement projects.

Or certification related to the V-model or V-model XT. These models are basically the German equivalent to PRINCE2 but have not gained the same level of popularity.

A Comparison of Project Manager Salaries

Now let us get to the crucial question: what effect do project management certifications have on a project manager’s salary? Industry associations regularly publish salary reports such as these here:

• Salaries in Germany are found in the Salary Survey by the Project Management Institute (PMI) for 2023
• Salary Survey (in German) of the deutschen Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement (GPM) from 2019

Please keep in mind that these salaries are also greatly influenced by factors other than certification. Other important factors:

• The person’s level of experience
• The person’s level of education
• Type of industry
• Gender (unfortunately!)

A certification intended for beginners is therefore given less weight in a salary survey although it can actually have a greater impact on the salary.

PMI Salary Survey (2023)

The effect of “years of service” is clearly recognizable in this Salary Survey by the Project Management Institute (PMI). It lists only figures for those possessing PMP certification (Project Management Professional).

As the graphic shows, people who recently received their PMP certification (bar at left) already have a higher average project manager salary than those who were not certified. The longer these PMPs have been certified the more their salaries rise to significantly exceed those of non-PMPs.

Among those surveyed, people with PMP certification reported an average of 27% more income than those lacking this certification.

One could argue, of course, that it is in PMI’s own business interest to shed the best light possible on its own certification. So, let us take a look at the data presented by another industry association: the German project management association “Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement” (GPM).

GPM Salary Survey (2017)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement (GPM), a member of the international industry association IPMA, is a competitor of the PMI and has therefore no incentive to embellish these figures. So we can assume that the numbers are very reliable.

For a comparison of project manager salaries with different types of certifications, their PM salary and career survey (“Gehalt und Karriere im Projektmanagement”) from the year 2017 is particularly interesting. A figure in this document (see below) compares the salaries of holders of the different certificates as well as of non-certified project managers:

Above, we presented the PMI Salary Survey 2023, but it works better to compare the 2017 data from the GPM with the PMI Salary Survey 2020 which we show in the German version of this article. This is the source of the PMI numbers cited below.

A comparison of the numbers shows:

• The added value of a PMP certification was significantly higher than indicated in PMI’s own survey. PMP-certified people earned an average of 33.9% more than those without this certification.
• Both surveys showed very similar incomes for non-certified people: € 78,700 in the GPM survey vs. € 77,443 in the PMI survey.
• However, the two surveys greatly diverged when it came to the average salaries of those who are PMP-certified: € 105.400 in the GPM survey vs. € 88.826 in the PMI one.

Only those possessing GPM/IPMA-Level A certification earned on average more than those with PMP certification. This certification is, however, more difficult to obtain and also very expensive. These factors seem to have the effect of significantly enhancing the incomes of those who have this certification.

The GPM survey “Gehalt und Karriere im Projektmanagement” was conducted again in 2019. For instance, it looked at the salary difference in project management for women and men in Germany and Austria, see below.  In 2024, the GPM is surveying the topic once more. According to the GPM website, the survey results are currently in the process of evaluation.

Conclusion – Project Management Certifications and Salaries

Project management certifications send a signal to employers and clients that this person has spent considerable time working in project management and views this field as an important part of their professional career.

The GPM study and PMI’s international survey show that project management certification generally increases incomes by approx. 14-34%). The enhanced value is also reflected with employers and clients.

However, project managers will find that certification is no substitute for intensive professional experience dealing with real-life situations. This experience is essential. The two surveys mentioned above confirm that a PM certification is no substitute for practical experience.

* All figures provided are based on research conducted in 2024 and are provided without any guarantee or liability.

Our final tips

Get to know the individually adaptable “PPM Paradise” – the optimal environment for your enterprise-wide project, program, portfolio and resource management. Download the eBook now (just click, no form).

And sign up for our bi-weekly blog newsletter to make sure you receive all our updates.

What PM certifications do you have, and what has been your experience with these? How do you view the correlation between certification and salary? Please leave us a comment.

Author: Oliver F. Lehmann, MSc, ACE, PMP

Oliver F. Lehmann is a trainer for project management and project business management. He is renowned as an author of reference books and articles and as an analyst for critical projects. For over ten years, he was actively involved in project management before becoming a trainer in 1995. Today he serves a global audience, focusing on the certification of individuals and improving the project business. He is the owner of the Project Business Foundation, a think tank helping customers and suppliers in the project business. What is more, he is a long-serving volunteer at PMI, the Project Management Institute. Among other things, he was President of the PMI Southern Germany Chapter from 2013 to 2018 and acted as the project manager for 24-hour worldwide charity conferences under the heading “Talk Around the Clock.”

You can read more about Oliver F. Lehmann on LinkedIn.

Der Beitrag Project Management Certifications and Salaries – A Comparison of the Best-Known Certificates erschien zuerst auf Blog Project Management for Companies.

November 2022 also saw the publication of the new “Process Groups: A Practice Guide”. This brought back the contents of the PMBOK Guide 6th Edition in a shortened form.

In this article, you will learn all you need to know about the PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition.

• What is the PMBOK Guide?
• The PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition: A fresh start
• PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition & PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition – A comparison
• The new “Process Groups: A Practice Guide”
• Implications for the PMP exam
• Conclusion – PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition

Let us begin.

What Is the PMBOK Guide?

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) is PMI’s flagship publication. The guide is a fundamental resource for effective project management in any industry. Over the last few years, the business world has changed considerably, but projects remain critical drivers of business success.

The book includes The Standard for Project Management. The standard is the foundation upon which the vast body of knowledge builds. The additional guide serves to capture and summarize that knowledge.

The printed version of the PMBOK Guide 7 as well as the digital PDF and eBook versions are available in multiple languages. PMI® members can download the guide for project managers in the eBook format (PDF) in English and 9 other languages for free. This way to the PMBOK 7th Edition Download (PDF).

PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition: A Fresh Start

In all previous editions including the Sixth Edition, the first and more comprehensive part was the actual “Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge.”

This was followed by the “Standard for Project Management”, the official ANSI Standard. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute. The third part was an appendix.

In the Seventh Edition, the two parts were reversed. As a result, the order is as follows:

1. ANSI Standard
2. Actual Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge
3. Appendix as before

PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition & PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition – A Comparison

PMBOK Guide 6th Edition*	PMBOK Guide 7th Edition
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Introduction The environment in which projects operate The role of the project manager 10 areas of knowledge	The Standard for Project Management Introduction System for value delivery 12 principles
The Standard for Project Management Introduction 5 process groups	A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 8 project performance domains Tailoring Models, methods, and artifacts

* In November 2022, the PMBOK Guide 6th Edition was replaced by the new standard “Process Groups: A Practice Guide”. More detail in the chapter below.

Learn about PM certifications and their effect on project management salaries.

The New “Process Groups: A Practice Guide”

Almost unnoticed, the Project Management Institute (PMI) published a new standard with major implications – “Process Groups: A Practice Guide” – in November 2022. This brings back the contents of the PMBOK Guide 6th Edition in a shortened form. Already, it has replaced the latter in the development of exam questions at the PMI. In addition, it helps companies who developed methods based on the old standard, to retain them without losing the methodological basis.

Since spring 2023, the CAPM certification and the necessary exam have also been renewed and upgraded. The beginner’s certificate has been upgraded from a mere test on the textbook to an application-oriented certificate. I (Oliver F. Lehmann) – PMP trainer at TPG and author of this article – collaborated on the development and quality assessment of the certification.

Implications for the PMP Exam

In the past, there was always a cutover date for every new edition of the PMBOK Guide by which time the exam would be revised. This time, however, there is a coexistence of both Sixth Edition and Seventh Edition:

• Questions regarding methods and processes are more likely to refer to PMBOK Guide 6th Ed. / Process Groups: A Practice Guide
  
• Questions regarding principles and values, on the other hand, will tend to reference the 7th Edition

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You should be aware that the authors of the exam questions for the PMP® exam can also use other literature as references. After all, this is not just a test about the PMBOK Guide. The amount of material for the PMP exam therefore increased with the PMBOK 7. At the end of this article, you will find a link to a reference list with other sources that are relevant to the PMP exam.

Conclusion – PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition

Over the past few years, emerging technology, new approaches and rapid market changes have changed the world of work. This has caused the project management profession to evolve. The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition was therefore updated to meet these challenges. The aim was to better align the guide to how people work today and help them be more proactive, innovative and nimble.

The PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition:

• Reflects the full range of development approaches (predictive, traditional, adaptive, agile, hybrid, etc.)
• Provides an entire section devoted to tailoring the development approach and processes
• Expands the list of tools and techniques in a new section, “Models, Methods, and Artifacts”
• Focuses on project outcomes in addition to deliverables

Related Links:

• Free PMP exam practice questions
• Overview of PMP reference literature
• Project Business Study Book

Our final tips:

Get to know the individually adaptable “PPM Paradise” – the optimal environment for your enterprise-wide project, program, portfolio and resource management (PPM). Download the free eBook “The PPM Paradise” now (just click, no form).

And sign up for our bi-weekly blog newsletter with information on more hands-on articles, eBooks, etc. to improve your project management maturity level.

Interested in PMP Exam Preparation? At TPG, Oliver F. Lehmann, the trainer who is also author of this article, offers English-language company seminars.

What is your opinion on the changes in the PMBOK Guide 7? Please leave a comment below.

The author: Oliver F. Lehmann, MSc, ACE, PMP

Oliver F. Lehmann is a trainer for project management and project business management. He is renowned as an author of reference books and articles and as an analyst for critical projects. For over ten years, he was actively involved in project management before becoming a trainer in 1995. Today, he serves a global audience, focusing on the certification of individuals and improving the project business. He is the owner of the Project Business Foundation, a think tank that provides support for customers and suppliers in the project business. Furthermore, he is a long-serving volunteer at PMI, the Project Management Institute. His activities for the PMI have included those of President of the PMI Southern Germany Chapter from 2013 to 2018 and project manager of the 24-hour global online charity conferences under the name of “Talk around the Clock”.

You can read more about Oliver F. Lehmann on LinkedIn and XING.

Der Beitrag PMBOK Guide Seventh Edition: What Candidates for the PMP Exam Should Know erschien zuerst auf Blog Project Management for Companies.