Show Notes | April 19, 2021 | Episode 100

Are you ready to open doors you don’t realize exist?  

That’s how our guest describes the career certifications up for discussion this week as part of our ongoing series Certs That Get You #Hired, where we explore the certs you need to land that next promotion or salary bump.  

Today, we’re talking about 2 certifications that can be achieved in 30 days or less and increase your salary by 20% - that’s what happened to our host Kimber three months after she obtained the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.  

Project Management instructor Juan Martinez, PMP, compares the PMP to the magic wardrobe in The Chronicles of Narnia – it will open doors for you that you did not realize were there. 

Juan is a PM expert who is going to fill you in on the ins and outs of the PMP and Certified Associate Project Manager (CAPM) certs.   

Here is the main difference between the two. The CAPM is an entry level certification while the PMP is a senior level differentiator.   

CAPM shows your future employer you are series about your profession. Anyone can go out and buy a paint brush and call themselves a painter. You must set yourself apart.  The PMP shows you have been a project management professional for at least 3 years. Many job listings require a PMP.  

These certs can make it more difficult for an employer to let you walk out the door when it is time to PCS. We want employers to realize, letting you go remote will be more valuable to their organization than letting you go.   

Every industry you can think of needs a PMP ranging from IT to the Department of Defense to construction. And they pay well too. The average salary for a CAPM is $67,000 annually, according to PayScale.com, and $107,000 for the PMP.  

Juan retired with 22 years in the US Air Force, nearly 6 of which were spent as a drill sergeant. His last assignment was teaching new officers how to be project managers.  

After becoming an expert on the PMBOK, a written guide for the PMP exam, people who were interested in obtaining their PMP began asking Juan to coach them.  

On nights and weekends, Juan began building a business. For the past 10 years, he has been teaching people how to get their PMP fulltime as the owner of Your PM Instructor, a company that trains people on passing business certifications and creates classes for companies.  

When Kimber did not pass the PMP on her first attempt, she found Juan who taught her a better way to approach the exam.  

The PMP exam cannot be passed based solely on what you have read in the PMBOK. Test takers must use the information from the PMBOK to figure out the answer that would be considered the next step.  

Having the PMP has been key to helping Kimber maintain a remote career because it ensures job security.  

For 18 of the 22 years Juan was in the Air Force his wife, Michelle, was a military spouse. 

As the family bounced around from base-to-base Michelle would have to quit one job and find another.  

After one PCS, Michelle’s salary decreased by $12 an hour because they moved from a city in which accountants were in high demand to a small town where they were not.  

Michelle had a master’s degree in accounting, but never got the Certified Public Accountant certification. Juan believes the cert would have helped her have more steady work through the years.  

By obtaining a cert and differentiating yourself from other employees and candidates you make yourself more valuable and less likely to get cut when you PCS.  

Employers are often more interested in these certs than bachelors or even master’s degrees because they have prerequisites that require real world work experience and apply the candidate to a standardized framework.    

Kimber highly recommends picking a program that will prepare you to pass the PMP exam - whether it is Juan or someone else - because studying on your own is very difficult.