Can a PMP Certification Affect Your Salary?

By | October 25, 2010
What is PMP Certification, PMP Salary

What is PMP Certification

Thousands of new project managers receive the PMP certification every month, and with good reason too. The advantages to obtaining this credential are numerous, and the skills you will learn in the process of getting it will help you a lot throughout your career. Many project managers wonder whether they should spend the time and effort on becoming PMP certified. They wonder whether the project management professional certificate will help them land more jobs and clients and whether it will affect their salary in any way. Logically, a job candidate with more degrees and work experience will get paid higher than someone who only has a bachelor’s degree or diploma in a certain field of business. This same idea applies to the a PMP certified project manager, who will most obviously get paid higher than someone who doesn’t have this credential. But the real question which many people ask is: what is the average project management professional salary?

Now before you head out and start preparing for the project management professional exam, you should first ask yourself if you really need this certification and whether it will help you in your line of business. Quite a large number of people believe that obtaining this certificate is just a great addition to their resume and will help them land a higher paying job more easily. The truth is that unless you are a project manager or intend to be one in the future, then this certification will help you in no way. The PMP credential is an IT-related credential, but that doesn’t mean that anyone interested in pursuing a career in IT needs to get it.

The average Project Management Professional’s salary is $90,000. Depending on the type of projects you will be leading, you can be paid from $80,000 to $120,000 if you carry this certification. Industry analysts argue whether being certified helps increase your salary, but employers are in total agreement that if they were to choose between two prospective employees, one certified and one not, they would go for first choice.

Having trouble deciding whether you should pursue a PMP certification? One way to solve this issue to see if the the time and money you spend on obtaining this degree are worth it. The cost of a PMP certification can be quite expensive to some, but the money and time you spend will stay with you for a lifetime in the form of the new skills you obtain. Once you’ve decided whether the project management certification is for you, then you may want to start searching for some PMP (project management) courses or training classes online.