This is the fourth in a series of updates to this research, and most likely, the last update to an ongoing research project started in 2010 to benchmark as many globally recognized project management credentials as possible against two independent and external standards. To appeal to Millennial practitioners, the first benchmark was to test against Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” rule2 while the second benchmark was the level of effort as well as the milestones required to earn the Professional Engineers (PE) license3 in the USA, which we know to be a legitimate professional license to practice issued by the State governments. For the purposes of this paper, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) standards were adopted as the basis for establishing the engineering benchmarks. Additional or supplemental references were made to private and commercial pilot’s licensing requirements, where necessary to provide context or comparisons.
The original purpose of this research was to:
To provide the basis to compare the relative “value” or “worth” of the various credentials based on a true ratio scale.
To provide the basis to compare “equivalency” and “value for money” (benefit: cost analysis)
To serve as a challenge to those organizations offering these certifications to “raise the bar” to meet legitimate standards of professional assessment.
Having met all 3 objectives and having put the scoring model into the public domain under Creative Commons License BY, the author hopes that others will pick up this research and carry it forward. To recap, here is the scoring model, which was designed to STANDARDIZE as many of the COMMON variables as possible (such as the value of a bachelors degree) so that only those attributes which served to truly differentiate one certification or credential from others were included in the total score, which measured the total level of effort to prepare for, prequalify, qualify and earn each credential, “the underlying hypothesis being the more robust and rigorous the process, and the more it looks beyond the ability to pass multiple-choice exams and actually analyzes real-life “deliverables and outcomes, the more likely it is to validate that the person holding the credential is “competent.”
Table 1- Scoring Model Explained
Figure 2 below will help to explain in the “Big Picture” how the various credentials are rated or analyzed against both Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour” rule AND the PE license milestones.
Figure 2- Ranking and Assessment Scoring Model Explained.
Using the Total Level of Effort (PSCOR from Line Item 18 in Table 1) on the X-axis, we rank order the 104 credentials from low on the left to high on the right. Then we superimpose Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” rule, which any given credential either exceeds or does not exceed. We will discuss this in more detail, but there is no shortage of concerns with Gladwell’s 2008 claims that it takes 10,000 hours to produce a competent anything, a topic which was covered extensively in previous editions of this paper. Thus, the first observation worth noting is that roughly half of the globally recognized project-related credentials do not even meet Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” test, which, given we know that has been challenged on many fronts, should give us all cause to worry. Looking across the top, we can see the 3 major milestones or attributes of the PE licensing process. For those who are not familiar with what it takes to earn a PE license, there are generally 4 requirements that must be met: (The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES))
“a four-year engineering degree in a program approved by the state engineering licensure board,” (either ABET-accredited or additional experience in lieu of a degree from a non-ABET accredited university)”
“four years of qualifying engineering experience, and who successfully completes 3) the eight-hour Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Examination:
“The FE exam includes 110-questions. The exam appointment time is 6 hours long and includes: ‘
“The eight- hour Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Examination will be licensed as a professional engineer.”
Summarized, it means in their last year of university, a student normally takes their 8-hour long Engineering Fundamentals Exam (FE), after which they earn the designation of “Engineer in Training” (EIT). They then must work between a 4 – 7-year “apprenticeship” or “internship” under the direct supervision and mentorship of a licensed professional, and at completion, must take another 8-hour exam after being recommended by their mentor. It is very important that people understand this process as you analyze and compare the requirements imposed by the various project management societies.
Credentials Classified as SCAMS
IF a credential does NOT meet EITHER a minimum of 10,000 hours level of effort OR the same or higher level of effort required to pass the FE exam and earn the EIT designation, these credentials, when looked at in the context of being legitimate professional level credentials are a joke and should be avoided as being largely a waste of time and money, as they validate neither experience nor the ability to pass appropriately tough or demanding professional level exams comparable to those required in earning the EIT (FE Exam). While the author is truly sorry if this truth offends anyone but speaking as a practitioner, would you really hire anyone with these credentials to manage a project where your own money was on the line if the project succeeds or fails?
ENTRY LEVEL or “LEARNER PERMIT” Level CREDENTIALS
These credentials meet or EXCEED the requirements to pass the FE and earn the designation of Engineer in Training (EIT). Credentials falling in this category are analogous to one earning your “learners permit” to drive the family sedan around town when you were 16 or 17 and got your first driver's license. Put in the context of commercial airline piloting, which is also recognized as a profession, this level is equivalent to getting your student pilot’s certificate that authorizes you to make solo flights in a single-engine plane under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
Pay special attention to the requirement that 13 Take0ffs and Landings are required, 10 supervised and 3 unsupervised. As the credentials falling in this range do NOT meet Gladwell’s 10,000 level of effort hours, which we know has been challenged on many occasions, these are NOT legitimate professional level credentials.
To drive home the point of how basic or fundamental these credentials are in the context of legitimate professional level credentials, compare the requirements to earn your private pilot’s license, single-engine, visual flight rules (VFR) against what your favorite professional society requires to earn their certifications? Do you REALLY believe these are valid and legitimate “professional” level credentialing processes? Credentials that fall in this category definitely do not qualify as a “Gold Standard,” and they definitely do not validate COMPETENCY at an appropriate professional level. This is a LIE and is against all the professional codes of ethics and probably violates the intent if not the letter of the “Truth in Advertising” laws common in most developed nations of the world.
For benchmarking purposes, compare what “Level of Effort” is required to become a Licensed Commercial Pilot keeping in mind that for each flight hour logged, requires between 2-3 hours of pre- or post-flight prep and paperwork/administrative responsibilities.
MEETS ABET REQUIREMENTS
While earning one’s Professional Engineer (PE) license requires one to graduate from an ABET-accredited university, most states will accept a degree from a non-ABET university provided the EIT, apprentice, or intern logs additional hours of experience in lieu of having earned an ABET degree. Any credential whose total level of effort falls within this range (16,000 to 20,000 LoE hours) can or should be able to produce proof of their work products validating that they are in fact, legitimate, competent, professional practitioners, PROVIDED the process used to evaluate their knowledge and work products is substantially rigorous enough to meet or exceed the 4 requirements shown by the NSPE, including passing the 8 hours long, Practice of Engineering (PE) Examination required to be licensed as a professional engineer.
EXCEEDS ABET REQUIREMENTS
Credentials falling in this category have not only met the requirements for both ABET and non-ABET professionals but EXCEED them. This means the total level of Effort (LoE) hours exceeds 20,000. Generally speaking, the people who fall in this category are those who are already recognized by their peers and their industry in general as “thought leaders,” those who are known and broadly respected in their field. Professionals who have made significant contributions to the knowledge base and practical applications in their sector. This would include educators and those holding advanced degrees who publish and contribute to the knowledge base.
UPDATES FOR 2020
For this 2020 update, we have ADDED the following NEW credentials to our analysis. (In alphabetical order)
And we have UPDATED credentials previously reviewed based on known or proposed changes they have made or are planning to make to their credentials (In alphabetical order)
As in previous years, the data used for this assessment was obtained from the websites accessible by the consuming public. While reasonable efforts were made to clarify any vague information, not all organizations are keen to cooperate in making their information available.
DISCLAIMER- THE DATA ANALYZED IN THIS RESEARCH WAS GLEANED FROM INFORMATION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON THE RELEVANT WEBSITES AND/OR WAS PROVIDED BY INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS. IF THERE ARE ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR CHALLENGES, THE AUTHOR WILL BE HAPPY TO MAKE WHATEVER CORRECTIONS OR ADJUSTMENTS ARE DEEMED APPROPRIATE, BUT ONLY UPON RECEIPT OF WRITTEN PROOF FROM AN AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL FROM THE ORGANIZATION SHOWING WHERE THE INPUT DATA IS INCORRECT.
Combined Findings for all 104 Credentials for 2020 Table 2-
Table 2- Certifications that score LOWER than the EIT (Categorized as SCAMS)
Of the 104 certifications benchmarked and analyzed in the 2020 report, 28 of them or ~27% do NOT meet the level of effort it takes to earn the Engineer in Training (EIT) designation. Given the FE exam is given in the senior year in university, those organizations whose credentials score in this range REALLY need to give serious thought to upgrading the requirements of their credentials. These are labeled as being SCAMS as they validate neither the most basic experience requirements (~5,700 level of effort hours) OR any rigorous exams or other assessment processes comparable to what professional engineers are expected to be able to know. For the purposes of BENCHMARKING, The FE exam (Which consists of “110-questions spread over 6 hours long and includes
Nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes)
Tutorial (8 minutes)
Exam (5 hours and 20 minutes)
Scheduled break (25 minutes)”)
Compare the requirement for the EIT against the fact that many of the project management credentials falling in this category require only 1 – 2 hours long, multiple-choice exams with passing grades of 50% to 60%. Hardly a credential for a true professional to be proud of earning and even less for any company to rely upon in the hiring process.
Table 3- Certifications that EXCEED the EIT but score LESS THAN Gladwell’s “10,000 Rule”.
Of the 104 credentials benchmarked this year, 28 of them (~27%) score in this range. Credentials in this range are legitimate “entry-level” credentials, requiring between 5,700 to 9,999 level of effort hours and are analogous to obtaining your “learners permit” to drive the family sedan around town when you were 16 or 17. When compared against the trades or medicine, this range is most comparable to serving a 4 or 5-year apprenticeship or internship, where you are qualified by formal education or experience in lieu of formal education, but you are working under the watchful eyes of an experienced professional practitioner as a mentoree. At the left-hand side of this table would be comparable to a 1st -year apprentice/intern, and at the right-hand side would be more like a 4th -year apprentice/intern. Unfortunately, far too many of these credentials are being touted as being “professional” or “Gold Standard” credentials, when in fact most of them validate nothing more than the ability to pass 2-5 hour multiple-choice exams, which are not even as stringent as those required to pass the FE Exam to obtain one’s EIT designation.
Table 4- Certifications that require >10,000 Level of Effort Hours but < an ABET PE license of 16,000 LoE Hours.
Since the total level of effort exceeds 10,000 hours, IF you subscribe to Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” theory, then certifications falling into this range are legitimate professional level credentials. While the author does not necessarily share this belief, many popular, credible, and respected exam-based credentials do fall into this range. To put this range into perspective, with experience =>5 years, this is generally accepted as the criteria for an apprentice to move to become recognized and accepted as a journeyperson or for an intern to become a full-fledged practitioner. In the world of medicine, after a residency is completed, the training that is done after a residency (in a subspecialty) is usually called a “fellowship.” Certifications falling in this range indicate a practitioner who is or at least should be capable of working on his/her own with limited or minimal supervision. Unfortunately, only 22/104 = ~21% of the global certifications fall under this category, when “common sense” would indicate that given so many are trying to claim project management to be a “profession” that most of them should? Table 5- Certifications that Meet or Exceed ABET and/or Non-ABET PE license As explained earlier, anyone graduating from a non-ABET accredited engineering school can still obtain their PE license by substituting more hours of experience in lieu of graduating from an ABET-accredited University. With 22/104 = ~21% of the global project management related credentials falling within this category, which is great news as it not only provides plenty of options for the serious, truly professional level practitioner to choose from but also shows that there are many organizations that recognize those providing training, consulting and “thought leadership” are able to benchmark themselves by obtaining these “best in class” credentials. On a cautionary note, just because a person holds one of these credentials does not make them infallible. We need to heed the disclaimers used by those selling financial instruments that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” But at least people who have invested 15,000 to 20,000 hours of their working lives more than likely know what they are talking about. These people are not “accidental” project practitioners but demonstrated by dedicating significant portions of their lives to mastering project management as it applies to their world that they are, in fact, “world-class” professionals. For those organizations claiming their credentials are a “Gold Standard” if they do not fall into this category, consistent with the US “Truth in Advertising” laws, they need to provide proof backing up those claims. Under the US Federal Trade Commission Act:
“Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;”
“Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and”
“Advertisements cannot be unfair.”
Worth noting is that the RATIO between Total Level of Effort and Experience (Line Item 21) is very consistently >60% for all these well recognized and generally highly respected credentials. This is another consideration professional bodies should be considering whenever developing or upgrading their certification programs. This is also something important that those organizations hiring people should be considered as well when determining which credentials they should be supporting or endorsing.
CERTIFICATIONS that MEET OR EXCEED ABET PE REQUIREMENTS-
Table 5- “Legitimate Gold Standard” Credentials that MEET OR EXCEED ABET PE REQUIREMENTS
As these 23/104 = 22% credentials all “meet or exceed” the level of effort to become a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) as well as the same Level of Effort required to become a Commercial (ATP) Pilot for a major global airline, these are the only ones that can LEGITIMATELY claim to be a “Gold Standard”. Again very important to note in Line 21 the “Experience to Total Ratio, which is the “Hours of DOCUMENTED and VALIDATED experience / Total Level of Effort Hours”. In no case should this be lower than .60. The only exception was the Guild of Project Controls as it is one of the few credentialing organizations that recognizes those who hold Masters and Ph.D. degrees as part of the credentialing process. So while the Guild credential for those who hold Bachelor and Master degrees meet or exceed Experience to Total Ratio => 0.60 the Guild Certifications for those who hold Ph. D.s does NOT.
ADDITIONAL or NEW CERTIFICATIONS BEING BENCHMARKED FOR 2020
Table 6- NEW/UPDATED Certifications for 2020
There were 25 additional or updated certifications added for analysis and benchmarking for 2020. These were added either by request by one or more individuals or because they appear to be “popular,” judging by the number of people on Linked In who seem to be seeking them out. Unfortunately, 13 of 25 scores as SCAMS, not reaching or achieving the rather minimum requirements of the EIT designation; 6/26 scored as “Entry Level” or “Learner Permit” credentials leaving only 6 of them which scored >10,000 hours but <16,000 level of effort hours required to earn the ABET PE license. Again, this is NOT a good sign as everyone wants to claim that project management is a profession, and many of the professional societies want to claim their credentials are a “Gold Standard,” but it seems that despite the abysmal failure rates18 of projects all around the world, few practitioners seem willing to challenge themselves to invest the level of effort it takes to become a professional in the same league as a Professional Engineer nor do those organizations purporting to represent these practitioners seem keen to “raise the bar” to legitimate professional levels? Below is the individual assessment of the NEW additions along with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses along with some suggestions as to how they could “raise the bar” of their certifications to more closely match the PE license standard. KPMG, AIPM and IPMA in their research “The Future of Project Management” Global Outlook 2019“ as well as the work of Glenn Butts, NASA and Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg, Oxford have been telling us for over 10 years now WHY projects continue to fail with such alarming regularity.
Project Management Certification Benchmarking Research: 2020 Update
Project Management Certification Benchmarking Research: 2020 Update
Project Management Certification Benchmarking Research: 2020 Update
INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth in a series of updates to this research, and most likely, the last update to an ongoing research project started in 2010 to benchmark as many globally recognized project management credentials as possible against two independent and external standards. To appeal to Millennial practitioners, the first benchmark was to test against Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” rule2 while the second benchmark was the level of effort as well as the milestones required to earn the Professional Engineers (PE) license3 in the USA, which we know to be a legitimate professional license to practice issued by the State governments. For the purposes of this paper, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) standards were adopted as the basis for establishing the engineering benchmarks. Additional or supplemental references were made to private and commercial pilot’s licensing requirements, where necessary to provide context or comparisons.
The original purpose of this research was to:
To provide the basis to compare the relative “value” or “worth” of the various credentials based on a true ratio scale.
To provide the basis to compare “equivalency” and “value for money” (benefit: cost analysis)
To serve as a challenge to those organizations offering these certifications to “raise the bar” to meet legitimate standards of professional assessment.
Having met all 3 objectives and having put the scoring model into the public domain under Creative Commons License BY, the author hopes that others will pick up this research and carry it forward. To recap, here is the scoring model, which was designed to STANDARDIZE as many of the COMMON variables as possible (such as the value of a bachelors degree) so that only those attributes which served to truly differentiate one certification or credential from others were included in the total score, which measured the total level of effort to prepare for, prequalify, qualify and earn each credential, “the underlying hypothesis being the more robust and rigorous the process, and the more it looks beyond the ability to pass multiple-choice exams and actually analyzes real-life “deliverables and outcomes, the more likely it is to validate that the person holding the credential is “competent.”
Table 1- Scoring Model Explained
Figure 2 below will help to explain in the “Big Picture” how the various credentials are rated or analyzed against both Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour” rule AND the PE license milestones.
Figure 2- Ranking and Assessment Scoring Model Explained.
Using the Total Level of Effort (PSCOR from Line Item 18 in Table 1) on the X-axis, we rank order the 104 credentials from low on the left to high on the right. Then we superimpose Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” rule, which any given credential either exceeds or does not exceed. We will discuss this in more detail, but there is no shortage of concerns with Gladwell’s 2008 claims that it takes 10,000 hours to produce a competent anything, a topic which was covered extensively in previous editions of this paper. Thus, the first observation worth noting is that roughly half of the globally recognized project-related credentials do not even meet Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” test, which, given we know that has been challenged on many fronts, should give us all cause to worry. Looking across the top, we can see the 3 major milestones or attributes of the PE licensing process. For those who are not familiar with what it takes to earn a PE license, there are generally 4 requirements that must be met: (The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES))
“a four-year engineering degree in a program approved by the state engineering licensure board,” (either ABET-accredited or additional experience in lieu of a degree from a non-ABET accredited university)”
“four years of qualifying engineering experience, and who successfully completes 3) the eight-hour Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Examination:
“The FE exam includes 110-questions. The exam appointment time is 6 hours long and includes: ‘
i. Nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes)
Tutorial (8 minutes) iii.
Exam (5 hours and 20 minutes)
iv. Scheduled break (25 minutes)
v. Learn more at the NCEES YouTube channel.”
“The eight- hour Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Examination will be licensed as a professional engineer.”
Summarized, it means in their last year of university, a student normally takes their 8-hour long Engineering Fundamentals Exam (FE), after which they earn the designation of “Engineer in Training” (EIT). They then must work between a 4 – 7-year “apprenticeship” or “internship” under the direct supervision and mentorship of a licensed professional, and at completion, must take another 8-hour exam after being recommended by their mentor. It is very important that people understand this process as you analyze and compare the requirements imposed by the various project management societies.
Credentials Classified as SCAMS
IF a credential does NOT meet EITHER a minimum of 10,000 hours level of effort OR the same or higher level of effort required to pass the FE exam and earn the EIT designation, these credentials, when looked at in the context of being legitimate professional level credentials are a joke and should be avoided as being largely a waste of time and money, as they validate neither experience nor the ability to pass appropriately tough or demanding professional level exams comparable to those required in earning the EIT (FE Exam). While the author is truly sorry if this truth offends anyone but speaking as a practitioner, would you really hire anyone with these credentials to manage a project where your own money was on the line if the project succeeds or fails?
ENTRY LEVEL or “LEARNER PERMIT” Level CREDENTIALS
These credentials meet or EXCEED the requirements to pass the FE and earn the designation of Engineer in Training (EIT). Credentials falling in this category are analogous to one earning your “learners permit” to drive the family sedan around town when you were 16 or 17 and got your first driver's license. Put in the context of commercial airline piloting, which is also recognized as a profession, this level is equivalent to getting your student pilot’s certificate that authorizes you to make solo flights in a single-engine plane under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
Pay special attention to the requirement that 13 Take0ffs and Landings are required, 10 supervised and 3 unsupervised. As the credentials falling in this range do NOT meet Gladwell’s 10,000 level of effort hours, which we know has been challenged on many occasions, these are NOT legitimate professional level credentials.
Figure 3- Requirements to become a private pilot, single-engine, VFR rating
To drive home the point of how basic or fundamental these credentials are in the context of legitimate professional level credentials, compare the requirements to earn your private pilot’s license, single-engine, visual flight rules (VFR) against what your favorite professional society requires to earn their certifications? Do you REALLY believe these are valid and legitimate “professional” level credentialing processes? Credentials that fall in this category definitely do not qualify as a “Gold Standard,” and they definitely do not validate COMPETENCY at an appropriate professional level. This is a LIE and is against all the professional codes of ethics and probably violates the intent if not the letter of the “Truth in Advertising” laws common in most developed nations of the world.
For benchmarking purposes, compare what “Level of Effort” is required to become a Licensed Commercial Pilot keeping in mind that for each flight hour logged, requires between 2-3 hours of pre- or post-flight prep and paperwork/administrative responsibilities.
MEETS ABET REQUIREMENTS
While earning one’s Professional Engineer (PE) license requires one to graduate from an ABET-accredited university, most states will accept a degree from a non-ABET university provided the EIT, apprentice, or intern logs additional hours of experience in lieu of having earned an ABET degree. Any credential whose total level of effort falls within this range (16,000 to 20,000 LoE hours) can or should be able to produce proof of their work products validating that they are in fact, legitimate, competent, professional practitioners, PROVIDED the process used to evaluate their knowledge and work products is substantially rigorous enough to meet or exceed the 4 requirements shown by the NSPE, including passing the 8 hours long, Practice of Engineering (PE) Examination required to be licensed as a professional engineer.
EXCEEDS ABET REQUIREMENTS
Credentials falling in this category have not only met the requirements for both ABET and non-ABET professionals but EXCEED them. This means the total level of Effort (LoE) hours exceeds 20,000. Generally speaking, the people who fall in this category are those who are already recognized by their peers and their industry in general as “thought leaders,” those who are known and broadly respected in their field. Professionals who have made significant contributions to the knowledge base and practical applications in their sector. This would include educators and those holding advanced degrees who publish and contribute to the knowledge base.
UPDATES FOR 2020
For this 2020 update, we have ADDED the following NEW credentials to our analysis. (In alphabetical order)
American Academy of Project Management
Certified Scrum Master-
Coaching Certifications-
CompTIA Project-
Construction Management of America’s Certified Construction Manager (CCM)
International Association of Project Managers
International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association
And we have UPDATED credentials previously reviewed based on known or proposed changes they have made or are planning to make to their credentials (In alphabetical order)
Project Management Institute
Guild of Project Controls
APM/APMG
Axelos PRINCE2/ITIL
As in previous years, the data used for this assessment was obtained from the websites accessible by the consuming public. While reasonable efforts were made to clarify any vague information, not all organizations are keen to cooperate in making their information available.
DISCLAIMER- THE DATA ANALYZED IN THIS RESEARCH WAS GLEANED FROM INFORMATION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON THE RELEVANT WEBSITES AND/OR WAS PROVIDED BY INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS. IF THERE ARE ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR CHALLENGES, THE AUTHOR WILL BE HAPPY TO MAKE WHATEVER CORRECTIONS OR ADJUSTMENTS ARE DEEMED APPROPRIATE, BUT ONLY UPON RECEIPT OF WRITTEN PROOF FROM AN AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL FROM THE ORGANIZATION SHOWING WHERE THE INPUT DATA IS INCORRECT.
Combined Findings for all 104 Credentials for 2020 Table 2-
Table 2- Certifications that score LOWER than the EIT (Categorized as SCAMS)
Of the 104 certifications benchmarked and analyzed in the 2020 report, 28 of them or ~27% do NOT meet the level of effort it takes to earn the Engineer in Training (EIT) designation. Given the FE exam is given in the senior year in university, those organizations whose credentials score in this range REALLY need to give serious thought to upgrading the requirements of their credentials. These are labeled as being SCAMS as they validate neither the most basic experience requirements (~5,700 level of effort hours) OR any rigorous exams or other assessment processes comparable to what professional engineers are expected to be able to know. For the purposes of BENCHMARKING, The FE exam (Which consists of “110-questions spread over 6 hours long and includes
Nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes)
Tutorial (8 minutes)
Exam (5 hours and 20 minutes)
Scheduled break (25 minutes)”)
Compare the requirement for the EIT against the fact that many of the project management credentials falling in this category require only 1 – 2 hours long, multiple-choice exams with passing grades of 50% to 60%. Hardly a credential for a true professional to be proud of earning and even less for any company to rely upon in the hiring process.
Table 3- Certifications that EXCEED the EIT but score LESS THAN Gladwell’s “10,000 Rule”.
Of the 104 credentials benchmarked this year, 28 of them (~27%) score in this range. Credentials in this range are legitimate “entry-level” credentials, requiring between 5,700 to 9,999 level of effort hours and are analogous to obtaining your “learners permit” to drive the family sedan around town when you were 16 or 17. When compared against the trades or medicine, this range is most comparable to serving a 4 or 5-year apprenticeship or internship, where you are qualified by formal education or experience in lieu of formal education, but you are working under the watchful eyes of an experienced professional practitioner as a mentoree. At the left-hand side of this table would be comparable to a 1st -year apprentice/intern, and at the right-hand side would be more like a 4th -year apprentice/intern. Unfortunately, far too many of these credentials are being touted as being “professional” or “Gold Standard” credentials, when in fact most of them validate nothing more than the ability to pass 2-5 hour multiple-choice exams, which are not even as stringent as those required to pass the FE Exam to obtain one’s EIT designation.
Table 4- Certifications that require >10,000 Level of Effort Hours but < an ABET PE license of 16,000 LoE Hours.
Since the total level of effort exceeds 10,000 hours, IF you subscribe to Gladwell’s “10,000-hour” theory, then certifications falling into this range are legitimate professional level credentials. While the author does not necessarily share this belief, many popular, credible, and respected exam-based credentials do fall into this range. To put this range into perspective, with experience =>5 years, this is generally accepted as the criteria for an apprentice to move to become recognized and accepted as a journeyperson or for an intern to become a full-fledged practitioner. In the world of medicine, after a residency is completed, the training that is done after a residency (in a subspecialty) is usually called a “fellowship.” Certifications falling in this range indicate a practitioner who is or at least should be capable of working on his/her own with limited or minimal supervision. Unfortunately, only 22/104 = ~21% of the global certifications fall under this category, when “common sense” would indicate that given so many are trying to claim project management to be a “profession” that most of them should? Table 5- Certifications that Meet or Exceed ABET and/or Non-ABET PE license As explained earlier, anyone graduating from a non-ABET accredited engineering school can still obtain their PE license by substituting more hours of experience in lieu of graduating from an ABET-accredited University.
With 22/104 = ~21% of the global project management related credentials falling within this category, which is great news as it not only provides plenty of options for the serious, truly professional level practitioner to choose from but also shows that there are many organizations that recognize those providing training, consulting and “thought leadership” are able to benchmark themselves by obtaining these “best in class” credentials. On a cautionary note, just because a person holds one of these credentials does not make them infallible. We need to heed the disclaimers used by those selling financial instruments that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” But at least people who have invested 15,000 to 20,000 hours of their working lives more than likely know what they are talking about. These people are not “accidental” project practitioners but demonstrated by dedicating significant portions of their lives to mastering project management as it applies to their world that they are, in fact, “world-class” professionals. For those organizations claiming their credentials are a “Gold Standard” if they do not fall into this category, consistent with the US “Truth in Advertising” laws, they need to provide proof backing up those claims. Under the US Federal Trade Commission Act:
“Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;”
“Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and”
“Advertisements cannot be unfair.”
Worth noting is that the RATIO between Total Level of Effort and Experience (Line Item 21) is very consistently >60% for all these well recognized and generally highly respected credentials. This is another consideration professional bodies should be considering whenever developing or upgrading their certification programs. This is also something important that those organizations hiring people should be considered as well when determining which credentials they should be supporting or endorsing.
CERTIFICATIONS that MEET OR EXCEED ABET PE REQUIREMENTS-
Table 5- “Legitimate Gold Standard” Credentials that MEET OR EXCEED ABET PE REQUIREMENTS
As these 23/104 = 22% credentials all “meet or exceed” the level of effort to become a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) as well as the same Level of Effort required to become a Commercial (ATP) Pilot for a major global airline, these are the only ones that can LEGITIMATELY claim to be a “Gold Standard”. Again very important to note in Line 21 the “Experience to Total Ratio, which is the “Hours of DOCUMENTED and VALIDATED experience / Total Level of Effort Hours”. In no case should this be lower than .60. The only exception was the Guild of Project Controls as it is one of the few credentialing organizations that recognizes those who hold Masters and Ph.D. degrees as part of the credentialing process. So while the Guild credential for those who hold Bachelor and Master degrees meet or exceed Experience to Total Ratio => 0.60 the Guild Certifications for those who hold Ph. D.s does NOT.
ADDITIONAL or NEW CERTIFICATIONS BEING BENCHMARKED FOR 2020
Table 6- NEW/UPDATED Certifications for 2020
There were 25 additional or updated certifications added for analysis and benchmarking for 2020. These were added either by request by one or more individuals or because they appear to be “popular,” judging by the number of people on Linked In who seem to be seeking them out. Unfortunately, 13 of 25 scores as SCAMS, not reaching or achieving the rather minimum requirements of the EIT designation; 6/26 scored as “Entry Level” or “Learner Permit” credentials leaving only 6 of them which scored >10,000 hours but <16,000 level of effort hours required to earn the ABET PE license. Again, this is NOT a good sign as everyone wants to claim that project management is a profession, and many of the professional societies want to claim their credentials are a “Gold Standard,” but it seems that despite the abysmal failure rates18 of projects all around the world, few practitioners seem willing to challenge themselves to invest the level of effort it takes to become a professional in the same league as a Professional Engineer nor do those organizations purporting to represent these practitioners seem keen to “raise the bar” to legitimate professional levels? Below is the individual assessment of the NEW additions along with an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses along with some suggestions as to how they could “raise the bar” of their certifications to more closely match the PE license standard. KPMG, AIPM and IPMA in their research “The Future of Project Management” Global Outlook 2019“ as well as the work of Glenn Butts, NASA and Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg, Oxford have been telling us for over 10 years now WHY projects continue to fail with such alarming regularity.
For those wanting to see the full paper, go HERE : Giammalvo, P.D. (2020). Project Management Certification Benchmarking Research: 2020 Update; PM World Journal, Vol. IX, Issue I, January
BR,
Dr. PDG, Jakarta, Indonesia