PRINCE2 courses

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

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Now I do not wish to get into a debate about whether PRINCE2 is as relevant as it once was, but I am looking to expand my knowledge base and having done a lot of project work in my time, I think it is time to get something on paper.

There is a company offering both the foundation and practitioner course in my town with exams, all to be done in five days.

There is some pre-course reading which I have been told can be done in a couple of days.

Pass rate is 95% (or so they say).

Has anyone done PRINCE2 and passed it on one of these types of courses or are they in reality a waste of time. I say this as packing it all into a week might give you a certificate, but surely one should spend more hours in looking at it all more deeply?
 
If you can stay awake and just want the paper then yeah its worth it.

If you've already got the experience then just adding the paper should be fine.
 
platypus said:
If you can stay awake and just want the paper then yeah its worth it.

If you've already got the experience then just adding the paper should be fine.
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I just want the paper to be honest. £650.00 to bust it out in a week seems like good value to me I have no patience for home study anymore.
 
Ive done it.

I preped the week before and im glad I did. It was far too much for me to take in if I hadnt of done a full pre-read of the book cover to cover.
 
kiteloopy said:
Ive done it.

I preped the week before and im glad I did. It was far too much for me to take in if I hadnt of done a full pre-read of the book cover to cover.
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Thanks for that. I was thinking a few nights is not enough to prep for it. Might book onto the next one along so I can read the whole book.
 
I did it, 3 day course of unbelievable boredom and a relatively straight forward exam at the end, don't do what I did which was to start watching breaking bad on an ipad half way through :p I nearly failed and only scrapped through by 2% :p
 
Will Gill said:
I did it, 3 day course of unbelievable boredom and a relatively straight forward exam at the end, don't do what I did which was to start watching breaking bad on an ipad half way through :p I nearly failed and only scrapped through by 2% :p
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Hehe. Methinks I'll be doing it on some kind of energy drink and regretting it (the energy drinks) for a few days after.
 
It's a qualification that companies like you to have but you will never ever use, project management is about common sense not risk boards and management councils :D
 
A colleague did the 5 day course and he passed. I just don't think I could handle it. I did the elearning foundation course at work and passed quite comfortably. I think I'd fail the practitioner unless I did a classroom type thing.

Are you sure you need the practitioner? The foundation should be enough for most people and you don't have to keep renewing it.
 
I've just realised that you're paying for it yourself. In that case I definitely wouldn't fork out for the practitioner course. Even the highest grade project managers at my work probably wouldn't require practitioner level at employment. Foundation, yes, but providing they are willing to go for practitioner if required, then I doubt you would be turned away on those grounds. £650 just ins't worth it. Unless of course you have a lot of spare time AND money.
 
Will Gill said:
It's a qualification that companies like you to have but you will never ever use, project management is about common sense not risk boards and management councils :D
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Yeah I know but it does look desirable on a CV and I shall be looking for new employment very shortly.

Sunbed said:
I've just realised that you're paying for it yourself. In that case I definitely wouldn't fork out for the practitioner course. Even the highest grade project managers at my work probably wouldn't require practitioner level at employment. Foundation, yes, but providing they are willing to go for practitioner if required, then I doubt you would be turned away on those grounds. £650 just ins't worth it. Unless of course you have a lot of spare time AND money.
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I am being made redundant soon so have both the time and the money. Chucking £650.00 at passing both to me makes sense as it is such a small percentage of my redundancy money.
 
It's a requirement for our PM's to have it, working in the public sector they put great store by it. If you were contracting and didn't have the Practitioner you wouldn't get through the initial sift. No matter how good you are or how much experience.

I did the course a few years ago, foundation and practitioner in the 5 days, I found it fairly easy and straightforward and with no reading before hand passed both just using the weeks worth of lessons/after lesson reading.
 
I've done the full foundation & Practitioner, paid similar money.

I actually enjoyed it. My word of advice is to read the first 2 pages of each chapter before the course (as thats the most relevant) and learn your acronyms before you enter, stuff like BAU, PID etc. :)
 
Phate said:
I've done the full foundation & Practitioner, paid similar money.

I actually enjoyed it. My word of advice is to read the first 2 pages of each chapter before the course (as thats the most relevant) and learn your acronyms before you enter, stuff like BAU, PID etc. :)
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Cheers. Got to love those business acronyms.
 
<pedantry>It's only an acronym if you pronounce it as a word, otherwise it is an initialisation.</pedantry>

No one pronounces BAU as "Bow". Except idiots. Idiots do that. PID is Pid, though.

I'll see myself out.
 
I've done the 5 day Practitioner course with no pre-reading, although I was a PM and familiar with PRINCE2 (basically just good project management practice) through experience already.

The 5 days was fairly intense and we were expected to do some reading or practice exams in the evening. We sat the foundation exam on the second day which was very straight forward.

If you've managed a few projects and are pretty competent as a PM you shouldn't find this difficult. It can be a lot to take in over the 5 days but once you're back in the workplace you'll be able to revisit the book etc when you're not sure about something.

As they'll tell you on the course though, it's about tailoring and appropriate use of PRINCE2 in the real world!
 
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