PRINCE2 certification: anyone done it?

[Devrij]

My gf wants to start a new career in Project management and has been looking at getting PRINCE2 qualifications to help her move in the right direction. Has anyone here done this themselves?

She's looking at e-learning courses she can do from home, and they range in price from £1.5k to £200, and I'm kinda wondering what the difference is when surely it's just the same syllabus and exams? She found a site called Knowledge Train that seems legit which is a lot cheaper than Reed's courses. Is Reed really expensive or is this Knowledge Train site a cheapo option to be avoided (I suspect the former)?

It's still a lot of money for us even if we went the cheap option, hence me asking you guys for advice(who I trust more than the mumsnet thread where we found the link )! Anyway, I'd love to hear your experiences/advie if you've done anything similar.

 

[Devrij]

Thanks guys. She's going to do the foundation and practitioner, and although she doesn't have any specific PM experience, she does have a management diploma and management experience she's hoping to leverage towards a PM position in the future.

What's the "entry level" equivalent for people starting off towards project management? IE, where do you start when you don't have the specific experience a business wants? Is there an Assistant project manager role she could use to get her foot in the door for instance?

 

[Devrij]

You would normally start off as a project assistant, project support, project admin etc, but if she has management experience I wouldn't bother with that.

Thanks, she's currently lead admin for the accounts dept in her business so project admin might be a good starting point if it turns out she needs more industry experience.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, and Lorraine (the other half) says thanks as well. It sounds like some cheap e-learning and exams and some entry level experience will be the way forwards for her.

 

[Devrij]

Why are you choosing PRINCE2 out of interest... You working in public sectors or something?

Looked at APM?

I have no idea what APM is tbh. She was just researching it and what kind of qualifications could help her get into project management.

She says she wants to get into media and marketing projects, as she currently works in a press agency and has a film degree so could angle those along with her previous management experience to hopefully open some doors. She just hit a ceiling at her current workplace. You can't really go any further up in admin where she is.

 

[Devrij]

Prince2 tends to be more something that the Public Sector looks for, ive seen NHS staff get sent on a four day course and come back re-branded as a "Project Manager"

As mentioned above the APM (Association of Project Management) is more of professionally and acepted Project Management qualification - more akin to Chartered status

Its heavilly experience driven and structured with professional assesments and grades of memberships

Personally I would sooner employ someone with experience, track record and no PM qualification than someone with a few courses under their belt and no practical or hands on experience

Good Luck to the OP`s other half whatever she decudes to do

Thanks for your honest input. Obviously my gf has little experience she can put on a CV so she'll be starting small. We were hoping that prince2 would be a step in the right direction, but if you think APM is a better starting point (although it sounds more like a way for existing PMs to progress from your description), then we can start looking at that.

Keeping in mind where she's starting from, how would you suggest she proceed? Where did you start?

 

[Devrij]

Absolutely fine mate - glad to help. I started on a YTS, at 16, as a trainee quantity surveyor then building surveyor in a VERY small private practice on colledge day release for my ONC and HNC in Building Studies.

Uni, and did a degree in Building Surveying then "drifted into" project management through an employers agent / project surveyor natural progression. Been with a multi national developer . contractor / consultancy now for some time (10 years this year) and currently a Senior Project Manager in the Consulting business of the company.

If she is already working I would suggest she looks at the APM website http://www.apm.org.uk/ and looks at the entry requirements and what is needed for the first step of membership. They acknowledge that everyone has to start somewhere and she may well be surprised at how much she does now can contribute to gaining experiences towards the nest stage. By applying and getting even the lowest "grade" of membership she is still, non the less, a member of a professionally recognised PM body.

Every sector is different (im in construction) so she would need to see what she can do in her current employment and role which is applicable, I would also suggest she then looks at what she needs to progress and speak with her line manager as part of annual assents and goal setting. These goals could be aligned with the APM requirements and she could (hopefully gain good recordable and acknowledged experiences) whilst with the same employer (if that s what she wants).

All in all this would be cheaper that a Prince2 course and a better long term investment.



I keep getting threatened to be sent on the Prince2 courses as I work predominantly for Public Sector Clients and they tend to call for P2 experience or qualifications on fee bids.

I have noticed more and more that it now just coming down to price

I don't think she'll get anywhere in her current line of work, as she has hit a bit of a glass ceiling there. She doesn't have a line manager really unless you count the directors (who are more concerned with things staying the same), and the organisation doesn't have much structure to allow progression or lateral movement. She'll most likely end up starting fresh with a new business, which will make things a bit more difficult, but if she chooses correctly it could provide a similar path to what you've followed. The issue I foresee is that she'll have to learn the ins and outs of a new industry before learning how to project manage within it, whereas you moved upwards within the same industry.