Certification Status
4th Quarter 2003 update by Bill Duncan

Some people seem to think that developing a Project Manager Certification program is easy … and perhaps it is, unless you are focused on developing a program that is unique from others that are available. But asapm's Board has, from the start, been committed to developing a high quality program that asapm's members will be proud of.

A PMCert Committee consisting of Bill Duncan, Ken Fenster, Stacy Goff, Lew Ireland, Rose Johnston, and Ron Waller (with support from other members) has been working for the past year to develop both the content of the program as well as administrative procedures to support it.

What makes the asapm certification different from other project management certifications that are currently available? First and foremost, the aCPP.C credential is certification as a Project Manager, not just as a certification in project management— asapm certifies on-the-job competence rather than just knowledge.

Second, we apply "Performance Based Competence Standards" (PBCS). This is an approach to assessing job performance that is widely used and understood throughout the world thus lending additional credibility to our program. Additionally, the baseline that we use for our assessment criteria will be derived from PBCS developed by an international Global Working Group. This should be especially appealing to our members who are working with international firms.

Third, the PMCert Committee recognizes three levels of Project Manager-related roles. This provides a more accurate representation of the range of skills and challenges that actually exist in the marketplace today. More information about these three levels appear in the PMCert website.

Finally, our assessment criteria is public. The complete set of standards is published on the asapm website. As a result:
• Applicants know exactly what skills and Competences they must be able to demonstrate if
   they wish to become certified.
• Prospective employers know exactly what they can expect from each level of aCPP.

Click here for the 1st Quarter, 2004 update.

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