Project Management Certifications

I have set two goals for myself for 2011 and 2012. I would like to study for and pass certifications for Project Management.

In 2011 – I plan to achieve the Certified Associate in Project Management (or CAPM) certification. This is an entry level Project Management certification. As my knowledge and skills grow, I then plan to take this one step further and in 2012 (or early 2013) I would like to receive the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

To that end – in addition to the books I mentioned earlier this year that I am going to work through, I have also purchased the PMBOK Guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge) and am listening to the PM Prepcast series of podcasts (http://www.project-management-prepcast.com ) that I subscribed to.

It looks like it is going to be a busy year.

It’s nice when things work out

I've been working for the same organization for seven years now (ok – technically it won't be 7 years until next Thursday) and have gone through various positions in the company. This has provided me lots of opportunity for growth and knowledge and learning different skills.

In the last year or two I have been learning a lot about Project Management and Product Development. The thing is – I work for a company that is owned by another company and most of the projects/products I work on are fairly large with a long development life-cycle. So, I have not had the opportunities that I have been looking for to be involved in a project from start to finish.

Well, sometimes things work out and you get the opportunities you are looking for.

I started doing some beta testing in January for a company that develops various apps for the Kindle e-reader. Using my past experience with testing and a truly twisted mind, I was able to find some issues in the apps and come up with some ideas that helped the developers out. As a result, I was offered a part-time job heading up Quality Assurance/Testing for the organization and working as a Project Manager. This will be a great opportunity to see smaller projects through from start to finish to gain the experience and knowledge that I need for my career.

Check us out in the Kindle store at Amazon.com. The name of the company is 7 Dragons Inc.