Digital Footprints for a Project Management Career

Beware of your Digital Footprints for a Project Management Career:

Are you familiar with the term “Digital Footprints”? If not they are becoming critical for career development, even if you are looking to build your career in Project Management. The growth of Project Management has been steadily increasing in the present scenario. As more and more companies look to optimize their limited resources in a world of cut throat competition, Project Management ensures a better return on investment. This is why the importance of Project Management as a career option would continue to grow as more companies look for Project Management Professionals. However if you are planning to work for big corporations, then you must first get recruited by them. So you if you must adopt ways and means as to how the modern recruiters are recruiting. We at Sixth Dimension Learning being one of the leading Trainers of PMP and CCBA Certification in Missigua, Canada, will try to make you aware of the importance of your Digital Footprints for your recruitment, through this blog.

Growing Importance of Digital Footprints in Recruitment:

Digital Footprints refers to the trails and traces; you leave behind when you are accessing the internet. We are often unaware of the fact that a lot of data is left behind when we are online. This may be information left behind during forum registrations, or through emails and attachments, and our interactions which we do on the Social Media networks like Facebook, Twitter or Linked in. So as a professional you need to be careful what vital information is left behind which recruiters might pick up and consider while recruitment. With technology now ruling the roost, traditional bio-datas are now steadily making way for Linked-In Profiles and other professional digital means. This is why some companies are now encouraging candidates to send their Linked In Profiles instead of a resumes and especially against walking into their office with one. This is more so in case of fresh start ups like Ola, Snap deal or Practo.

Companies are now developing algorithms to help them recruit better based on the digital foot prints left behind. The data left behind by the user on the internet leaves vital clues to the recruiter providing vital information of the candidate, which enables them to assess them beforehand and thus helping them to take better decisions. In fact there have been instances where many candidates were selected, where in the decision was partly influenced by the twitter-following of the candidates.

However the platform too plays an important role when it comes to recruitment, which is why much weight age is given to a more professional network like Linked In and the profiles there on over  Face book or Twitter which are more of social based networks. Other platforms like Overflow,GitHub and Quara too could be explored for the purpose. Perusing the information reveals first hand impression about the candidate depending on the interests and contributions. In fact the companies do not shy away even from going and checking into the Facebook Profile to find out whether this candidate is a “Techie at heart”, etc.  They argue that you need to be very sure regarding the credentials of a candidate you are to bring aboard for the long term.

So whatever it be now with the recruitment process relying more on digital inputs you need to ensure that you have a proper Linked in Profile and you need to be careful about what you follow and review on the social media networks for a successful career in Project Management.

Being Interview Ready – Key for a Successful Career in Project Management:

Gone are the days when people would get recruited in a company at the junior most level and end up retiring in the same company at a senior level. Most people now start up in a particular job in a particular industry and keep switching jobs across various employment sectors throughout their career span. This also holds true in case of project management too. With fast depleting resources and cut throat competition companies across various sectors are resorting to project management to optimize the limited resources. Thus in project management for rapid career advancement you should be ready to switch companies across various industries.  However to switch over, you must have the right set of skills apart from your sound knowledge of project management. Once skill required to be successful in your career is to your skill to crack interviews. We at Sixth Dimension Learning, PMI approved Registered Training Centre in Totonto examine some of the interview facing skills and some other skills required.

Some Common Mistakes To Avoid At Interviews :

• Not Dressing Appropriately: Dress and our appearance hold a key to our personality. Often dressing too casually, can convey a wrong message of being too casual and cost us blowing up the opportunity. So it is best we are well groomed with a clean shave and also wear formals with a tie and polished shoe to covey the right message to our potential employers at the interview.

• Failing To Research About The Company And Role Being Applied For: Studies reveal that most people fail at the interview because they fail to research properly about the company, the industry and the role being applied for. With the internet accessing into information has become very easy and convenient. So it is advisable that you do a thorough research about the company, the role and the industry as a whole before you appear for your interview.

• Confused And Vague Responses To Common Questions: In any interview there are a very common set of questions like “Why should we hire you?” or “Tell us about yourself”. Many candidates overlook the obvious and stay unprepared. However if you keep yourself prepared ready for such questions would help you at all times.

• Not Looking Interested: Our body language conveys a lot about how we feel, thus leaning forward shows our level of interest. Maintaining a casual eye contact with the interviewer also may help. These are some things which are to be kept in mind at the time of the interview.

• Lying About Achievements: Often in our anxiety to prove ourselves we tend to exaggerate our past claims and work. However it is best that we stay honest about our claims. Our interviewers are all experienced and may ask follow up questions revealing the actual facts through follow up questions in case the same is not true.

• Making Up Answers: In case we do not know the answers being asked during the interview process it may be advisable to stay honest and admit to the interviewer you are not aware of the answer rather than making up what you do not know.

Apart from your skill to clear interviews you must also master the soft skills, like people skills, your presentation skills, etc, all of which are essential for you to have a successful career in Project Management.

PMP Certification – Key to your Project Management Career

The importance of Project Management has been steadily growing in the current scenario. With increasing competition globally it is but imperative for companies to focus Project Management. Project Management help companies bring out the maximum from its limited resources. It has helped companies reach much higher standards and meet deadlines and budgets which are so critical to survive in the current age of cut throat competition. With more companies focusing on Project Management, careers in Project Management continues to thrive and become more lucrative. However if you are planning to have a rewarding career in Project Management then you must have a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification. The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is the Gold Standard of Project Management Certification. It is an internationally recognized certificate recognized by Government and Commercial Organizations in more than 204 Countries. The PMP course prepares you globally and as a PMP Certified professional you would be capable of handling and managing any project irrespective of industry or geographical location and with any type of methodology followed.

Besides it has been estimated with a PMP Certification, you would earn much more than what other professionals would earn who are not having this certification. It has been noted that companies having PMP Certified Professionals also benefit a lot. It has been observed that about 1/3rd of all projects which are completed on time within the desired budget are handled by companies which have on board PMP Certified Project Managers.

Eligibility for PMP Certificate Exam:

To be eligible for taking the PMP certificate exam, a candidate needs to hold a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent university degree and has to have at least 4500 Hours of Project Management experience. This experience must have been gathered within a six-year period prior to the application for the examination. 

PMP Certification Exam:

The certification exam has 200 multiple choice questions, which have to be completed within a time span of 4 hours. After having cleared this exam, it is needed for you to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every 3 years for you to maintain the PMP certification.

Why Sixth Dimension Learning (SDL) , Mississauga for training for qualifying for PMP Certification exam?

Sixth Dimension Learning is a PMI approved Registered Training Centre in Mississauga, one of the best PMI Training Centres in Mississauga. In one of our earlier blogs published, we had pointed out the basic criteria important for the right choice of your right training provider. One of the most important criteria mentioned there was the training provider must be that it must be a registered with the appropriate authority. When it comes to this criterion, Sixth Dimension Learning (SDL), Mississauga is a registered with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in regard to training for PMP Certificate Exam.

The ever evolving curriculum followed at Sixth Dimension Learning (SDL) Missigua, provides you with the cutting edge for qualifying for the PMP Certification exam. Besides the faculty at SDL are very qualified and highly respected in the industry. If you are considering taking up the PMP Certification the fact that SDL has trained thousands of professionals worldwide makes for enough reason to enroll with SDL.  With SDL you could tap into to take help from the strong network in GTA who contribute towards the enhancement of Project Management and business analysis profession. For further details please visit http://sixthdimensionlearning.com.

Why Project Management is so important in current scenario?

Before understanding why Project Management is important, let us first understand what Project Management is. According to Wikipedia “Project management is the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria. A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverables) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value.” .  Project management helps companies to maximize returns on its limited resources. With time the benefits of project management have been far reaching, which is why almost all organizations use it worldwide thus the growth of project managers as a profession has been steadily increasing and would continue to do so in the future.

As a Registered Partner of PMI, we have listed below the benefits of Project Management and why it will continue to grow:

1. Project Management helps is maximizing Returns from limited Resources: With the excessive competition in the business world today, your business can only survive through innovation and achieving maximum from the resources it has. Broadly Project Management is plan or program which uses of any strategy or technique for the successful completion of any project. It is the planning, organizing and controlling resources for the successful achievement the goals of the project. With a professional team of Project Managers it would mean that wastage is eliminated and optimum utilization of them. With competition with the dearth of resources would always mean that the role of Project Management would only become much more important. Thus as a Project Management professional it is but obvious that you would have a more thriving career in future. 

2. Project Management helps to manage risk in your business:   Risk is the part of any business. However how risk is managed is an important aspect which determines the success of any business. With project Management risks get handled much better and thus critical for your business.

3. Project Management helps your business to adapt to change: Globally everything have become very dynamic, which is why quick changes for betterment has become imperative for the growth of any business. Project Management gives a better assessment of any change which may be necessary and thus helps business to bring in any change which may be necessary.

4. Project Management helps in managing quality and meeting deadlines: Projects are always time bound and meeting deadlines are an integral part of Project Management. With Project Management thus helps your business to meet deadlines and also management the overall quality.

5. Project Management helps in learning from failure: In spite of best efforts projects do fail. However with experience gained during these project failures you need to understand them and helps you to achieve success in future.

So today Project Management globally has become the integral part of any organization, big or small and any business. The importance of Project Management would continue to grow in future too. So it is all the reason why you should become a Project Management Professional.

Choosing the Right Training Provider

Today when you are looking for training in any special field there are numerous training providers. If these pertain to training for professional courses like Project Management Professional (PMP) or CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) it would be all the more important because ultimately it would shape up your career. So whether Online learning or regular class training, here are a few tips for you to choose the right training institute for you:

Whether the Training Provider is a Registered Training Organization and whether the course being offered is approved by the appropriate authority. In case of PMP training you need to check whether the course is approved by the PMI (Project Management Institute). Similarly if you are pursuing any other course you need to find out whether the course is approved or not from the competent authority.

The Backgrounds of the Trainers or Instructors: The trainers hold the key to providing you with the right education or training necessary for the field. So prior to your enrollment for any course you need to do a back ground check regarding their qualification, experience. Also you need to find out how accessible they are. So that in case of your need would they help you out.

The Quality of the Training and Resource Materials: An important aspect of your learning would be the quality of the training material which would be made available to you. So try to find out whether the materials for the course are generic in nature or custom made.

What is the corporate standing of the training provider? If the training provider enjoys a good reputation in the market then many things like corporate placements, and acceptance in the market increases. Thus you need to analyze this factor too.

How much time is allocated to student support? The support required for each student varies immensely. Some students may be able to grab faster owing to which they require less support. On the other hand, others may be weak and need more support and guidance. The support required at the beginning of the course is more for new students than ones for older students as they get more accustomed.

How much time is spent making up the assignments and are they really helpful?  Assignments play an important role in the understanding of any subject. Thus how much effort is put to make the assignments is an important factor for determining the right course.

How many people actually complete the course? Is an important indicator of the quality of the course. So look for the actual percentage of the students’ actually completing the course.

Student Testimonials: The student testimonials would give you an idea of the course. Besides the background of the students following the course is generally also available to add to the credibility of the course. You may also  try to interact with the students and faculty to get a direct impression of the quality of the course.

Whatever be the course you must devote quality time to research and gather as much information as possible to take a well informed decision for your enrollment.  

Are you a Project Manager? Then you must have a PMP Certification!!

If you are working as a project manager in any leading company, then your employer would expect to you to deliver high quality deliverables at every stage without compromising on the cost and the experience as well as academic excellence. To enhance your capability as a Project manager, Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional credential given by the Project Management Institute (PMI) on successful completion of their examination. This exam consists of situational and knowledge based questions (200 questions) and for an individual; it is required to secure almost 65% for passing this exam. Once you pass this examination and the three magical characters ‘P’ ‘M’ ‘P’ added to your name; your demand is very high in the market as this credential is now no. 1 credential in the arena of Project Management.

There are many benefits for you to have a PMP certification, some of which are as follows:

1. High Market demand for PMP Certification:
Project Management Institute (PMI).Currently there is more than Certified Professionals in 204 Countries Worldwide. Government, commercial and other organizations employ PMP certified project managers in an attempt to improve the success rate of projects in all areas of knowledge, by applying a standardized and evolving set of project management principles. So with PMP Certification you can expect a wide acceptance worldwide.

2. With PMP Certification : Lead from the front:
With the Methodologies and best practices covered under the PMP certification, you become much better equipped to effectively handle any situation arising in your workplace or in your project, as a result of which you would always be a leader in your organization.

3. Better Career Prospects with PMP Certification:
With the Credibility of PMP Certificate in your resume, it would always stand out in your resume and separate you from the crowd. So even if your current organization does not value you, the PMP Certification you can always secure a high flying job anywhere globally.

4. PMP certified project manager as a true mentor:
With PMP certification; you can be a better mentor in the arena of project management. That can enhance your learning up to a great level. Meeting with new people, taking their ideas how they are performing in the project; is always a plus for an individual. The ability to mentor is based greatly on experience, but the best mentors can reach beyond their experience. They are able to extrapolate from their experience, and relate it to someone else's entirely different experience.

So everything put together, if you are in project management, a PMP Certification is a must and to clear the exam, Sixth Dimension Learning based in Missigua, Canada is the best option available. For details visit http://sixthdimensionlearning.com

CAPM Certification for Career in Project Management

The Certificate Associate in Project Management is a certification given by Project Management Institute (PMI) for those who are looking to start Career in Project Management. The CAPM would provide you with a globally recognized Project Management Credential. Whether you are already serving in project teams as subject matter expert or are looking forward to start your career, CAPM can be a huge value addition to your resume and skill set.

Edibility for CAPM Exam:

There are 2 ways to become eligible for the CAPM Exams. 1. Having a past Working experience of about 1500 Hours on a Real Project. Or 2.You need 23 Hours of Project Management Training from a PMI registered Education Provider. If you have studied Project Management as a subject at a college or university, also you would become eligible.

Benefits of CAPM Certification:

The CAPM Certification would equip you with the following:

• Skills to initiate a project
• Project preparation and planning proficiency
• Executing, monitoring, controlling and completing a project
• Estimating activity costs
• Planning for quality at every stage
• Performing quality assurance
• Hiring, leading and managing a project team
• Foreseeing and planning for the unexpected
  

So if you are new to Project Management, the CAPM Certification would give you a definite edge over other beginners. If you are already working in Project Management, the skills acquired would also help you to change and avail better opportunities. Since the CAPM Certification has a global standing, it can help you to get started anywhere in the world. Even at your present job, the knowledge gained would help develop growing competence in practice. So if you are new to project management and thinking of building a successful career on it, the CAPM Certification is absolutely essential.

Training for clearing the exam:

Sixth Dimension Learning (SDL) , Mississauga is PMI approved Registered Education Provider for CAPM Certificate exam Preparation. The hundreds of trained professionals from SDL are serving top management roles in government and private sectors globally. Both Classrooms teaching as well as Online Modules are available for the exam preparation. The trainers are highly educated and well respected in the industry. The training process is always under review, which includes also taking valuable suggestions from past students. Thus the training process is always being improved. So if you are just starting your career or looking for a change then, Project Management could be the best choice. Besides as a starter CAPM Certification is the most important for your success in the field.