Becoming PMP as a Software Engineer

After spending 10+ years as a software engineer, I studied project management. I finished training and got my PMP certification. The training took 6 months and cost $1,000. The exam itself lasted four hours with short breaks. The whole thing was a real challenge. I learned how to manage projects and people, what tools are available, and how to choose the right one.

This post covers:

• What's PMP?
• Real-world problems I aimed to solve
• My study plan to pass the PMP
• How the PMP changed my daily work

What's PMP?

Project Management Professional (PMP) certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI) proves your project management skills. It's globally recognized, especially in the US and Canada. Here is how PMI calls the certification:

«The world's most recognized project management certification, incorporating traditional, agile, and hybrid concepts.»

PMI provides a structured, methodical framework for project execution. They define five key phases: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing.

They also describe ten knowledge areas to support these phases: Integration, Scope, Schedule, Cost, Quality, Resource, Communication, Risk, Procurement, and Stakeholder Management. These knowledge areas are tailored to deliver successful outcomes.

The PMP is recognizable and challenging to pass. It also has a good reputation among my network as providing valuable tools and knowledge.

I decided to accept the challenge. I was expecting only positive improvements to myself and my career. I didn't expect it to affect my personal life in a bad way. More on that later.

Real-World Problems I Aimed to Solve

As a software engineer, I was doing great. I know how to write, refactor, deploy code, and many more. I mastered the necessary tools for that. Sometimes, projects get stalled for non-technical reasons. I didn't know what tools were available for project management in such cases.

I knew no theory and always tried to assemble a solution based on what I observed in the past. I wanted to make a bigger picture view beyond coding.

At that time, some of the obstacles were:

• Project estimations. How can we become more precise? What accuracy is acceptable? How can we handle the risks?
• Communications. How can we make the tasks less vague? How can we be more transparent about the progress? Who should know what?
• Stakeholders. Have we identified all the stakeholders? How can we keep them engaged? Do they know that we rely on them a lot?

I heard that PMI offers a large toolbox and extensive project management knowledge. I hope that my questions will be answered.

My Study Plan to Pass the PMP

I needed to be more attentive to work/life balance. The whole journey was very time-consuming. I argued with my family about my long learning sessions. I was drained. I was ready to quit the challenge. But you know what? A PMP guy would have solved that.

I managed to balance. I had to identify missed stakeholders if we can speak in those terms about a family. I considered all the input. The schedule was adjusted, and the deadline was moved. For a second, I forgot what was most important, and my family reminded me. It's a good time to stop and call your friends and family if you haven't done so today.

Okay, back to an actual study plan.

What I Studied

Ivan Selihovkin's PMP course. It's in my mother tongue, in Russian. It provides enough number of hours to apply for the exam. I liked the enormous number of real-life examples. The examples help you learn faster. The course is aligned with the PMP Exam Content Outline.

The example I loved the most was when they failed to identify a key stakeholder. One of the identified stakeholders was heavily influenced by his close relative. It led to a series of confusing scope changes. That relative should have been identified earlier. It was a real investigation, and I can't tell you more, but trust me, that was fun.

Ivan also leads a community of PMP students and certified professionals. I helped other participants, and they helped me. It's a very cozy and friendly place. It was very inspiring talking to people who manage projects outside of IT. Even IT folks there have a different experience than I have. We had a lot of great conversations and discussions about trending news.

Rita Mulcahy's book. The book is very detailed and meticulous. I believe it's one of the best books you can buy in English. I like that this book is structured and has granular topics. It's prepared to be revisited many times. The book is aligned with PMP ECO.

PrepCast is a simulator with study and exam modes. Before the actual exam, I completed four exam simulations. The questions in PrepCast were similar to those on the actual exam. I'd recommend practicing PrepCast as fast as you can. Do not spend all your time on books or courses.

PMBoK and Agile Guide. I also bought the PMBoK 7th edition and the official Agile Guide, but I didn't use them for preparation.

I recommend spending 30% of your time on books and courses and 70% on a simulator. The sooner you start using the simulator, the better. Write down and review the mistakes you make. The difficulty of what you need to study is low, but the volume is large. Keep working, and you'll succeed!

PMP Exam Bureaucracy

You need to meet certain criteria to be eligible for the exam. Check the PMI website for current requirements. I had to confirm 5 years of experience and 36 hours of studying. Writing about each project in detail for the last five years has been very exhausting. I spent about 6 hours filling out the whole application. Any application can be manually audited, and extra documents may be requested. They didn't choose my application for a manual audit.

I have a testing center in the city where I live. Nothing unexpected happened on the exam day. Everything was nice and smooth. I showed up in the morning, and they checked my ID. I sat there for four hours with a few five-minute breaks. In the end, I received a note that I did pass the exam. But I have to wait for confirmation for 2 weeks. I received the confirmation the next week.

How the PMP Changed My Daily Work

PMBoK's latest edition is very suitable for IT projects and supports Agile. Also, PMI emphasizes tailoring and doesn't enforce any specific framework. It means using what fits your project and throwing away what doesn't. After studying, I have a different approach to project management. This is a topic for a separate post with explanations and my interpretation of what PMI offers. Still, a few things made the biggest impression on me. Here they are.

Risk Management

I used to think that risks were imaginary and that all you needed to do was avoid problems.

Now, this knowledge area has a structure for me. High-level processes include identification, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and risk response planning. As a result, we understand the opportunities and threats. We have a mitigation plan for them. Also, we know the probability they will occur and what actions to take if they do.

I'm now more accurate with my estimates with in-depth scope and risk management. Those estimations have solid reasoning behind them and almost no gut feeling. You control what's going on and not vice versa. Of course, it's not perfect, but it's way better. And tend to increase.

Recently, I was asked to help plan an important data governance project. The initial scope was bold, but the timeline did not reflect that scope, and the allocated resources were not enough. The project's crew asked me what trick we could use to handle this. I had no trick.

After examining the project for a few weeks, I recommended cutting the scope, moving the deadline, and hiring people in-house. At the same time, we started looking for data consultants in response to some of the identified threats. The sponsor approved the project charter, and the team continued confidently working on the project.

Communications and Stakeholder Management

Stakeholder management and communications are about caring. Now, I understand the business better and can suggest more relevant solutions. It's a bit on the psychological side. I determine the best and most convenient ways to communicate with each person. Do they like black coffee or macchiato? (jk)

PMI says a stakeholder is anyone who can influence or be influenced by the project. It includes you, your co-workers, end-users, and even competitors. I didn't think about it this way.

My superpower is bringing a tech perspective to any discussion. Recently, I was added to a project with very busy stakeholders. At that point, the project documentation had many open questions. After the first short meeting, we answered almost all of the questions. That's because of my involvement, engineering experience, and project management knowledge. It may not sound great, but it unblocked the project, and we could move forward.

Communications is a broader topic that will be covered in the blog.

Takeaways

I worked as a software engineer for many years. Project and people management always inspire me. I needed to be more systematic about studying it. I decided to undergo training and go for a certification with a mandatory exam. It was challenging, time-consuming, and fun.

Now, I better understand how to manage projects and see areas where I can be helpful. I'm still a software engineer and don't plan to transition to a role that doesn't code.

Other teams have started inviting me to participate in new projects. They value my unique combination of skills. The organization has begun to trust me with more complex tasks and projects.

I recommend earning the PMP title if you plan to grow as a team lead, tech lead, project manager, or product manager.

I got my questions answered. I'm sure there are many more obstacles to overcome.