First, a personal experience. I got my PMP in 1996 after a great deal of agonizing and stalling. A great deal of my reluctance was my innate resistance to be tested on what I did for a living. Given I'd been managing projects for something like 12 years by then, exactly what would it mean if I didn't pass? What finally drove me over the edge was that 1996 was the year that they were phasing out the old written format, and I didn't want to go through the study process again.

I've now had the PMP behind my name for six years. Has it made an appreciable difference in how I manage projects, or significantly improved my ability to deliver on time, on budget or to specification? No. Has it increased my marketability? Have I gained work as a result of having my PMP? Yes. And here lies my primary issue--there is a great gulf between the perception of the PMP and the reality of what it actually does. This gulf is getting wider, and unless PMI takes steps to address the problems, then it can only do damage in the long term.

The perception in the marketplace is that someone who holds the PMP certification must be a good, competent, qualified project manager. As the awareness of the PMP--and PMI in general--have grown, the perceived value of the PMP has also grown. If two comparably skilled project managers are being considered for a job, one who is certified and one who is not, I would give the holder of the PMP significantly greater odds of landing the job. On the face of it, none of these seem unreasonable interpretations. And yet they are--hence the danger. The PMP is not a determinant of skill, nor is it a reasonable means for determining who the better job candidate is.

The reality is that the PMP demonstrates three things: that you have had 35 hours of classroom training, a minimum amount of experience in project management-related work, and that you have passed an examination based on the PMBoK. (A rather cynical employer I spoke with suggested it also indicates the person has actually completed something.) The PMP is only an assessment of knowledge, however--and a very narrowly defined body of knowledge at that. The exam tests you on PMI's terminology, processes and process boundaries. What the PMP does not demonstrate is our competency as project managers, or our skills in applying our competencies in real-world situations.

There is no argument that I have benefited by having the PMP. I know of at least three projects that I have won that I can definitely attribute to the fact that I hold the certification, and there are probably more that I am not aware of where it was an influencing factor. I know of dozens of colleagues who tell similar stories, and as PMI continues to promote itself and the certification to employers, this will only continue. What people think they are buying, however, is not what they are being sold. While the marketplace clearly believes the certification is a demonstration of skill, it is in reality only a measure of theoretical knowledge. Caveat emptor.