Advertisements for Ict Project Managers Show Diversity Between Swedish Employers’ and Project Management Associations’ Views of Pm Certifications

Abstract

Appointing ICT project managers is a delicate issue for management; not least since ICT projects are known to be unsuccessful in delivering the required product in time and on budget. Hence, it is even more important to find the “right” individual for the job. According to project management associations, certification in project management is a prerequisite for a project manager’s successful career. The appreciation of project management certifications among Swedish employers was studied using data collected from job advertisements for ICT project managers during four years (2010-2013). Judged on how the advertisements were worded the result indicates surprisingly low interest from the employers’ side, which conflicts with the project management associations statements about the certifications’ indispensable value for successful projects. Furthermore, it conflicts with a common understanding of certifications as essential for appointment as a project manager. The findings identify a possible gap between PM associations’ and employers’ views regarding the certifications’ value, and highlight the necessity of seriously considering whether it is worthwhile for the individuals to strive for, and for the organizations to promote certification, since it is costly in both time, effort and money. Key words: project manager, project management certifications, project management associations.

Are PMOs really that momentous for public authorities?

“…It is often put forward as necessary for achieving project success that the project managers hold project certificates. Research findings however, indicate that Swedish employers do not value, or search after certified IT project managers [29]. Malloy and Stewart [17] noted that people often are being careless with how they name projects and programs; these are different phenomena to begin with, and probably falsely, are projects being more associated with failure.…”

“…The fact that IT project managers' opinions were studied, and that they worked at authorities that had their own IT departments, could possibly partly explain these findings, which however, also could be influenced by the respondents' general project management knowledge and competence. Still, a majority (52.4%) of the respondents' workplaces did not apply PMOs, and the project managers did not hold project management certifications (61%), the latter is however, not regarded as necessary to deliver successful project outcomes [29]; these findings indicate that it is not that significant to adopt PMOs. According to Artto et al [6] managerial control over projects could be practiced without PMOs; IT project managers with accustomedness to IT projects could be even better equipped for such a commission.…”

Why advertise the obvious? Learning outcomes from analyzing advertisements for recruitment of Swedish IS/IT project managers

“…Even though these certifications have attracted many organizations and project managers certifications are not especially highly represented among Swedish employers' competence/qualification requirements, at least not if judged by Swedish ads. for IS/IT project managers [25].…”