Podcast episode 043: interview with Josh Nankivel, PMP
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Welcome to Episode 043 of The pm411.org Project Management Podcast. It has been awhile since my last published podcast – nearly 6 months! I have been busy trying to balance work, play, family and fitness over that time and apologize for the delay in getting a new episode out to you. But today’s episode should help to make up for lost time!
First off, we have new theme music for The pm411.org Project Management Podcast. A special thanks goes out to Mike Scheibinger at Sony Creative Software for granting me permission to use the ACID Pro 7.0 sample song, entitled “Just So You Know” as our new theme music! I think the song has a great fast-paced enthusiasm to it that makes you just want to go out and manage projects! Let me know what you think of it.
Secondly, we have a great guest with us for this episode. Josh Nankivel is the blogger and founder of pmStudent.com, a site dedicated to helping new and aspiring project managers succeed. Josh has over a decade of project management experience in the IT, Financial Services, Telecommunications, and Aerospace industries. He is currently the lead project manager for the TSSC contract on the ground system of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, a joint mission between the USGS and NASA. Josh’s academic background includes a BS in Project Management and he holds the PMP certification.
Josh recently interviewed me for the pmStudent.com website, and he was willing to return the favor and he let me interview him last weekend for this pm411.org podcast. During the interview, Josh and I discuss all kinds of great stuff including his past and current projects, the pmStudent.com website, the PMP and its future for project management, and even possible ideas for a great Project Management videogame!
The PMP and what it means
Josh and I apparently agree in a lot of areas when it comes to the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam and what it means. We both feel that the taking the PMP exam should be much more than just a means of getting the letters “PMP” after your name. The process of studying, seeing how that knowledge applies to your job as a project manager, asking colleagues questions about how to apply best practices within your organization, and searching out PM resources and networks is what preparing for the exam should really be about. Those who go to a PMP “bootcamp” for 3 to 5 days and then immediately regurgitate the answers on the exam the very next day, only to forget any gained knowledge like it was yesterday’s lunch, are really missing the point of the exam. It is the process of learning the material and seeing how it applies to your situation as a project manager that matters. It is about helping others with the knowledge that you have gained. It is about a commitment to continue life-long learning in project management after the test is taken. These are the things that matter when deciding whether to take the PMP exam or not.
Josh and I also agree that having the PMP credential does not necessarily automatically mean having great project management skills. I equate this to having received a high school or college degree. The PMP doesn’t absolutely guarantee success as a project manager, no more than having a MBA means you are going to be successful in business. Josh suggests that perhaps PMI should have some form of “competency” review or retest to insure that you have retained the knowledge long after taking the exam. Josh indicated that when he took and passed the PMP exam, he prepared and studied for it as if he was going to be required to re-pass the exam again in 18 months. This is a great way of looking at preparing for the exam. Put that knowledge gained in preparing for the exam in your long-term memory storage!
So, what are your thoughts on how or why to take the PMP exam? Do you feel that PMI should require recertification, similar to having to re-pass your driver’s test every so many years? Leave us a comment or send us an email at show@pm411.org and let us know!
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[...] http://pm411.org/2009/07/23/podcast-episode-043-interview-with-josh-nankivel-pmp/ [...]