If you’re looking for a career where you can have a measurable, positive impact on almost any business, project management fits the bill. A good project manager can easily make the difference between a project coming in on time and under budget—or it failing.

Today, more and more employers are recognizing the need for skilled project managers to drive their profits. By the year 2020, 15.7 million new project management roles will be created worldwide across seven project-intensive industries, particularly in technology and finance. However, as the demand grows, the need for highly-skilled project managers will also expand. Earning a Project Management Professional (PMP)®certification verifies that a project manager holds the necessary knowledge and skill to successfully lead varied PMP Certification Increases Earning Potential

PMP Certification Increases Earning Potential

The growing demand for skilled project-based professionals is reflected in the salaries they command. According to the PMI® Project Management Salary Survey, the global median salary reached $90,260 in 2015. In the United States, median salaries now exceed $100,000.

Project managers with relevant certification earn even more than their noncertified peers. PMP certification can provide a significant advantage when it comes to salary and earning potential. Among respondents to PMI’s Earning Power Salary Survey, those with a PMP certification reported a 20 percent higher salary on average than those without one. In 2016, PMP was the fifth highest-paying professional certification and the No. 1 business-related certification on the market.and agile teams that increase an organization’s profitability.

The Benefits of a PMP® Certification

PMP certification is the most universal and industry-recognized certification for project managers. Unlike others that focus on specific industries or geographic regions, the PMP certification applies to all of them. On a resume, PMP training indicates the individual’s highly professional abilities and strong drive for self-improvement as well as organizational quality.

Companies benefit from PMP training as well. When more than one-third of a company’s project managers are PMP certified, more projects come in on time and on budget and meet their original goals. Here are a few reasons why a Project Manager should become PMP certified.

PMP is a universal language that connects project managers to a global network of professionals and organizations. Having such a network is beneficial when it comes to future career opportunities. For employers, the benefits of hiring skilled project professionals is clear. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey, 80 percent of high-performing projects use PMP credentialed project managers. Organizations with more than 35 percent PMP certified project managers demonstrated even higher project performance.

How to better manage passing PMP certification

Enrolling in a PMP training course through an online blended learning program is a project manager’s best bet for passing the exam. Geared toward certification, these education providers deliver virtual classrooms and lectures from working industry experts, self-paced online learning and applied learning projects based on real-world scenarios. The instructional material is also updated on a regular basis, which is vital in an industry that experiences constant rapid-fire changes. The flexibility that online training resources have is a huge advantage when it comes to targeted and ultra-relevant professional development.

In Conclusion

In today’s competitive business environment, the need for skilled project managers to lead agile and flexible teams is constantly growing. In the United States alone, new project management-related jobs are expected to  exceed 6.1 million by 2020. This constitutes a faster growth rate than average across all occupations at a rate of 19 percent. To help meet the need for highly-skilled project managers, online training programs are an excellent option for upskilling yourself and/or your staff. Flexible online courses designed to optimize PMP test preparation make an ideal option for working professionals. One such program is Udxacademy  PMP training. After this approximately 90-day course, most students pass the PMP exam on the first try. Whatever PMP training method you choose, earning a PMP certification makes a positive investment for your own career or your company.