Is learning Prince2 worth the time,energy and money?

September 8, 2009 1:26 PM

I have increasingly been asked to manage small projects and teams and would like to know if becoming Prince2 certified will have a positive impact on my career that justifies the initial investment of time & money.

Background info:

Early 20s working in the UK private sector. I am fairly certain my employer will not be willing to pay for the certification.

posted by errspy to work & money (6 comments total)

I hire you in the USA. Well, not you, but people like you. Well, maybe you someday. ;)

The value is probably low, unless you happen to apply somewhere where the managers or hiring team are big fans of the Prince cert.... probably because they went through it themselves. In some ways, certs like that are more initiation rite than qualification. "Well, I had to do it, so..."

Far more useful, broadly, is a list of accomplishments and projects completed, with an emphasis on personnel, timeline and budget management. If they're projects the new employer has heard of, or thinks that they understand... you're golden.
posted by rokusan at 1:29 PM on September 8

Watching this with interest - my husband has done the training, he said that if you have done any form of project management before it won't teach you anything new, but it will help you 'talk the talk' with other people who have. done it. I haven't done the course, but have considered it simply because so many jobs ask for it.
posted by Megami at 1:30 PM on September 8

This is somewhat anecdotal, but Michelle Dewberry of The Apprentice (she won series 2) seemed to hold rather high esteem for doing PRINCE2 in her autobiography.
posted by wackybrit at 1:33 PM on September 8

It's only valued in the UK from what I can gather, and as it evolved in the public sector, more so there. I have seen some job ads at my level asking for it and I had an interview asking my PM style. I prefer to blend things together based on the project at hand. Rigidly adhering to one method unless your organisation is Prince2 (or whatever else) can be a problem.

I manage a lot of projects and considered going for certification (I recently moved to the UK but work in Europe), but without my employer paying I cannot justify the cost. Then again, I'm lucky to have a track record of large-ish (200k) and small (a few thousand dollars) budget projects to list on my CV. I started small and also took on projects outside work (eg, running a conference) and this led to larger projects at work over time. It was working on the conference that gave me more recognition than almost anything else I've ever done and it gave me a lot of skills.

To 'talk the talk' as Megami says, I did read a few PM books, especially those on software project management so I can talk to technical staff who run on fairly standardised project models. "Making things happen" is my favourite.

If you can afford it, it cannot hurt, but make sure to remain aware of other methodologies. When I was your age (makes me sound old, ha! I'm 30) I got certificates in a couple of different things and an extra degree before I had much experience under my belt. It all helps, but it's just a matter of whether you want to spent your events on the books or volunteering/taking on extra work/etc.
posted by wingless_angel at 2:55 PM on September 8

Absolutely on the UK public sector point - it is more or less the gols standard in UK government departments.
posted by greycap at 12:56 AM on September 9

Gold standard, even.
posted by greycap at 12:56 AM on September 9