Is PMP Better Than MBA

Is PMP Better Than MBA?

Learning Mudra, Category - PMP

While advancing in your career, the ultimate question everyone has is MBA vs. PMP. Is it better to earn a PMP certification or to pursue an MBA credential? Project Management Professional certification is a designation offered by Project Management Institute (PMI). To achieve a PMP certification, you have to pass a rigorous exam based on PMBOK. A PMP’s goal is to learn how to think critically and implement leadership theories and methodologies in real-life project situations. In comparison, a Master in Business Administrator (MBA) is a degree course focusing more on general aspects of a business.

PMP certification is rated one of the industry’s top certifications and is considered the jewel in project management. The PMI prescribes best practices in project management to effectively lead and manage projects by focusing on 49 processes and ten knowledge areas: integration, scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, communication, risk, procurement, and stakeholders. In contrast, MBA involves an in-depth study of a catalog of courses concerning the business, honing your skills and knowledge. The MBA program is offered by several universities and colleges covering the curriculum in marketing, finance, accounting, HR, entrepreneurship, strategy, economics, operations, statistics, ethics.

Eligibility

PMP doesn’t mandate any particular graduation; any degree will do for PMP. The prerequisites include:

• Project management experience.
• Any graduate degree.
• Three years or 4500 of experience in managing and leading projects.
• Thirty-five hours of project management education that will meet the requirement to take the PMP certification exam.

For admission in MBA program from well recognized and reputed colleges, one has to excel in the GMAT exam or CAT and clear further rounds of discussion and interviews. This criterion is not compulsory to do an MBA program. The primary prerequisite to an MBA program is only an under graduation.

Validity & responsibilities

The PMP certification is valid only for three years and has to be renewed once in three years. There is no need to take the PMP exam every three years. But to maintain the PMP certification’s active status, you need to study “how to renew PMP certification,” verified through the PMI registry. But when it comes to an MBA degree, there is no expiry for it. Once you successfully earn your degree, it is valid for a lifetime. Regarding the responsibilities, a business manager with an MBA is responsible for managing all the aspects of a business. But when it comes to a PMP certified project manager, they are only accountable for successfully executing the project from start to finish. They only focus on project management, and their business goals are confined to the projects or how projects are engaged.

PMP vs. MBA?

Now coming to our main agenda: is PMP better than MBA? It isn’t easy to pick and place one over the other, as PMP and MBA have their standing in the market. But let’s look at why many experts prefer to say PMP is better than an MBA. For MBA starters, there are too many colleges and universities offering both diploma and degree in MBA. So the supply exceeds the demand and brings down the request. Unless you are a graduate from a world-renowned college or university, recruiters aren’t that inclined to shortlist your profile based on an MBA degree.

PMP is niche, Elite and exclusive certification as there are only one million certified PMP professionals. The demand for qualified PMP professionals is around 2.1 million per year as the PMI commissioned talent gap analysis. So it is evident the need for PMP is enormous. Also, PMP professionals possess technical and managerial skills. MBAs study provides knowledge about the business side only. MBA is broad in business skills and knowledge. At the same time, PMP is a structured and specialized study of project management. Every organization runs on projects and needs managers both on business and technology addressed by PMP and having the edge over MBA.

Expenses

Even when we talk about expenses and duration for successfully attaining PMP or MBA, PMP is inexpensive and consumes less period than an MBA takes more time and spending as part of the cost of education. Even the return on investment (ROI) is also better for PMP. Indeed, PMP has a higher ROI in the short term, but MBA needs more time to recover investment and a more extended period from seeing the ROI.

The cost and time consumed in earning an MBA degree are significantly higher as compared to PMP. Fulfilling the prerequisites, one can become a PMP certified professional within six months by spending around $2,000 and draws a $1 05,000. So an investment of $2000 empowers you to earn $105,000. Whereas the MBA program is effort and time-intensive and takes two years with a tuition fee of $97000, and the average salary for an MBA graduate is $1 00,000. If you do the math, you will find out that the PMP yields higher than the MBA. Even though MBA will provide you returns, but PMP has a great head start.

Conclusion

One has to understand that PMP certification is not a replacement or valuable addition to MBA. The portfolio for MBA is into finance, marketing, branding, where a PMP doesn’t complement. But both are perceived as status symbols, bring value to the personnel with added benefits. An MBA degree will provide more advanced knowledge, whereas PMP training certification will help you build core competency and develop project management expertise. For some institutions, projects are the primary source of income. In such a setup MBA with a PMP certification is a killer combination of the organization’s day-to-day operations and the project execution. It is a known fact that PMP professionals earn 23% more than non-certified; PMP is a preferred certification for project-based organizations for their functional knowledge and managerial abilities. But choosing a single course in PMP and MBA, PMP certification has the edge over MBA.