PMP Digital Badge
Did you know that an astounding 97% of organizations believe project management is critical to business performance and organizational success, according to the report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers?
TechRepublic quotes dice.com report that PMP is the most desired certification, with nearly 2,200 requests in job postings on any given day.
Figure: Job profiles increasingly demand PMP certification
No wonder, many smart recruiters ‘spy’ on potential hires on the Internet and look at their LinkedIn and other social platforms.
The question is,
How do you make your online presence credible and make sure your PMP credential is highlighted with the right people?
Welcome digital badges by PMI.
What is a ‘digital badge’?
PMI has begun to give away digital badges to successful candidates through its PMI Certification Digital Badge program.
Well, they themselves are not creating them, but PMI has partnered with a company called Credly that manages digital badges.
Credly issues these digital badges on behalf of organizations that offer certification exams such as PMI. It then provides the recruiters with a way to verify the certification-specific information of potential hires.
“What’s in it for me?”
Any PMI certification is a validation of the knowledge and experience you possess to do excel at your job. This gives you an edge over other candidates of similar profile that do not have the certification.
However, your credentials need to be broadcast to the right people on the right platforms. And this digital badge (more if you have other PMI certifications) helps you do just that.
Recruiters get to see the stringent requirements of the certification, the skills you would have gained during the process, and the standards that the certification meets. This is a powerful marketing tool for you!
Remember, a third-party endorsement works much better in your favor than you telling your recruiter about your own achievements. It helps you market yourself better.
Once you get your badge (we’ll talk about how in a sec), you can embed it in your site/blog, include it in your LinkedIn profile, send it to recruiters, and even include it in your email as a signature!
But it gets even better.
Now you can access real-time job market insights.
With this, you can see which companies are looking for people with PMP certification (and other PMI’s certifications).
PMI’s survey has already established the fact that people with PMP certification earn on an average 20% more than those without the certification. Now you can see what kind of salaries you can expect to draw for your experience and your certification(s).
This information is crucial if you are making a salary negotiation with a new employer, or at your current organization during appraisal follow-up discussions.
PMI has tied up with Credly to distribute digital badges
PMI moved over to PearsonVUE to conduct its exams. Further, it tied up with Credly for digital badges.
Credly, a product of Pearson, works with credible organizations to provide badges to individuals worldwide to promote their skills and achievements.
Badges from Credly represent achievements valued by employers and will help you tell your professional story in a way that is complete and validated.
Credly also offers ‘market insights’ to learn which job opportunities align with your validated skills.
Labor market insights are pulled from live job requisitions. Based on your skills, you can learn which employers are hiring, what job titles you might be qualified for, salary ranges, and more.
Now that you are PMP certified you need 60 PDUs >> Click here to get free PDU guide.
How do I get my PMP digital badge?
You will receive an email notification from Credly with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account.
To share the badge, follow these steps –
To share your badge:
- Log into your account >> https://www.credly.com/users/sign_in
- Click on the profile icon at the top right-hand corner of the page and go to “Badge Management”
- Click on the badge you have claimed
- Scroll down and click “Share”
- You will be brought to the “Share Badge” screen where you can find different tabs directing you to connect your social media accounts and share your badge
- Once your social media account is connected, just click “Share” to share your digital badge
How to share my PMP badge on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn being the source of ‘profile search’ for recruiters and hiring managers, updating your profile with a PMP badge increases your credibility.
Here are the step-by-step instructions on the Credly support site.
Awesome! Any other pointers to leverage PMP on my professional front, Shiv?
How about getting a few organic endorsements?
Once you are PMP certified, if you have not already done, please add ‘Project Management’ to your Skills & endorsements section in your LinkedIn profile. Alternately, you can add ‘PMP’, ‘Agile project management’ as well.
Bring it to the top-3 by dragging.
Keep the PMP-related skill you have added under Top Skills. I have added PMP Coaching under Top Skills and PMP as the first one under Industry Knowledge.
That’s it!
By adding this skill under top-3, people that land on your profile will see the skill without requiring to click to expand the section.
You can expect many endorsements within a few days of announcing your PMP credential on your PMP profile.
What’s next?
In today’s time, layoffs have become a common practice even in developing countries. And it is all the more important that you not only get a PMP certificate, but also make sure it reaches the right people in the right context.
PMI’s digital badge is one such tool that you should be able to leverage with ease.
Use this link to find more about Credly.
Not PMP Certified yet?
If you are planning for your PMP exam, get started here to come up with an easy plan.
In case you want to accelerate PMP prep and get your certification at the earliest, click to get probably the only study resource you need (apart from PMBOK, of course).
And if you need any help with exam planning strategy (for free), you are welcome to reach me on Skype at, shivshanker.shenoy
Inching closer to your PMP exam? Click for the popular ‘Last Mile’ prep books.
Good luck!
Credits: All the PMI’s digital badge images are courtesy of www.pmi.org
