Project Management Certification Selection

If you want to get a Project Management Certification, which one should I choose out of so many in the market? A brief research shows that you can obtain certificates issued by the following organizations, the list is not exhaustive and it does not include experts certificates like PMI-RMP® or PMI-SP®:

AMA (American Management Association)

Project Management Certificate

AIPM (Australian Institute for Project Management)

Level 4 (Project Team Member)
Level 5 (Project Manager)
Level 6 (Project Director)

APM (Association for Project Management)

Certified International Project Manager
Senior Project Manager
Certified Project Manager
Associate Project Management Professional

ASAPM (American Society for the Advancement of Project Management)

Senior Management (SP)
Resource Managers (RM)
Project Office Manager (PO)
Project Director (aCPM3)
Project Manager of large, complex projects (aCPM2)
Project Manager of medium or less-complex projects (aCPM1)
Project Team Members (TM)

APM Group Ltd

PRINCE2 Practitioner
PRINCE2 Foundation

IPMA (International Project Management Association)

IPMA Level D – Certified Project Management Associate
IPMA Level C – Certified Project Manager
IPMA Level B – Certified Senior Project Manager
IPMA Level A – Certified Projects Director

PMI (Project Management Institute)

Program Management Professional ( PgMP )®
Project Management Professional ( PMP )®
Certified Associate in Project Management ( CAPM ) ®


This is a long list of certification by different project management bodies. However, the most popular certification are from APM Group Ltd (PRINCE2®), International Project Management Association (IPMA) and Project Management Institute (PMI). The most important considerations in selecting a suitable certification are:

1. Which country are you planning to practice? Different countries have their preferred project management certification. PRINCE2® certification is popular in United Kingdom and PMI certification is more popular in United States and also other part of the world besides UK and Europe.

2. What kind of project are you handling? If you or your company executes projects for public administration, PRINCE2® certificate is very useful (if you want to work in Great Britain it is “must have,” indeed)

3. What is the the Project Management practice or methodology that adopted by the company you are working with?

If you follow the above criteria in selecting, you will be able to select the best Project Management Certification that suits you. Further details on the recommended 3 project management certification are as follows.