Post: #1

Gents,

I know there's some heavy hitters in the education/business communities on the forum. I wanted to lay out several professional certifications and get the general consensus on whether or not they are worth the hefty price tags.

They have several certs that I'm interested in, other than PMI preparation.
The first:

http://www.gatlineducation.com/unbranded...ional.html

Sustainability Professional? Green collar economy? Never heard of this, but if you click on the instructor profiles, they line up some talent.
Is this cert alone going to help or does it need a formal educational background?

Post: #2

I honestly think there is money to be made with sustainability b-cases and consulting. The way Kyoto protocol works is that if you can reduce emissions through some method, you can sell those emissions saved as credits on the carbon markets (well established in Europe and any Kyoto signature country). The certificate looks like a semi-business degree but tailored for sustainability. If you want to consult or run projects that reduce carbon or other green house gas, this course should be enough to give you decent understanding to get you started.

But the real problem of consulting and becoming a trusted project manager is credibility. In most cases these fancy Ivy League degrees are used to convey that credibility. If not that, industry experience with well-known firms. And if not that, networking with business contacts. Each credibility measure helps getting the next one. I'm not sure a professional certificate will fix that credibility gap. If your taking this certificate for credentials, I would skip that and go straight to hustling and networking your ass off.

If you want just the education, you could do that program and given that you have a decent background, that should be fine. I would also check out MIT Opencourseware to see if they have some sustainability courses first (which they should) since the site is free and the quality is quite high. But if your background isn't that great, most cases you also want the prestige from getting a degree. There are a lot of good schools that will teach this stuff but accordingly there's higher prices for a more valuable product. But again, I think networking will solve most problems though advanced degrees make it easier to get in-front of people to network.

TL;DR

Sustainability good, evaluate your background before choosing, and network.

Post: #3

(12-25-2011 11:46 PM)cibo Wrote:  But the real problem of consulting and becoming a trusted project manager is credibility.

Thanks cibo. I have a knack for talking to people, especially abroad. I'm banking heavily on this to break in the system. Definitely agree on the credibility. My resume is decent, but lacks enough education. I'm trying to get caught up. Some of these certs though are 400 hrs. Ouch.

Another one that caught my eye is the Certified Global Business Professional, as seen here:

http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ppd/cou...format=478

This one ties in with an international business website:

http://nasbite.org/

I've never heard of the organization but went ahead and payed the dues ($100). I figured from a networking standpoint it couldn't hurt.

I guess, my goal right now is to pad the resume with some certs to look more marketable for project management, or at least more marketable to foreign employers. Realistically, I'll be more than willing to stay in a tech field until getting situated in another country, then work up from there. That'll keep me employed, and give more time to bang out some education.

Post: #4

Do you have a degree (bachelors, masters)? If not, I don't see how some of those certs will help you, particularly the "certified global business professional". If you have enough "game" to get people to look past your lack of education, then the certs won't matter anyway.

There are certainly some certs that are useful, however most on the market are just money making schemes. The key for certifications is INDUSTRY ACCEPTANCE. If folks in your target industry don't know about or don't respect the cert, then it is pretty useless. The only exception to this is if you happen to stumble upon someone who is completely ignorant about the field and you convince them that a particular cert is more important than it really is.

If you don't have your degree, how about working towards that? Contrary to popular belief, there are some great methods out there for smart, independent learners to get their bachelors (and sometimes their masters) for relatively low cost and fairly quickly.

Post: #5

(12-26-2011 06:39 AM)joehoya Wrote:  If you don't have your degree, how about working towards that? Contrary to popular belief, there are some great methods out there for smart, independent learners to get their bachelors (and sometimes their masters) for relatively low cost and fairly quickly.

Mind elaborating how?
I think it'd be a valuable info.

Post: #6

(12-25-2011 07:49 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  Gents,

I know there's some heavy hitters in the education/business communities on the forum. I wanted to lay out several professional certifications and get the general consensus on whether or not they are worth the hefty price tags.

They have several certs that I'm interested in, other than PMI preparation.
The first:

http://www.gatlineducation.com/unbranded...ional.html

Sustainability Professional? Green collar economy? Never heard of this, but if you click on the instructor profiles, they line up some talent.
Is this cert alone going to help or does it need a formal educational background?

Ali I checked out the website you posted, although I don't believe all the enviro-green economy hype (working in the oil biz, I may be a bit biased!), governments have been throwing insane amounts of money into some of these big projects (many of them massive failures like solar power farms in Ontario and wind farm projects in Europe, etc), so there is money to be bad, for now, I think it'll pass in the next 2-5 years, people are catching on!

The one really good thing about that programme is that it adheres to ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 1400 series, environmental management, so theoretically, these certs should be recognized around the world, I know my ISO certs (9000 series) are.

good luck!

Post: #7

(12-26-2011 08:55 AM)Ami5 Wrote:  

(12-26-2011 06:39 AM)joehoya Wrote:  If you don't have your degree, how about working towards that? Contrary to popular belief, there are some great methods out there for smart, independent learners to get their bachelors (and sometimes their masters) for relatively low cost and fairly quickly.

Mind elaborating how?
I think it'd be a valuable info.

Sure, no problem.

The basic strategy is to get a degree from one of several accredited universities that will accept a lot of college credit through credit-by-examination (eg CLEP and DSST tests), professional and technical certifications (e.g. Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNA, etc), military training, and/or previous coursework at other universities.

While MANY colleges accept these credits, the three that accept the most are Thomas Edison State College (a state college in New Jersey), Charter Oak State College (a state college in Conneticut), and Excelsior College (previously a state college, now a private college in New York). These are COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE universities. They are all fully accredited and have been around for about 40 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Oak_State_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edis...te_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_College

I have turned a few of my buddies on to these schools and their results have been great. One knocked out a Bachelors degree in 18 months. Another finished his Bachelors in 6 months, and a third got his associates degree in 3 months, IIRC. These guys were working in IT, but had dropped out of college (or in one case, never went) years ago and now found their careers hampered by not having a degree.

It is completely possible to knock out a bachelors degree for $10K or less. You'll make that money back within the first year or two of possessing your degree. Best of all, if you go the credit-by-examination testing route, you can do it in a pay-as-you-go format. Where I am, taking a CLEP test costs about $100. The exams range in value from 3 to 6 credit hours. You could just budget $100 per month and take a test every month. If the exams average 4 credits per exam, that would be 48 credit hours per year. If you could do that, you could start from zero credits and have your bachelor's in 2 ½ years. Many have done it in MUCH LESS TIME.

The basic gameplan is to figure out what type of degree you want, and within what time-frame you need this. Then assess how many credits you already have via the above methods. After that, develop a learning plan that will lead you through the right exams/courses to get the degree you want.

The process can seem a bit intimidating, but thousands of people have gone on this path before you. If you have other questions, let me know.

Post: #8

(12-26-2011 12:36 PM)joehoya Wrote:  

(12-26-2011 08:55 AM)Ami5 Wrote:  

(12-26-2011 06:39 AM)joehoya Wrote:  If you don't have your degree, how about working towards that? Contrary to popular belief, there are some great methods out there for smart, independent learners to get their bachelors (and sometimes their masters) for relatively low cost and fairly quickly.

Mind elaborating how?
I think it'd be a valuable info.

Sure, no problem.

The basic strategy is to get a degree from one of several accredited universities that will accept a lot of college credit through credit-by-examination (eg CLEP and DSST tests), professional and technical certifications (e.g. Microsoft MCSE, Cisco CCNA, etc), military training, and/or previous coursework at other universities.

While MANY colleges accept these credits, the three that accept the most are Thomas Edison State College (a state college in New Jersey), Charter Oak State College (a state college in Conneticut), and Excelsior College (previously a state college, now a private college in New York). These are COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE universities. They are all fully accredited and have been around for about 40 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Oak_State_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edis...te_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_College

I have turned a few of my buddies on to these schools and their results have been great. One knocked out a Bachelors degree in 18 months. Another finished his Bachelors in 6 months, and a third got his associates degree in 3 months, IIRC. These guys were working in IT, but had dropped out of college (or in one case, never went) years ago and now found their careers hampered by not having a degree.

It is completely possible to knock out a bachelors degree for $10K or less. You'll make that money back within the first year or two of possessing your degree. Best of all, if you go the credit-by-examination testing route, you can do it in a pay-as-you-go format. Where I am, taking a CLEP test costs about $100. The exams range in value from 3 to 6 credit hours. You could just budget $100 per month and take a test every month. If the exams average 4 credits per exam, that would be 48 credit hours per year. If you could do that, you could start from zero credits and have your bachelor's in 2 ½ years. Many have done it in MUCH LESS TIME.

The basic gameplan is to figure out what type of degree you want, and within what time-frame you need this. Then assess how many credits you already have via the above methods. After that, develop a learning plan that will lead you through the right exams/courses to get the degree you want.

The process can seem a bit intimidating, but thousands of people have gone on this path before you. If you have other questions, let me know.

Excellent info!

Post: #9

(12-25-2011 07:49 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  Gents,

I know there's some heavy hitters in the education/business communities on the forum. I wanted to lay out several professional certifications and get the general consensus on whether or not they are worth the hefty price tags.

They have several certs that I'm interested in, other than PMI preparation.
The first:

http://www.gatlineducation.com/unbranded...ional.html

Sustainability Professional? Green collar economy? Never heard of this, but if you click on the instructor profiles, they line up some talent.
Is this cert alone going to help or does it need a formal educational background?

Ali, I used to work with a team of environmental geeks who were into these types of business lines and certifications. If you want to get into the "green" market, I know the LEED Professional certification is an industry-recognized certification in the U.S.
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2191

I think you're probably better off spending your time/money to get your PMP since it's so widely recognized.

Not sure if you have an interest, but one thing I always considered was getting a certification or even a second bachelors degree in construction management. It's very narrowly scoped (can't work as a comp. scientist or banker with that degree), but I always felt that would be a big door to some big international construction firms. You could work all over the world as a construction manager (not the laborer). Never a dull moment like the corporate drones in the office every day.

Post: #10

I'm stacking these certs up ASAP:

Nebosh
Six Sigma
ISO 9001
ASE x2
CGBP (Nasbite)
Project Management

That'll get me a start.

@joehoya-I'm requesting my transcripts right now, and will be contacting the 3 colleges you mentioned to see how much I got left to finish a degree in Project Management or Int. Biz. Hopefully shouldn't have more than a year left. Thanks for the info.

Post: #11

Aliblahba,

If you are looking for a business bachelors, in addition to the 3 schools I mentioned, check out Western Governors University.

They have a bunch of programs in business, education, IT, and healthcare. The biggest downside compared to the three schools I mentioned above is that you have to pay $3,000 per six month term upfront. The biggest upside is that you can take as many exams, and get as many credits, as you are capable of within a single term. Think of it like an all you can eat buffet. I think all four are equally good, just different.

How many credits do you have so far?

Post: #12

(04-13-2012 10:46 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  I'm stacking these certs up ASAP:

Nebosh
Six Sigma
ISO 9001
ASE x2
CGBP (Nasbite)
Project Management

That'll get me a start.

@joehoya-I'm requesting my transcripts right now, and will be contacting the 3 colleges you mentioned to see how much I got left to finish a degree in Project Management or Int. Biz. Hopefully shouldn't have more than a year left. Thanks for the info.

Did you write your PMP yet?
I am studying for it now and it is such a bitch.

Anyone done the Lean (six sigma) courses?

Post: #13

I haven't started the PMP course yet. Still a month out before starting anything. My coworkers stated the lean six sigma green belt is real easy.

@joehoya- I gotta go back and count up credits from memory. Are you in the DR?