“As a PMP I can tell you that you have underestimated the difficulty of obtaining this accreditation.”
I have it, too, so I know, and it was pathetically easy to “earn”. The PMI is about making money and it shows. It seems many who have a PMP consider it a major accomplishment...which tells a lot about those who covet it. It is a wimpy certification for underachievers. I was a director over a $5 million/year PMO consulting office and found it to be a complete joke. You can’t even put 10 PMPs in a room and get the same answer twice, and just because a person has a PMP does not mean they actually understand project management much less the engineering principles of which they are managing. I found the average PMP to be a non-engineer that wanted to be a manager, hence the “12-week wonder” comment. Try getting an engineering degree and being a professional engineer of at least 10 years experience before becoming a project manager and that PMP will look like a useless joke designed for non-engineers that want to be project managers right out of college. Of course, to executive managers the PMI has sold them on the idea that the PMP is a great certification of major proportions. Hell, I sold execs on it as a consultant; made a ton of money with it, too. There is nothing more dangerous to an organization than an otherwise unqualified and inexperienced individual with a PMP that now feels empowered to enforce their bad decisions.