A future PMP

I have been enrolling in graduate school, but I'm also working on my Project management professional certification.

After researching this certification a few years ago I gave up, it just seemed like a daunting task, but with this new opportunity to invest in myself I renewed myself to earning my certification.

Why PMP?

Most employee compensation surveys report that certified project managers enjoy higher salaries compared to their uncertified counterparts

Taking a class, studying, and achieving CAPM or PMP certification means you have, or should have, acquired some knowledge and practical skills that might improve your value and success as a project manager.

First, I joined PMI.org national chapter and my local chapter http://www.pmicoc.org/ because both of these organizations offer certification guidelines, book, practice tests, and discounts.

***You need to study the PMBOK Project management book of knowledge in order to pass the certification test.

Next, I applied to be able to take the certification test. You can't just take the certification, you must meet the following:

1. You should hold a Bachelor's degree or its global equivalent (this is a 4-year degree, not a 3-year degree).

2. You should have 4500 hours of project management experience in not less than 3 years. If you do not have a Bachelor's degree holder, then you should have a high school diploma. In this case, you should have 7500 hrs. of project management experience.

3. You should undergo a 35-hour project management training. Try the nearest convenient Registered Education Provider (REP) on the PMI website.



Then, I took a course called Principles of Project management offered by a REP  that took care of my 35 hours of training. I have an undergraduate degree and I spent 15 years as a working professional doing various projects and I used some personal projects  on my experience as well.


Now, I'm vetted and almost ready to get tested. The only thing standing in my way now is the 600 page PMBOK.

What's next for me...

So, I enrolled in graduate school! You are reading an official Ohio Christian University student blog, woot-woot!

After some online research of programs and costs. I knew that I wanted an MBA, so that made the process a ton easier to accomplish. I also knew that I wanted to attend classes online since I'm actively looking for work and I don't want to postpone school for work.

I narrowed it down to a few schools based on cost, credit hours, and accreditations:

Sam Houston http://www.shsu.edu/

and

Ohio Christian University http://www.ohiochristian.edu/


In the end I chose OCU because of their great online curriculum, military discounts, and the welcome feeling I got after making a few inquiries into the school.

I started classes yesterday and I am so excited about this new journey in my life. I'm actively looking for work, but the format of the classes that are offered each semester is really career friendly.

I'll continue to post about my journey here on my blog.

After some self-assessment I realize that I have been with the same company for fifteen years doing jobs that pretty much proprietary to the business. So, this is a chance to expand my resume, gain new skills, and see what I'm worth on the open market.

I'm in a fortunate spot, I have a spouse who makes good money and I have enough in savings that I don't need to work ASAP. I can really take my time working on myself and do some of the activities on my bucket list as well.

Monica's Bucket list:

1. Go to Australia
2. Learn to sew
3. Meet Jason Mamoa
4. Get my MBA
5. Scuba dive
6. Get married in Las Vegas
7. Write a novel
8. Have dinner in the Eiffel Tower
9. Sit courtside at a Cavaliers game
10. Lay on a beach in a cabaña while being served drinks

So, I'm going to get started ( for the billionth time) on writing a novel and maybe I'll buy myself a sewing machine and start making my dogs really cute clothes to wear around the house. No, they don't want to wear clothes, but I think they are so cute in them and in the end that is all that really matters, right?

I'm also using this time to look into graduate schools to set the foundation for my new career!

Seriously, What am I going to do now?

Well, for starters I'm going to look at this change as an opportunity. It is really tough to lose a job you love. It's even harder to lose it when you're staring down the barrel of forty with a mortgage, bills and major responsibilities not just to yourself anymore.

But, this is still an opportunity.

photo from wikipedia

Have you ever read a memoir or a attended a conference by a  successful person like Richard Branson or Tyler Perry? Have you ever stopped to think what they might have in common with you? The answer is Failure. They both endured major failures and setbacks in their careers and now both of them are on top of their business fields. Love them or hate them, the truth is they are successes.

I might not ever reach their kind of success, but I know that this setback is not the end of Monica. I am worth more and owe it to myself to build my career now that I no longer have a job. See what I did there? I admitted a major truth to myself and to you, I was working a job. Just something to pay me the money I needed to live. I liked it, but it was just a job and now that its gone I can start my career.

That is the hard part, transforming my skills into a career instead of just looking for another job.

Now, how do I transform myself?

So I lost my job

So, I lost my job. Well, I did not lose it, I know where it is, but I was surplused which sucks. Really, truly, honestly this is the pits. I really liked my job, I worked with great people at a fortune 500 company that gave me a great pay. I loved my leadership team and they loved me back, we were a high performing team, but I still got the boot (so did they).

We knew this was coming, every time we had a "town hall" with leadership or received a company quarterly status update we were told that the company was downsizing. That a third of the company was going to be eliminated by the all-mighty, all powerful time of 2020. We were all strongly encouraged to get ready for the coming changes through education, pivoting skills, changing job titles, and attending several webinars.

All the training and updating of my resume didn't change anything. I was dragged out kicking and screaming about really wanting to keep my paycheck and my stapler!

Honestly, I've been through this before with this company. I was laid off in 2002 for very similar reasons, but after nine months I was offered my job back with the same pay. I was working in the real estate field at the time, building a new career selling houses. I don't like selling, in my opinion, excellent sales people are "sharks" and I'm more of a sea turtle. I'm not saying anything bad about the sales profession, but I don't have the social skills, instincts or fortitude to live off commission. Which is why I snapped my old job back up when they made the offer. True it was kid of like the "spoiled milk theory." You open the fridge and pull out the milk only to find it spoiled, then you put it back in the fridge.

Fifteen years later and that milk is still spoiled and I'm out of a job again asking myself, what am I going to do now?

The day of and after.........

Admittedly I was nervous the day of the surgery. No, I didn't let my mind run wild with negative scenarios, instead I focused on the end results and I promised myself a new pair of fancy sunglasses as a reward. I have never paid more than $20 for a pair of sunglasses because I wore glasses twice as much as contacts because I spend nine or ten hours a day on the computer and two or so hours on my tablet.

So as I woke up that morning all I thought about was waking up the next day, opening my eyes and seeing my room and dogs without having to reach for my glasses. As I checked in at the office I smiled and looked at the nervous faces around me, they weren't focusing on the positive, but I was.

Checking-in and signing paper work was a breeze, I took care of my financials (I will not discuss cost on this blog or if you contact me, so please don't ask) without a fuss and was escorted to another vision exam with Dr. Walsh before doing a mild physical with an assistant. After this I was given a low dose sedative and asked to wait for the Doctor.

The room in which the surgery is performed is very clinical and holds 2 giant machines, its encased in glass walls so you can watch the procedure being performed before you go in or a loved one can watch you. C-mac waited with me for my turn, cause I needed someone to drive me home, but chose not to watch his wife be lasered.

So, here is the scary part of this story: The assistant brought me into the room behind the glass walls and the Dr. Thomas did another exam on my eyes before answering some of my questions. He administered an aesthetic into my eye and walked me over to the machine. I felt like a ensign after being captured by the Borg sitting under the machine. It was blavk with flashing lights.



I am not a paid spokesperson, employee, or friend of LaskPlus. I am a a blogger, so I'm doing this because I know people out there are curious.

Life after Laser correction........

Life after laser eye correction procedure is AWESOME! I wake up and can see which is just so novel to me, I still tell myself to take my contacts out at night and then I remind myself that I'm not wearing contacts, I can just see.

Of course there were a few days that I was a pain angel on my couch, but the pain went away so it was totally worth it!