Experts say if anyone is interested to go for freelancing, then PMP is absolutely the key to success. When one wants to do freelancing then he or she must possess entire and complete know how of Project Management. A PMP Certification definitely makes you more and more perfect and accurate for handling the projects as the time goes by if one has already cleared the PMP Exam.
So in short we can say that PMP Certification assists you to become more successful as a freelancer. The idea behind a freelancer is that, the person can be alone or have a team, but they are entirely on their own in terms of operating and gaining candidates and building a reputation for themselves. They are not under any kind of banner or brand name, which would leverage their opportunity to become popular or successful.
At Times Freelancer Proves More Useful
If we are discussing a client or a customer, then they are also on the lookout for a professional who is certified in the relevant stream and has the sufficient experience in managing the projects efficiently and successfully. Moreover many companies do not want to have a permanent overhead in terms of hiring a Project Manager with a PMP Certification. This increases their other responsibilities towards the employee.
On the other hand hiring a freelancer has no strings attached and are not liable for any legal commitments other than giving him the agreed upon remuneration as per the contract signed between the two till the time the project is completed. Normally the contract ends with the completion of the project.
Moreover the organization does not have to keep the person paying as in case of a permanent employee, when there is no project in hand, this helps in cost saving to the company. Whenever the company gets a new project they can always hire a freelance consultant again to manage the project.
This situation usually is seen with companies with very tight budget or are having financial constraints, as they cannot afford slippages in project deadlines since the cost may increase in that case. So the contract with freelancer is signed in such a way that if the project deadline extends for any reason other than any natural causes or unavoidable circumstances, the freelancer will not ask for remuneration for the additional time required to complete the project.
It can become a challenge for the freelancer to complete the project within the deadline and with the required quality and productivity since any extension to deadline of project he may have to shell out expenses from his own pocket. In these kind of situations the company is in a safe position.
Freelancer’s Point of View
Many professionals do not like to stick around doing the same kind of project management in a particular domain or stream, but unfortunately they have to do it since they are employees of that company.
Instead being a freelancer gives them opportunity to work on varied projects and tasks. The challenge here is they have to be knowledgeable in various domains and streams, then only companies will recognize their potential and hire them for project management in their domain or line of work. Also to build a reputation or name for themselves as individuals in the market, so that companies start hiring them is the biggest challenge and takes a lot of time to establish.
The success rate of completion of projects is the key factor of getting hired as soon a one project is over for the next. Every company will do a fact check of how many projects have been completed successfully by the freelancer, based on that he or she will be given preference over others. Also there would be a proposal submitted by all the interested freelancers for bagging a particular project especially if it’s going to give a lot of leverage and boost to his career ahead.
Companies Select the Right Freelancer
Companies will go through each and every proposal carefully and shortlist a few which they analyze and feel would be fulfilling their requirements. Interviews will be conducting with the freelancer and his team to judge their potential and capability of taking the project to completion and that too successfully with the required quality, productivity and within the allocated budget.
Many experts are in agreement to that fact that PMP Certification will facilitate and assist a freelancer for doing a career in Project Management. When a situation comes where companies need to select a freelancer for managing a particular project, a PMP Certified professionals is always a safe bet, as they are aware the kind of knowledge and discipline this PMP Certified professional will showcase while handling the project.
Scope and Opportunity for a Freelancer to Conduct Training
The other line of work a freelancer can think of once he achieves the accolades of PMP Certification is to think of conducting training for Project Management professionals who want to pursue PMP Certification. Although for that the freelancer needs to be a trainer and needs to take professional training on how to become a successful trainer.
There are institutes which carry out the “Train the Trainer” programs and create a lot of good trainers who in turn can train quite a few team leaders and project management professionals.
If you are hired as a freelancer your client would want every detail about what, where, when and also who for their project. As a freelancer you must be willing to do the thorough and detailed reports and status for their projects, and off course you would know how to do it, since you are involved right from the start of the project in each and every step of the way through to the completion of the project as an individual freelancer.
There will be lot of extra work which you might call or feel it as an overhead, but you will have to do it as per the requirement of the client. Make sure to include the cost and time in the agreement or contract which you sign with your client as a freelancer, because these nitty gritty tasks could be very time consuming and cumbersome and eat away much of your productive time of the actual hands-on of the project. At least you would be better off satisfied that these costs are covered by the client.
It is very important for the freelancer to make the client understand the importance of being a PMP Certified professional who would be handling their project. The quality, proficiency and the discipline which a PMP Certified professional would should while managing the project of its client would be far more better and worthy than a non-certified PMP professional would handle.