Project Management Certifications | How PMP, P2M, and Japan's National Exam Differ, and How to Choose

Start looking into project management certifications and several names come up — PMP, the Information Technology Engineers Examination, P2M — and it becomes hard to judge which one you actually need. These three do not compete with each other; each assumes a different situation. This article organises how they differ as schemes, and then sets out which to choose in which circumstances.

Note: fees, exam schedules, and question formats change. Reforms have been ongoing across all of these exams in recent years, so check each awarding body's official site for current information before applying.

Where the Three Sit

First, the overall picture. The awarding bodies, and the character of each scheme, differ fundamentally.

• PMP: an international certification awarded by PMI in the United States. It covers project management standards that apply regardless of industry.
• Project Manager Examination: a Japanese national examination run by IPA. One of the advanced categories of the Information Technology Engineers Examination, it assumes system development.
• P2M: a private certification run by the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ). Its scope extends to program management, which binds multiple projects together.

The distinction between international, national, and private maps directly onto the question of who the certification carries weight with. That is where the choice starts.

PMP: A Certification That Works as a Common Language

PMP is awarded by PMI (Project Management Institute), headquartered in the United States. With holders numbering in the millions worldwide, it is the most widely recognised project management certification.

How the scheme works

Three things set it decisively apart from the other two.

1. There are entry requirements: you need project management experience scaled to your level of education, plus a set number of hours of formal training. It is not an exam you can decide on and sit immediately.
2. It requires renewal: after certification you must periodically earn units to renew, so there is an ongoing cost to holding it.
3. The application process is in English: the exam itself can be taken in Japanese, but the application form and the descriptions of your experience are written in English. This is where a fair number of candidates stall.

The exam is built on the PMBOK Guide. The PMBOK itself, though, has been through successive revisions — from a process-centred structure to a principles-based one, and then toward reintegrating the two. The exam is revised periodically as well, so what you study depends on when you sit it.

Who it suits

It has the greatest effect for people working at foreign-affiliated companies, on global projects, or in roles that deal with overseas counterparts. It is the only one of the three that travels across borders.

Being industry-agnostic is the other distinguishing feature. Beyond IT, candidates come from construction, advertising, manufacturing, and consulting. If you handle projects outside system development, the content fits better here than in the IT examination.

The Project Manager Examination: Recognition in Japan's IT Sector

This is the project-management category within the Information Technology Engineers Examination administered by IPA (Information-technology Promotion Agency). Classified as an advanced category, it is a demanding exam, and it carries the standing of a national qualification.

How the scheme works

Set against PMP, the difference in character is clear.

• No entry requirements: there is no experience requirement, and anyone can apply.
• No renewal: pass once and it does not lapse. Having no ongoing cost is a significant difference.
• There is an essay component: beyond multiple choice, the exam includes short-answer and essay sections. Your ability to explain your own experience in writing is tested.
• It runs infrequently: the number of sittings per year is small, so opportunities to take it are limited.

The essay component changes the nature of preparation considerably. Memorising knowledge will not get you through; you have to take a project you were actually involved in and set out the problems and your responses in a coherent argument. Without practical experience there is no material to write from, so despite having no formal entry requirement, it is in effect an exam for experienced practitioners.

Note that this examination is in a period of reform. A move to CBT delivery is under way, along with changes to the timing of sittings and the structure of the sections, and a transition to a new examination system is also planned. If you are considering it, checking IPA's official site for the current arrangements is essential.

Who it suits

For people at Japanese systems integrators and IT firms, or those working on public-sector projects, this is the most valued of the three. Being a national qualification carries weight in tendering and in internal evaluation.

Conversely, if you run projects outside system development, the premises of the exam will not match your work. For a PM on marketing campaigns or product development, PMP sits closer to the day job.

P2M: For Those Who Bind Multiple Projects Together

P2M is a private certification run by the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ). The name comes from Project & Program Management, and alongside managing a single project it covers program management, which handles a set of related projects as an integrated whole.

How the scheme works

Its distinguishing feature is that it is tiered. PMC at the foundation level, PMS in the middle, and PMR at the advanced level, so you can pick an entry point matched to your experience. At the foundation level, you can attempt it even with limited practical background.

It is used beyond the IT sector, in manufacturing and construction as well. That much it shares with PMP, but because a Japanese body administers it, parts of the content assume Japanese business practice.

Who it suits

It suits people who oversee several projects at once, or who are moving into that position. Roles such as binding campaigns together at a business-unit level, or heading up multiple development projects.

Because it is tiered, it can also be used as a way in: start at the foundation level and use it as a foothold for further study. Some people choose it as an entry point when PMP or the IT examination feels too heavy.

How to Choose: Three Criteria

Choose on difficulty or name recognition and the certification may not do anything for you afterward. Narrow it down on these three points.

1. Who are you showing it to?

The most important criterion. A certification only means something when there is someone who values it.

• Overseas counterparts, foreign-affiliated companies → PMP
• Japanese IT firms, public-sector buyers → the Project Manager Examination
• Internal promotion criteria, evaluation within your department → whatever your employer specifies

The third gets overlooked more than you would expect. If a particular certification is named in your company's qualification allowance or promotion criteria, that one takes priority over everything else. Check the HR policy before deciding.

2. Is the work system development?

The Project Manager Examination assumes system development projects. The cases it sets are built around the flow from requirements definition through to release.

If you handle projects outside that — marketing campaigns, product development, event operations — PMP or P2M is the better fit. Both are designed to be industry-agnostic.

3. Can you keep paying the upkeep?

PMP requires renewal. Beyond the cost of certification, there is an ongoing commitment of time and money to maintain it. Whether your employer covers that or you pay it yourself changes the calculation.

The Project Manager Examination, by contrast, needs no renewal. Once you pass there is no upkeep, which makes it favourable on a cost-effectiveness view. Over the long run that difference is not small.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you work as a PM without a certification?

Yes. There are almost no situations in practice where one is required. Certifications matter where you need material to demonstrate capability: evaluation in the job market, presenting credentials externally, internal promotion criteria. The quality of your daily work is not determined by a certification.

Is there any point in holding several?

There is, if you have several audiences. Working on both domestic IT projects and overseas engagements, the Project Manager Examination and PMP can each come into play. The study cost simply adds up, though, so taking one first and reconsidering afterward is the practical route.

Can I get certified with no experience?

PMP requires practical experience to apply, so no. The Project Manager Examination has no entry requirement, but the essay component means you have to write about your own experience, which makes it hard in practice without any. If you are starting from no experience, the foundation level of P2M is the realistic option.

Is what you study usable at work?

There is value in working through the body of knowledge once. Approaches you picked up on your own acquire names, and the gaps become visible. That said, studying for a certification does not directly solve the problems in front of you. When a project will not move, the cause usually lies not in missing knowledge but in the structure — a decision has not come down, the information is not there.

The Environment to Fix Before the Certification

What studying for a certification gives you is a common language and a body of knowledge. Whether projects actually run comes down to whether the situation is visible. In an environment where checking progress means asking around every time, knowledge will not make up for the missing hours.

Where you are overseeing several campaigns in parallel in particular, a separate tracking sheet per project makes it impossible to see where the overall risk sits. Xtrategy manages campaign schedules alongside budget and KPIs on a single screen, so you can track progress across multiple campaigns at once.

Summary

• PMP is international. It travels across industries, but requires experience to apply and renewal to keep.
• The Project Manager Examination is a national exam. No entry requirement and no renewal, but it assumes system development.
• P2M is private. It extends to binding multiple projects together, and you pick an entry point by tier.
• Choose on three criteria: who you are showing it to, whether the work is system development, and whether you can carry the upkeep.
• If your promotion criteria name a specific certification, that one takes priority.
• Reforms are ongoing across all of these, so check the official sites before applying.

None of these certifications produces value on its own; each works in combination with practical experience. Rather than choosing on difficulty or name recognition, decide first what you want to demonstrate and to whom, and choose from there.