Microsoft has developed many technologies such as computers, operating systems, office software, artificial intelligence, and cloud applications. Here is a tool that this giant technology company has specially prepared for project management: Microsoft Project or MS Project. 92% of the companies you see around use MS Project developed by Microsoft to achieve higher success in their projects. This tool is the most important supporter of the Project manager in planning, scheduling, and following the progress. In other words, MS Project is one of the indispensable applications for companies and project managers. So getting a certification in Microsoft Project is equally important. You can read the top five points when choosing your Microsoft Office MS Project Training.
Companies will want to know your Microsoft Project knowledge & skills when you apply for a job as a project manager. You can be an experienced project manager and you may have learned Microsoft Project well on your own. However, we’re sure MS Project has a lot of features that you didn’t use, and that you probably didn’t know. The fastest and most guaranteed way to prove your MS Project skills is to show your MS Project certificate. Stating that you have MS Project Certificate on your CV can make you stand out from your competitors.
Microsoft Project Certification
Microsoft retired the MS Project certification exam (exam 74-343) as of July 31, 2019. Those who are interested in the Microsoft Project certification among project managers must have heard of it. However, this exam has existed since 2013, and it was a very popular exam among project managers.
You probably have a question about what will replace it. Let’s first remember the purpose of the exam 74-343. The 74-343 coded Microsoft Project certification exam was intended for professionals using the Microsoft Project Professional application. Although this application is not standard in the old Microsoft Office Suite, we can say that it is now included in the Office 365 package and reaches a wider audience.
Attend our 30-min Free MS Project Training.
Those who passed this exam successfully obtained the Microsoft Expert: Microsoft Project 2013 certificate and the title of MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional). As Microsoft retired the Microsoft Project certification exam, it does not award MCP certification since 2019. More importantly, this exam was a requirement to earn the “Managing Projects and Portfolios with Microsoft PPM (70-348)” certification, which was also retired.
Why did Microsoft retire the MS Project certification exam?
So why did Microsoft retire it? And will it replace 74-343 with a new certification? In late 2018, Microsoft announced a series of changes that will fundamentally change the Microsoft Project. They stated that they did this in order to adapt to the rapidly changing project management world and technologies. The Microsoft Project certification exam was also retired because it no longer followed the direction Microsoft Project took. Here, there are extensive changes not only in the content but also in the approach. For this reason, this certificate will not be replaced by a new one at the moment.
After Microsoft deprecates a certificate, it can no longer be obtained from anyone. However, if you have already earned the Microsoft Project certificate, it will remain in your transcripts on the Microsoft Certified Professional site. These changes should be recognized as part of the Microsoft Certified Program development. Microsoft aims to strengthen the program overall by focusing on specialist certifications rather than exams. However, there are other options that you can earn project planning and Microsoft Project Certification skills respectively. There are a number of Microsoft Project courses and training videos available both online and in-person through multiple vendors.
Microsoft Project Certification Training
MS Project is a project management software program designed for companies or individuals to achieve better results in their projects. Microsoft Project training is planned to meet the needs of both personal use and companies. With Microsoft Project training, you will learn many features and be aware of the latest changes. Project managers predominantly use Microsoft Project products in companies. This tutorial helps project managers assign resources to tasks and observe their workload on resources.
Microsoft Project Benefits
It is also very helpful in managing the budget, evaluating timelines, analyzing resource requirements, and keeping track of the progress of the project. Microsoft Project also allows the project team to collaborate, submit timesheets, and identify risks. This collaboration makes the world easier for project managers. For senior managers, it helps them measure the strategic impact of the project, monitor project finances, and view the status of projects and resources. See Microsoft Project Online Tutorial – 100% Free Tutorials Included post.
Microsoft Project helps individuals and companies accomplish projects on time and within budget. When used in collaboration with the Microsoft Project project team, it enables project progress and reporting in real-time. When real-time data is provided, the project or program manager makes more effective management. This helps projects and programs progress more efficiently and use budget and resources. In negative situations, it is beneficial to take action earlier and continue the project with minimum loss.
Microsoft Project brings project & portfolio management and resource management features to the foreground so that you can control the project more effectively. It saves time in planning thanks to ready and custom templates. At the same time, it prevents the project manager from making mistakes by presenting some tasks ready.
Especially large projects can only be managed in this way with a comprehensive tool. When determining a portfolio, higher-level managers can perform analytical reviews of projects on MS Project thanks to the Power BI integration. It helps to smooth by quickly seeing tasks that are resource overrun. Managing the resource flow ensures that your projects have sufficient staff. It also ensures that the project team is happier with a more fair and balanced working order.
How to Learn MS Project?
To take advantage of all these useful features, you should be in a better position to use MS Project. You can do this by trying to learn on your own, or you can be successful in this by going to a quality educational institution. However, if you want to learn by yourself, we would like to draw your attention. While it may seem cheap to learn on your own, it is actually the most expensive method. You spend a too long time. Maybe you will spend days trying to figure out how features really work. Probably you will not understand what a specific feature is for. Although you spend a long time, there is even a risk of incomplete and incorrect learning. Read Learn MS Project Online – Includes 100% Free Options post.
On the other hand, if you go to a high-quality educational institution, you can easily find very good content at reasonable prices. And best of all, you get reliable information in a very short time. You have to make this investment for yourself. It is important that you find an education that is both time and money worth.
The best option to earn Microsoft Project Certification is attending a Microsoft Project Certification Program from a reputable training organization. Be careful that the instructor must be Microsoft Trainer certified. Our MS Project Certification Training covers the fundamentals you will need to start a project from scratch and do all the planning you need in MS Project.
Upon completion, you will have the MS Project Certification below as well!
Microsoft Project Certification: Online or Class Education?
Question: Which is better, Classroom Education or Online Education?
Answer: It depends. Everyone’s situation may be different. So here we provide you our expert opinion and with some useful information. Each training approach has its own strengths and weaknesses.
First of all, it is important to consider your needs. While video tutorials have become more accessible, we can say that classroom training is more personal. We examine the pros and cons of online training and in-class training below, please read on.
Communication:
For some students, nothing is better than talking directly to the instructor, as healthy communication includes body language. This can be accomplished through physical classes as well as live, online events such as webinars. Online education also has its own special benefits. Video learning, for example, is very popular with adults. Video training is increasing in popularity every day. Cisco states that video accounts for more than 80 percent of internet traffic, which was around 60 percent in 2013. Online lessons provide a surprisingly engaging experience. You must try it yourself!
Adaptability:
You share your time with other students in your classroom education. However, since video tutorials are actually a complete educational resource for you, you can only focus on topics that may be of interest to you. In virtual training, you can start at the most convenient level you want. You can skip topics you already know. This way, you can use your precious time to focus on other unfamiliar matters.
Classroom training has to be more restrictive as it is aimed at a group of students within the same time frame. However, group training allows you to participate in discussions and plays an important role in learning this new information. Another advantage is that you have hands-on exercises, but this is not just for classroom training. Exercises are also widely used in online education.
Ease of Access:
You can access online training wherever you have an internet connection. You do not have a time or location constraint for this. Many training programs are now offered on platforms that you can follow not only from your PC but even from your mobile phone. Think about it, you have the opportunity to look at something whenever your smartphone is with you, you can get training while traveling. You will never miss a lesson, moreover, you can repeat it as much as you want.
However, classroom training has to follow a predetermined schedule and a predetermined location. Students must be in the designated classroom environment at the specified time. Therefore, if they miss class due to illness, vacation, overtime, etc., they are often at a disadvantage.
Cost:
Online courses do not require travel for students and instructors, whether registered or live. In addition, thanks to video training, instructors will have the opportunity to reach more students than one class with the effort they spend once. So it is a scalable education model. This reduces the costs of online training.
In classroom training, there are fixed costs and an increasing cost per participant. The instructor will take time each time, this comes at a cost. The training location will be rented. Travels will be made. Hard copy training documents will be distributed. During the training, there will be additional expenses due to the equipment needs such as projection as well as food and beverage offerings. These costs will be reflected in your classroom tuition fees. In this way, the prices of classroom training will be very high compared to online training.
Dedication:
Online training often works in an environment where disruptions can occur. For example, while watching online videos at home, your spouse or mother may call out to you, you may need to put the video on hold and respond, or go near it. Or, while you are on the subway while watching the training video, you may have approached the stop where you will get off, you need to stop the video and prepare. When they have to pause their training and then return to it, they lose their productivity due to the cognitive costs of switching tasks.
But of course, it is possible to plan your time for training and avoid this disadvantage. Whereas, classroom training, by its nature, encourages a time when you are not distracted. This is one of the benefits of classroom education.
Top Instructors:
In online education, you can have the best quality, most talented instructors’ lessons for reasonable fees. Even though the most successful instructor in a subject is at the farthest point of the world, it is possible to reach this thanks to online training. It is possible for a student in India to take a course from an instructor in the United States or vice versa, for a student in the United States to take a course from an instructor in India thanks to online training. Classroom training would be very costly and often impossible due to hotel and flight costs. Moreover, you will not be able to find vacancies in the classes of popular instructors.
These criteria are valid not only for MS project training but also for any training. You should evaluate your own situation by considering all these criteria one by one. You need to evaluate how important and applicable each criterion is for you. As I quoted at the beginning of this section, my answer is “It depends!”. But if I talk for myself, I definitely prefer online education. According to the criteria I shared with you, I prefer to have access to top-quality training provided by the best instructors, with the flexibility of time and location, at reasonable prices. And whenever I buy new training, I always prefer online training.
Microsoft Project Certification Free
There are free Microsoft Project Certification Videos and Courses however they will not be comprehensive courses for your MS Project Certification track. You can attend our MS Project Free Course and watch our Free Microsoft Project Certification YouTube Videos.
Attend our 30-min Free MS Project Training.
Free MS Project Certification for Beginners Video (Ad-Free YouTube Video)
This MS Project for Beginners training tutorial is recorded with the assumption that you have no knowledge of MS Project. For this reason, the target audience of the video includes people who have just met MS Project. For those who have used MS Project before, the first parts of the video may sound familiar, but I recommend watching them anyway. Because the changes that come with MS Project 2019 may differ from the versions you used before. It is assumed that you have basic knowledge of project management and Microsoft ribbons. By the way, a ribbon is a command bar that shows application features at the top of a window. If you have used Word or Excel before, Microsoft ribbons will be familiar to you.
The instructor of this 1-hour free training is Deborah Ashby. Working in the training arena for 11 years, Deborah has nearly 25 years of experience in the field of industry. She has given training on Microsoft Project in 25 different countries and still continues her training activities.
Watch One-Hour MS Project Certification Training Video
Free Microsoft Project Certification Advanced Training Video (Ad-Free YouTube Video)
The instructor of this advanced training video is also Deborah Ashby. Deborah is our top certified IT trainer specializing specifically in Microsoft products. Since she has been actively using MS Project in his projects for more than 20 years, she will tell you in detail. Needless to say, not every subject will fit into 1 hour of video, the purpose of this video is to give you an idea about the content of the training. When you watch this video, you should be able to fill in any gaps in your knowledge.
Microsoft Project Certification Exam
As I mentioned earlier in this article, Microsoft retired the MS Project certification exam (74-343) as of 2019. The 74-343 coded Microsoft Project certification exam was intended for professionals using the Microsoft Project Professional application. However, the fact that the certification exam is no longer held, does not reduce the value of MS Project knowledge. As I mentioned before, 92% of companies already use Microsoft Project. So knowing MS Project and documenting it with an MS Project training certificate will be a qualification that will highlight you in every job application.
MS Project Certification courses do not only contain educational videos to watch. Practicing and solving questions during and after training, provides a better understanding of the issues. This is a scientific fact. And in line with this scientific reality, we enriched the contents of our MS Project training with quizzes, practice questions, and other Microsoft Project Certification exams. We have several Microsoft Project Certification Exam prep questions in our MS Project Training programs. So that you can understand the subject better. The feedback we receive from our students also supports this view.
Microsoft Project Certification Sample Exam Questions
On the way to success, it is important to be able to measure improvement in every field. If you measure, you will see the deficiencies and mistakes and you will have the opportunity to refine and improve. Measurement in education is done with test questions and quizzes. This also applies to MS Project training. You can see MS project certification sample questions from our Microsoft Project Certification Training below. Note that, these questions are for your self-assessment, and regardless of your scores, you will earn the Microsoft Project Certification once you completed our course.
Sample Question #1:
In MS Project the duration of a summary task is the duration from the earliest start date of any of its subtasks to the latest finish date of any of its subtasks.
a. True
b. False
Sample Question #2:
In MS Project which of the following is the default type of task dependency?
a. Finish-to-Finish
b. Finish-to-Start
c. Start-to-Finish
d. Start-to-Start
Sample Question #3:
In Microsoft Project, a milestone must have zero duration.
a. True
b. False
Sample Question #4:
Which of these MS Project Constraint types does not need a Constraint date?
a. Start No Later Than
b. Must Start On
c. Finish No Earlier Than
d. As of Late As Possible
Sample Questions #5:
Delaying the start time of a dependent task in MS Project involves introducing lag time into the dependency. Negative lag time is often referred to as lead time.
a. True
b. False
Answers for the Sample MS Project Certification Exam Questions
1- a
2- b
3- b
4- d
5- a
Microsoft Project Certification Cost
MS Project certification training costs differ significantly depending on the institution and training model. I told you that you can choose the model that best suits your criteria (Adaptability, Cost, Ease of Access, Dedication, Top Instructors) and I told you that my preference is online education. I had the following sentence: “I prefer to have access to top-quality training provided by the best instructors, with the flexibility of time and location, at reasonable prices. And whenever I buy new training, I always prefer online training.”
Self-paced and online options are more affordable while in-person classes can cost as high as $2,000/day. I show you the sample prices from the websites of the two educational institutions I randomly selected. I cannot share the names of these education companies, but you can research the prices of different educational institutions yourself.
- Online Live MS Project 2016 Cost- Price: 1,785 USD
- Microsoft Project certification Class – Price: 995 GBP, nearly 1,350 USD
These prices for MS Project training are so high. But I can make a different suggestion. Microsoft Project Certification Training content is quite rich. And the pricing is very affordable starting from $47/mo.
- 50+ Lectures
- 9+ Hours
- Lifetime Access option
- 30-day money-back guarantee!
- 100% Online & Self-Paced
- Course Completion Certificate
Microsoft Project Certification Jobs
There are no “specific” MS project Certification jobs, however, several companies look for MS Project Certified professionals for their project management vacancies. In job postings, you are asked to know and experience the Microsoft project. If they want to test this knowledge and you have not received MS project training, you most likely will have a difficult time in the interview.
However, if you have been trained, it is highly likely that your interview will be successful. In fact, if the recruiter sees that you have an MS project certificate on their resume, maybe they will not even need to ask for MS Project information in the interview. For instance, the following two are Project Manager job postings on LinkedIn when we were writing this post. As you can see, employers are looking for MS Project Experience in the candidates.
Another Project Manager Job posting, looking for MS Project skills as well.
Microsoft Project Certification Jobs Salary
Everyone wants to have a high-paying job. Once we see it, we want it. This is extremely natural. However, these opportunities are not always present. It is necessary to be ready when it comes out. Especially for candidates who want to pursue a career in project management, I suggest getting their certificates ready. If you are a skilled project manager and if you have Microsoft Project Certification, you can earn $118K on average in the US.
I’ve shared the reported Project manager Microsoft Project Certification Jobs Salary of some companies for you below.
Summary – Microsoft Project Certification Guide
The MS Project Certification exam has expired, but the training still exists and people demand it. First of all, it is important to get MS Project training to improve yourself. When you receive it from educational institutions, you can prove your MS Project competency with a certificate. I have repeatedly shared in this article that I will choose online training instead of classroom training due to many drawbacks such as lack of time, travel requirements, and high prices.
All in all, be sure to get MS Project training, I strongly suggest you enroll in the Microsoft Project Certification Training and take the next step in your career.