PMP or MBA: which is better for your career?

The PMP if you want to run projects, an MBA if you want to run a business. The PMP proves project leadership you already have and takes weeks to prepare for. An MBA is a graduate business degree that takes a year or more. If you lead projects today, start with the PMP.

What does each one tell an employer?

The PMP says you can lead a project. It is PMI's certification for people who already run projects, earned on documented experience and an exam rather than on study alone. It tells a hiring manager you have managed scope, schedule, cost, risk and people, and passed an exam on how that work should be done.

An MBA says you understand how a business works. The University of Toronto describes its Rotman full-time MBA as drawing on Rotman's expertise in finance, marketing, leadership, strategy and innovation. That breadth is the point: it is built for people who want to manage across a company, not one project.

So the two answer different questions. The PMP answers whether you can deliver the project. The MBA answers whether you can run part of the business. Neither one is a junior version of the other.

Which one fits around a full-time job?

The PMP, for most people, because you can prepare on weekends. Here is how our PMP course runs. Seven Saturdays, 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern Time, built for people who work full time. You finish with 60 contact hours — more than the 35 PMI requires.

An MBA is measured in months and years. At the University of Toronto's Rotman School, the one-year full-time MBA runs 12 months, and the full-time MBA runs 20 months: 16 months of study plus the chance of a four-month paid internship. Rotman's Evening MBA, which lets you study after work, runs 32 months. Ivey Business School's full-time MBA runs 12 months.

A full-time program means a year or more of full-time study. The evening route lets you keep your job, but at Rotman it runs close to three years. Either way, it is a much bigger commitment than a run of Saturdays.

Cost follows the same pattern. Ivey's published domestic tuition for its 12-month MBA runs to tens of thousands of dollars, and Ivey calls its figures estimates that are subject to change. Our PMP course is $1,450 + HST.

When is the PMP the better choice?

When you already lead projects and want that recognised now. If you have run projects for a few years, whatever your title said, the PMP puts a widely recognised credential on that experience in weeks rather than years. With a bachelor's degree, PMI asks for 36 months of experience leading projects within the last 10 years, with no overlapping months, plus 35 hours of project management training or an active CAPM; our PMP eligibility guide sets out all four routes.

It also fits when the jobs you want are delivery jobs: project manager, program manager, delivery lead or a role in a project management office. Before you decide, pick ten postings you would apply for next and note whether each asks for the PMP, an MBA, both or neither. That count will tell you more than any article can.

Engineers face the same choice with a P.Eng in the mix. We cover that case in is the PMP worth it for engineers?

When is an MBA the better choice?

When the goal is the business rather than the project. If you are aiming at general management, finance, strategy, consulting or running a business unit, an MBA goes much deeper on how a whole company makes and spends its money. It is also the stronger choice when you are moving into business from another field, or when the roles you want list an MBA as a requirement.

If you are already a senior manager, look at executive formats. The University of Toronto describes its Rotman Executive MBA as being for working professionals with an average of 10 years of management experience, and it runs 13 months. That is a different student from a project lead three years into the job.

If you want a degree but project management is still the career, a specialist master's may suit you better than an MBA. We compare that route in master's in project management or PMP.

Should you get the PMP before an MBA?

Yes, if you are an experienced project lead who wants credibility now and a degree later. The PMP takes weeks, you keep working while you prepare, and it closes no doors: you can still apply for an MBA in two years or in ten.

Going in this order also gives you better information. A few years of leading projects with the PMP behind you will show whether you want the business side or bigger projects. If it turns out to be bigger projects, you may find you never need the degree.

Just finished an MBA: should the PMP come next?

If you already have the project experience, yes. If you do not, the degree will not stand in for it, though a degree from a PMI GAC-accredited program cuts the PMP's experience requirement to 24 months (the four routes).

If you went into your MBA straight from a first degree, or from a role without project leadership, look at the CAPM first. It asks for no work experience, and an active CAPM later covers the PMP's 35 training hours.

Then build the record. Ask to lead a project at work, see it through from start to finish, and write down the dates, what you led and who can confirm it. Our post on PMP or CAPM when changing careers walks through that choice in more detail.

Who should get both?

People heading for senior roles where projects and the business meet: heads of project management offices, program and portfolio directors, operations leaders running large change, and consultants who both sell and deliver the work. In those jobs the PMP shows you can deliver, and the MBA shows you can judge what is worth delivering.

For them the order usually sorts itself out: the PMP while you are leading projects, the MBA when you are ready to step up. Doing both at once is possible, but seven Saturdays alongside an MBA timetable makes for a heavy term.

If you want to stay on the delivery side and go senior, PMI's program and portfolio credentials may suit you better than a degree. We compare them in PgMP or PfMP after the PMP.

Who should skip each one?

Skip the PMP if you do not lead projects and have no plans to. A finance analyst on a CFO track, or a marketer moving into brand management, will get more from an MBA or a credential in their own field.

Skip the MBA if the job you want is running bigger projects. A degree is a long and costly way to get there when the PMP and your own track record speak more directly to that work.

Put both on hold if the gap is something else. If you have no project experience yet, or employers keep asking for a technical skill you lack, fix that first; neither credential will do it for you.

If you are not sure where you fit, tell us what you have worked on before you book anything, or see the course start dates. If you work in Toronto, see PMP training for Toronto.