Before beginning work on this week’s discussion forum, please review the link “Doing Discussion Questions Right,” the expanded grading rubric for the forum, and any specific instructions for this week’s topic.

By Saturday, September 5, 2015, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate topic in this Discussion Area.

Respond to the assigned questions using the lessons and vocabulary found in the reading.

Working in Project Management

1. Monitoring and controlling a project is a core activity for a project manager. Provide an example of a project that was challenged by control issues and describe what caused the situation. Explain what could have been done to ensure that key elements such as the scope, schedule, and cost were controlled.

   2. Project management is a popular occupation in contemporary business. Visit a few job websites (for example, monster.com) and other sources of information on the project management occupation (for example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics). What is the current status of project managers with regard to:

• Opportunities
• Salaries
• Demographic trends around project management
• Industries using project managers
• Value of the PMP® certification from the PMI

3. The PMP® certification has been popular in the past ten years. Apart from this certification, there are other project management credentials or certifications available to project managers.

   Which of these certifications appeal to you and why? What other certifications are complementary to the PMP® certification?

   The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

   Justify your answers with examples and reasoning. Comment on the postings and views of at least two peers.

   Your posting should be the equivalent of 1 to 2 pages (500–1000 words) in length.