Tyco International, a leading integrator in the security industry, prefers to hire project managers with proven experience. One way Tyco ensures its job candidates have that experience is to ask them to possess a credential known as the Certified Security Project Manager (CSPM) certification.
CSPM designation demonstrates that project managers have met minimum qualifications. Prior to taking a test for CSPM certification, a candidate must have a minimum of 6,000 hours (about three years) of hands-on project management experience of which a minimum of 3,000 hours must have been direct security project management experience.
Candidates with associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees can substitute their education for some portion of the hands-on experience. Once the project management experience is verified, the Security Industry Association (SIA) administers the CSPM exam to qualified individuals, who submit documentation on their readiness to sit for the exam.
“As a big supporter of SIA, Tyco has firsthand knowledge of the value of the certification,” said Ame Enright, SIA associate director for certification. “Leading companies in the security industry have dedicated resources to the development of the CSPM certification and related training in an effort to raise the quality of project managers across the industry.”
[related]
CSPM certification appeals to systems applications specialists, system engineers, security consultants, lead technicians and others seeking to use the credential to demonstrate skills and knowledge, advance careers and maximize earning potential. Systems integrators and other companies in the physical security channel use the CSPM credential to help with hiring, deployment and promotional decisions. Security specifiers also seek CSPM personnel as evidence that companies can fulfill expectations in certain requests for proposals for security projects.
Patrick Weithers, president and CEO of Nu-Pulse Technologies, Fort Washington, Md., gained CSPM certification in 2013 and discovered immediate value in it.
“Our commercial business increased exponentially the year after certification. We were able to stream processes to deliver the work faster while focusing on quality. It has allowed me to get an audience in situations where I may not have been successful without it,” Weithers reports.
Seeking tools to give his career a boost, Weithers discovered the CSPM credential while studying for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam.
While PMP is designed for project managers, only CSPM tests and verifies specifically for qualified security project managers. Weithers became a certified CSPM, and found it helped his career by improving his capacity for delivering physical security projects on time and within budget.
“I had a high awareness of the value of a project management credential as it relates to conveying an understanding of the dependency of successful projects upon sound management of scope, time, cost, quality, resources, communication, procurement, risk and stakeholders. The CSPM certification allowed me to present myself as a competent physical security project management professional,” he said.
CSPM is the only credential specifically dedicated to managing security projects, differentiating it from complementary certifications like PMP or the Certified Protection Professional credential.
CSPM is the only credential specifically dedicated to managing security projects, differentiating it from complementary certifications like PMP or the Certified Protection Professional credential.
To become CSPM certified, candidates must demonstrate proficiency in six domains: security industry-specific knowledge and initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, project closing, and management skills.
CSPM candidates can help their cause by taking SIA’s Security Project Management Training Seminar, which is offered at 900 testing centers worldwide and at select security events around the country throughout the year. Completion of the 2.5-day seminar is not necessary to sit for the CSPM exam, and seminar students are not obligated to take the exam.
[inpagepromo]
