How Do I Advance My Career as a Project Manager?

Project managers can improve their careers by doing three things: (1) developing a strong project management mindset, (2) translating their operational, managerial, or military experience into project management language, and (3) earning the Project Management Professional (PMP), Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I), and PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).

Experienced, capable, and still getting passed over for interviews or advancement? The gap often isn’t your skills. It’s how you speak about them and how you prove them.

What are the three short-term things a project manager can do to enter or advance in the profession?

1. Develop a strong project management mindset.
A project management mindset is the ability to recognize and solve project problems, whether they surface on a live project or on a certification exam such as the PMP, PMI-ACP, or PSM I.

2. Translate your operational, managerial, or military experience into the project management language.
Project management has two main dialects: predictive (plan-driven) and agile (change-driven). Reframe what you’ve already done, such as leading teams, managing budgets, and delivering under constraints, in the terms hiring managers use.

3. Certify your experience with recognized project management credentials.
Earn a predictive credential such as the PMP, an agile credential such as the PSM I from Scrum.org, and a third credential, the PMI-ACP, showing you can mix and match tools, techniques, and processes from both plan-driven and change-driven delivery; i.e., be project management agile.

Why does this work?

Eric “Doc” Wright, PhD, PMP, PMI-ACP, PSM I, and USACE Construction Quality Management for Contractors (CQM-C) certified, has lived it. As a professional project manager, adult educator, and military veteran, he has: hired, developed, and mentored dozens of project managers in the private and government sectors; he has taught more than ten thousand active-duty Service Members and veterans to earn project management certifications; and he has helped more than nineteen thousand veterans enter the project management profession.

“When you can speak the language of project management, demonstrate your skills, knowledge, and capabilities, and present with multiple project management credentials, you instill confidence in hiring managers, bosses, and organizations that you are the key asset they can depend on to successfully plan and deliver organizational value through projects. You increase your stock price!“.

Where can I learn the language of project management and certify my experience?

1. Learn the vocabulary. The Project Management Institute (PMI) at pmi.org publishes a PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms.

2. Complete the required training. PMI’s network of Authorized Training Partners at pmi.org offers the training required for PMI credentials.

3. Use a veteran-focused option. If you’re a military veteran, Vets2PM Academy at vets2pm.com lets you apply VA education benefits to certification training. It also offers supplemental courses in PMP application writing, project simulation labs for building your project management mindset, and an interactive 30-day study plan.

4. Not a veteran? Start with PMI’s Authorized Training Partners, of which Vets2PM is one, and Scrum.org’s Professional Scrum Master learning path, and build your study plan around the same three steps above.

Updated 24 September 2026.