Google Project Management Professional Certificate Review (2024)

Here is a comprehensive review of the Google Project Management Professional Certificate offered on Coursera, to help you decide if it's for you.

Looking to further your career with a relevant online certification?

In this review, I'll be talking about everything you should know about enrolling in Google Project Management Professional Certificate, including what you'll learn, how long it takes, and who this popular program is best suited for.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.

Why Pursue a Career in Project Management?

Project managers are in high demand.

According to a study by the Project Management Institute, by the year 2027, employers will need 87.7 million people to fill project management-related roles.

But really, this is no surprise in view of the vital skill sets that project managers tend to bring to an organization.

What do I mean? Well, individuals who work project management roles are naturally good at navigating complex problems and demonstrating leadership skills.

Before they even start working on individual projects, project managers are highly sought for their expertise in the selection, prioritization, and alignment of projects and programs with an organization's strategy.

In addition to creating a plan and guiding team members through a project, they are tasked with managing changes and risks.

Moreover, these professionals are found in every kind of organization - as employees, managers, contractors, and independent consultants.

When you pursue a career in project management, you get to experience the sense of satisfaction that comes from building relationships, balancing organizational needs, and ensuring that everything runs just the way it should.

What is the Google Project Management Professional Certificate?

The Google Project Management Professional Certificate is an online certificate program that's designed to help individuals develop the essential skills needed to launch a career in project management.

The certificate is part of Grow with Google - an initiative through which Google partners with libraries, schools, and other organizations to provide flexible and affordable online career training.

The certificate includes the following 6 courses:

Foundations of Project Management
Project Initiation: Starting a Successful Project
Project Planning: Putting it all Together
Project Execution: Running the Project
Agile Project Management
Capstone: Applying Project Management in the Real World

With less than 10 hours of effort invested per week, the certificate is estimated to take less than 6 months to complete.

In addition, this course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

An Interesting Side Note

Google has announced that in it's own hiring practices, it will consider this professional certificate as equivalent to a four-year degree for related roles.

Also, upon completion of the program, you'll have the opportunity to share your information with Google, H&R Block, and other top employers looking to hire entry level project management professionals.

=> See what's included in the Google Project Management Professional Certificate.

Google Project Management Professional Certificate Reviews

Here is what others have said about the Google Professional Support Certificate:

"While I had project management skills learned 'on the job' as a classroom teacher for over a decade, I lacked a framework and vocabulary for communicating my proficency to potential employers.

After completing the Google Professional Certificate, I felt confident to discuss my skills, and I have accepted a new position and increased my salary by $20,000."

- Kate M., a learner in the U.S.

"Thanks to Google and Coursera - and the instructors I learned from - I can now confidently manage a portfolio of project management artifacts from initiation to execution. I want other learners to know that this course will help you build your career. It is such a fantastic learning opportunity."

- Hitesh L., a learner in India

"This easy-to-digest course has taught me the foundations of Project Management. I have applied many of the practices I learned in this course to my current job and it has made my job more efficient, organized, and easier. I am very grateful for this program and look forward to taking on more courses from Google."

- Kristalyn C., a learner from the Philipines.

What to Expect: Breaking Down the Curriculum

Before we dive further, it's important to mention that Google is a member of the Project Management Institute’s Authorized Training Partner Program and that their professional certificate qualifies you for over 100 hours of project management education.

This means that completing this course will help you prepare and meet the requirements for globally-recognized PMI credentials, like the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certification, at a discounted price.

Now, that's quite handy!

If you'd like to explore the course and quickly get a sense of what it's like, Coursera actually allows you to enroll in the Google Project Management Professional Certificate for free for 7 days.

At the end, I'll be sharing my personal thoughts on this program and whether it's worth it or not.

But first, here's an overview of what to expect in each of the course modules:

Course One - Foundations of Project Management

In this course, you’ll discover foundational project management terminology and gain a deeper understanding of the role and responsibilities of a project manager.

You’ll learn from current Google project managers, who will provide you with a multi-dimensional educational experience and introduce you to the kinds of jobs you can pursue after completing the program.

Learning objectives:

Define project management and describe the lifecycle of a project.

Explore project management roles and responsibilities across a variety of industries.

Understand how organizational structure and culture impacts project management.

Define change management and compare different program management methodologies.

Detail the core skills that help a project manager be successful.

Course Two - Project Initiation: Starting a Successful Project

Next, you'll set a project up for success in the first phase of the project life cycle: the project initiation phase.

In this course, you’ll learn how to define and manage project goals, deliverables, scope, and success criteria.

You’ll also discover how to use tools and templates like stakeholder analysis grids and project charters to help you set project expectations and communicate roles and responsibilities.

Learning objectives:

Describe the key components of the project initiation phase.

Create measurable project goals and deliverables, and define a project's success criteria.

Determine a project’s benefits and costs.

Complete a stakeholder analysis and explain its significance.

Understand how to manage scope creep to avoid impacting project goals.

Evaluate and utilize various project management tools to meet project needs.

Course Three - Project Planning: Putting It All Together

In course three, you will examine the key components of a project plan, how to make accurate time estimates, and how to set milestones.

You'll learn how to build and manage a budget and how the procurement processes work. Then, you will discover tools that can help you identify and manage different types of risk and how to use a risk management plan to communicate your findings.

Finally, you will explore how to draft and manage a communication plan and how to organize project documentation.

Learning objectives:

Identify tools and best practices to build a project plan and risk management plan.

Describe how to estimate, track, and maintain a budget.

Make accurate time estimates and describe techniques for acquiring them from team members.

Explain the procurement process and identify key procurement documentation.

Draft a communication plan and explain how to manage it.

Course Four - Project Execution: Running the Project

This course will delve into the execution and closing phases of the project life cycle.

You will discover how to use data to inform your decision-making, how to measure customer satisfaction, how to manage team dynamics through communication tools and project status updates.

Finally, you will examine the steps of the project closing process and how to create and share project closing documentation.

Learning objectives:

Identify what aspects of a project to track and how to analyze data

Explain the key quality management concepts of quality standards, quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control.

Describe how to create continuous improvement and process improvement and how to measure customer satisfaction.

Explain the purpose of a retrospective and describe how to conduct one.

Describe the steps of the closing process for stakeholders, the project team, and project managers.

Course Five - Agile Project Management

In the fifth course in the Google Project Management Certificate program, you will explore the history, approach, and philosophy of Agile project management, including the Scrum framework.

You will learn how to implement Agile’s value-driven delivery strategies, how to introduce an Agile or Scrum approach to an organization, and how to search for and land opportunities in Agile roles.

Learning objectives:

Explain the Agile project management approach and philosophy, including values and principles.

Explain the pillars of Scrum and the five important Scrum events
Identify and compare the essential roles in a Scrum team and what makes them effective.

Build and manage a Product Backlog and define a value roadmap.

Explain how to coach an Agile team and help them overcome challenges.

Conduct a job search for an Agile role and learn how to succeed in your interview.

Course Six - Capstone: Applying Project Management in the Real World

In this final, capstone course of the Google Project Management Certificate, you will practice applying the project management knowledge and skills you have learned so far.

More specifically, you will “observe” a project manager in a real-world scenario and complete dozens of hands-on activities, which include:

Analyzing project documents to identify project requirements and evaluate stakeholders

Completing a project charter and use it as a tool to align project scope and goals among stakeholders

Identifying tasks and milestones and document and prioritize them in a project plan

Defining quality management standards and explore how to effectively share qualitative data

Demonstrating your project’s impact through effective reporting

Conclusion: Is the Google Project Management Professional Certificate Worth it?

If you're starting from scratch with no previous experience in project management, then I think that enrolling in the Google Project Management Professional certificate definitely is worth it.

From my experience completing the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, I can say that Google's Professional Certificate courses are engaging and well-designed for beginners.

The Coursera site is easy to navigate, allowing you to screenshot notes from lectures and rewatch the material again before you complete assessments.

Each module is designed to gradually build up your knowledge of the project life cycle, industry best practices, and key methodologies.

By the end of the course, you will have developed a portfolio of project management artifacts that will demonstrate your new skills, such as your ability to manage stakeholders and teams, organize plans, and communicate project details.

Additionally, you'll be learning from current Google project managers who can provide you with the strategies and resources you need to meet your goals, including tips on what to expect during interviews for project management jobs.

Overall, it's quite an immersive program - one that will prepare learners for introductory-level project manager roles across a variety of industries.

Best of all, there's no commute or long waitlists. You can get started immediately, with a cup of tea, a laptop, and a notepad, right from the comfort of your home.

=> Enroll in the Google Project Management Professional Certificate.

Happy learning!