"One of the lesser known and highly paid credentials available is the Project Management Professional (PMP). The PMP is the standard certification for Project Management and is offered by the Project Management Institute. The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a non-profit organization who is dedicated towards advancing the project management profession on a global scale. The Project Management Institute claim that PM’s with the PMP certification earn 10% higher than their non-credentialed counterparts. While I can’t verify this fact, at the least, it let’s employers know your commitment and passion to the field.  It also is a great way to learn the best current practices of Project Management.

Format of the PMP

The PMP is a rigorous exam that tests you on six crucial project management topics; initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, closing, and professional and social responsibility.  The PMP is comprised of 200 multiple choice questions, in which you have four hours to complete.  There is no set score to officially pass the exam; passing scores are determined by advanced psychometric analysis. Meaning, a passing score is determined by the mean score of the population.  Those who pass the test are recognized as demonstrating knowledge and skill in leading and directing project teams and in delivering project results with the constraints of schedule, budget and resource.

“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.”

- Paul Ehrlich

In software development, an Issue or Bug is a glitch in your software system that causes the program to behave in a way other than designed. Issues can range from the show stopper, a fatal error that causes irreparable damage to your software system, to the very minor glitch. Obviously, each issue in the system is not going to have the same importance, or urgency, attached to it. Critical issues, the show stoppers mentioned above, need to be solved first before you can do anything else. Lower urgency issues are the minor ones, which you or your team can put off until time permits. 

Let’s face it- 24 hours in a day seems limiting. After all, you have deadlines, coworkers to manage, and a looming project. How do the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, with all their responsibilities, have enough time to accomplish their goals?  One common characteristic of very successful people is excellent time management skills. By not learning or employing time management techniques, you are not working efficiently as possible. 

We will go over five time management tips that will hopefully save you time, money and increase your efficiency. They say it takes three weeks of repetition to make an action a habit-what are you waiting for!? Start practicing the time management skills shown below.

#1) Track your daily activity

In software development, an Issue or Bug is a glitch in your software system that causes the program to behave in a way other than designed. Issues can range from the show stopper, a fatal error that causes irreparable damage to your software system, to the very minor glitch. Obviously, each issue in the system is not going to have the same importance, or urgency, attached to it. Critical issues, the show stoppers mentioned above, need to be solved first before you can do anything else. Lower urgency issues are the minor ones, which you or your team can put off until time permits. There are tons of other details, that are relevant to the fate of your software, to keep track of like who experienced the issue (was it a customer or someone within the company), when was the bug found, what exactly was it that the user
experienced (in order to be solved, this needs to be extremely detailed!), what solutions were attempted, and much more.

An issue tracking system or tool will manage and maintain your lists of issues. Organizations commonly use Issue tracking systems in their customer support call centers to create, assign, update, track and resolve reported issues. These issues could come from customers directly, or even from the organization's other (non IT) employees. An issue tracking system will often also contain a knowledge base, which information on each customer, fixes for common problems, and other important and useful data. http://www.elementool.com/ebook/IssueTrackingeBook.pdf