As a long-time business journalist who specializes in project management and related issues, I have seen with my own eyes that project management is a highly dynamic field. Emerging tech tools and the cutting-edge theories of industry thought leaders can turn today’s all-star resume into tomorrow’s outdated candidate. Sure, it’s exciting – but it’s not always easy to keep up.
How does a project manager stay ahead of the game when everything seems to change so quickly?
My advice: Sign up for Career Academy. For only $99 a year, Career Academy gives you access to more than 1400 professional development courses, ranging from IT, cyber security, business skills, and IT service management to – of course – project management.
You can’t beat this deal of a lifetime. Think about it this way: For $99 dollars a year, you gain access to more than 100 courses in project management, plus hundreds of other courses in related subjects. This includes access to a 14-course Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam Prep series. The book alone for a traditional PMP exam prep course can cost 2-3 times the amount of a one-year membership to Career Academy. And that’s to say nothing of the price for a traditional prep course, which can easily reach $1300.

Career Academy
So, it’s a great value – but what exactly do you get for your money? Let’s dive in and check out some of the benefits of Career Academy:

Career Academy is a registered education provider with the Project Management Institute (PMI), which means you can trust that the content of Career Academy’s courses will be accurate, relevant, and valuable to you.
As a PMI-registered education provider, Career Academy gives you the chance to earn the professional development units (PDUs) that you need to maintain your PMI certification. Altogether, Career Academy’s project management courses offer a total of 611 PDUs.
Career Academy’s courses are taught by highly certified experts. For example, the PMI certification courses are taught by Martin VanDerSchouw, who has formerly served on PMI’s International Board of Directors and has held many chair positions within the Institute. Through the collaboration with subject matter experts such as Mr. VanDerSchouw, members can be assured that the curriculum is well-thought-out and planned in accord with certification key concepts.
Career Academy is associated with American Business and Technology University, a nationally accredited online university. What that means for you is that you can earn up to 30 credits toward an associate’s or bachelor’s degree through Career Academy. Considering how much college credits typically cost, that’s not a bad deal at all.
Career Academy is mobile-friendly, which means you can get some professional development in anytime, anywhere. Have a few free moments while you’re on the go? Sign in to Career Academy and be on your way to becoming a certified professional.
What Are the Courses Like?
Career Academy’s college-level, PMI-approved courses take a multimedia approach to learning, combining video lectures, visual presentations, quizzes, and workbooks. It’s a nice touch, because not everyone learns in the same way. For some, videos are best. Others enjoy PowerPoint presentations, and still others like having the material right in front of them. Career Academy covers all the bases, which is crucial for any professional development program – especially a self-directed, online program like Career Academy.
Another thing I really like about Career Academy: The course modules often include information about how the material can fit into your career. For example, all of the exam prep modules – and there are many; we’ll explore them in more detail in the next section – include explanations of the certifications you can earn, as well as information about how the certification will affect your career path.
Here’s an example from the Agile Certified Practitioner Exam Prep Training Course Series:
“Career Path: This certification can lead to project management jobs across all different fields, including, but not limited to, IT, biotech, engineering, manufacturing, advertising, and healthcare. ACP certification allows you to access project management jobs using software such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP), and test-driven development (TDD.)”
By providing this information, Career Academy ensures that you’re never learning in a vacuum. Instead, you know right off the bat how the course material will be applicable to your professional life.
Who Should Use Career Academy?
Any project management professional would do well to sign up for Career Academy. Accessible career development options are never a bad thing! And, given that Career Academy also offers hundreds of courses in IT, cyber security, and general business skills, professionals from all industries and career paths can benefit from the platform.
Still not sure if Career Academy is right for you? Let’s look at a few specific examples of when Career Academy can be especially useful:

You’re new to project management: If you’re new to the field – or looking to break into it – then Career Academy is a powerful option. The Introduction to Project Management Series will start you off with the basics, and from there you can move into more advanced topics, like the Schedule and Cost Control Series and the Managing Project Teams Series.
You want to boost your resume: Perhaps you’re looking for some upward mobility in your career, or you want to gain more knowledge and become a more proficient project manager. Career Academy has exam prep modules for Associate in Project Management certification (CAPM), Project Management Professional certification (PMP), Agile Practitioner certification (ACP), and Risk Management Professional certification (RMP). Getting certified is a great way to increase your appeal as a professional, and the certification courses will teach you an assortment of valuable skills and techniques that you can put into practice in your career.
You want to stay certified: As I mentioned earlier, you can earn a total of 611 PDUs through Career Academy’s project management courses. Given that you’ll need 30-60 PDUs a year to maintain your PMI certification, Career Academy is an excellent way to earn all the PDUs you need.
You want to earn your degree: In much the same way that certification can push your resume to the top of the heap, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree will make employers and colleagues take you much more seriously. You can earn up to 30 credits toward an associate’s or bachelor’s degree via Career Academy, which is beyond convenient if you don’t have the time (or money) to head back to a traditional school for your degree.
Sign Up for Career Academy Today
Career Academy is incredibly valuable for project managers at all levels and in all stages of their careers. It also allows members to explore related fields such as IT networking, cyber security and business skills with one convenient membership. Plus, it’s only $99 a year. You can’t find a bigger ROI on such a small investment than the one Career Academy can give you.