Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world’s leading organization for those who work in project, program, or portfolio management. Their mission is “to advance careers, improve organizational success, and further mature the project management profession through globally-recognized standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses, and networking opportunities.” PMI certification is based on rigorous standards and ongoing research to meet the real-world needs of organizations. With a PMI certification, you can work in just about any industry, anywhere in the world, and with any project management methodology. Project management certifications are extremely valuable in the IT industry, and PMI is the leader in project management certifications.

CAPM, or Certified Associate in Project Management, gives individuals a high level of industry cred. It demonstrates that they possess knowledge of the principles, terminology, and industry best practices outlined in “A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).” To be a Certified Associate in Project Management means you’ve achieved the “preeminent global standard” of knowledge in the project management profession. No matter where you are in your career, CAPM certification is a credential that will make you stand out to employers and enhance your credibility and effectiveness in working on projects and with project teams. CAPM certification is designed for those who are interested in or are just starting a career in project management. They could be project team members looking to demonstrate their project management knowledge or who want to contribute specialized skills to a project team. This certification allows them to align their work with that of project managers and apply new levels of competence to their existing jobs.

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification is for newer, entry-level IT students who have less project management experience. This is a globally recognized certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and covers all the basic knowledge and terminology associated with effective project management. Employers appreciate seeing CAPM on your résumé and it can be the ideal certification to set you apart from other prospective employees.

What are the requirements for PMI certification?

All PMI certifications require you to meet domain experience levels, educational levels, or both before you apply. You will need to provide details of this experience and/or education, so it’s a good idea to gather and prepare this information before you open the application. To be eligible for the CAPM certification, you need a high school diploma or global equivalent and must have completed 23 contact hours of formal education in project management.

How much is a CAPM exam?

$225 for PMI members and $300 for non-members. The exam fee is waived if you’re enrolled with WGU. In fact, you can earn an online degree and industry certifications—all at the same time.

How will CAPM certification help my career?

CAPM certification demonstrates knowledge of PMI’s project management framework and project management processes, so this will definitely make you stand out as a job candidate. Additionally, CAPM-certified employees have a working knowledge of the PMBOK® Guide, a great first step toward pursuing other certifications, namely project management professional (PMP) certification.

What are job opportunities with CAPM certification?

Entering “CAPM” into the search field on Indeed yields hundreds of job opportunities across several industries: project managers and project coordinators, consultants and customer project specialists, business analysts and data integration developers. Not only is this a strong indication of that aforementioned project economy, it’s also a surefire sign that a CAPM certification can and will advance your career.

Western Governors University EC-Council Certifications

What is EC-Council?

The Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is the world’s largest cybersecurity technical certification body. Its programs are globally recognized and have been endorsed by the U.S. Federal Government, the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS).

The EC-Council certifies individuals in numerous e-business and information security skills. Essentially, it validates that these information security professionals are equipped with the required knowledge and competencies to protect a specialized information security domain from cyber conflict.

To date, the EC-Council has certified over 200,000 security experts who work in our nation’s top organizations, including the FBI, Microsoft, and IBM. If you want to join their ranks, getting an EC-Council certification will give you a competitive edge and a direct pathway to becoming a respected encryption specialist, digital forensic investigator, or ethical hacker.

EC-Council Certifications and Degrees

EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI)

EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

These certifications are offered in the following degree:

M.S. Cybersecurity and Information Assurance

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What is EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI)?

The EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) program certifies students and professionals in the security discipline of computer forensics. It’s a respected, vendor-neutral certification, meaning no single vendor is profiled as part of the program.

A forensics investigations certification validates your skills and application knowledge in this field—making it ideal for anyone wishing to work in law enforcement, system administration, security, defense or the military, law, banking, or any other industry that’s concerned with upholding the integrity of its network infrastructure.

Computer forensics is the application of computer investigation and analysis techniques in the interests of determining potential legal evidence. If you want to demonstrate your expertise in detecting hacking attacks, properly extracting evidence for reporting crimes, and conducting audits to prevent future attacks, this is the cert for you.

Skills in this certification include:

Incident response and reporting
Cybercrime scene management
Computer-based evidence collection and case files preparation
Audit trails
Hidden/locked data investigation, recovery, and analysis
Reverse engineering of malware files
Threat investigation and attack reconstruction
Anti-forensics detection
Proactive profiling and scenario modeling

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CHFI exam.

The CHFI exam certifies your ability to identify a hacker’s footprints and properly gather the necessary evidence for prosecution. There are 150 multiple-choice questions and a four-hour time limit. And depending on which exam you get, you’ll need a score of 60–80% correct to pass.

Prerequisites for this exam include:

A minimum of two years of experience working in the information security domain.

Completion of the EC-Council’s encryption training program.

This exam and certificate are ideal for:

Police and law enforcement personnel
Defense and military personnel
e-Business security professionals
Systems administrators
Legal professionals
Banking, insurance, and other professionals
Government agency employees
IT managers

CHFI certification.

Your initial CHFI certification will cost $249, along with an optional preparation course priced at $1,899. However, if you choose to earn a cybersecurity degree through WGU, your CHFI preparation and exam fees are included in your tuition—saving you thousands of dollars.

After becoming certified, you’ll need to renew your ECES certification every three years to prove that your knowledge and experience are current with new computer forensics technologies. To recertify, you must complete 40 EC-Council Continuing Education (ECE) credits per year totaling 120 ECE over the three-year span. While there is no cost for recertification, you’ll have to pay an annual EC-Council membership fee of $80.

What is EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)?

Ethical hacking is the process of penetrating your organization’s computer network system to find a vulnerability and implement preventive, corrective, and protective countermeasures before an actual attack occurs. The EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification is for professionals who are responsible for securing or testing the security of these networks.

The EC-Council is known for providing the highest quality exams and certifications in cybersecurity. And its CEH cert will help you prove your expertise in employing the latest hacker techniques and tools to find common network exploits, uncover system weaknesses, and apply effective counteractions.

Whether you work (or want to work) as a security officer, auditor, network security professional, or site administrator, this cert will enhance your skills in your current role or provide a pathway to becoming a full-time ethical hacker.

Skills in this certification include:

18 standard attack vectors—including the OWASP Top 10
Emerging attack vectors—fileless malware, targeted ransomware, web API, and web shell
Enumeration—NFS, Telnet, SMB, FTP, TFTP, IPv6, and BGP
Malware reverse engineering
Hacking web applications
Cloud computing and hacking—container technology, Docker, Kubernetes, and serverless
WPA3 encryption and hacking
Operation technology—ICS, SCADA, and PLC; HMI and side-channel attacks

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CEH exam.

The EC-Council’s CEH exam addresses common computer exploits, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures, as well as new hacker techniques and tools. It’s four hours in duration and includes 125 multiple-choice questions. To become certified, you must pass with a score of 70% or higher.

Prerequisites for this exam include:

A minimum of two years of experience working in the information security domain.

Completion of the EC-Council’s ethical hacker training program.

This exam and certificate are ideal for:

Cybersecurity auditors
Cybersecurity consultants
System, infosec, and IT security administrators
Cyber defense, information security, SOC, and security analysts
Network and network security engineers
Penetration testers
Solution architects

CEH exam.

The Certified Ethical Hacker exam costs $500, plus an additional $100 eligibility application fee. You can also take the EC-Council’s CEH preparatory course for $1,899. However, if you choose to do your cybersecurity education through WGU, your CEH preparation and certification fees will be covered by your degree’s tuition—which provides a significant savings.

After becoming a certified ethical hacker, you’ll need to renew your certification every three years. This proves that your knowledge and experience are current with changing hacker strategies and technologies. To recertify, you must complete 40 EC-Council Continuing Education (ECE) credits per year totaling 120 ECE over the three-year span. While there is no cost for recertification, you’ll have to pay an annual EC-Council membership fee of $80.

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Frequently asked questions about EC-council certifications.

What is an EC-Council certified ethical hacker?

An EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker is a network security professional who’s demonstrated their ability to find computer exploits, uncover system weaknesses, and apply effective countermeasures through current hacking tools and techniques.

What is CHFI certification?

Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) certification is offered by the Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). Professionals earn this respected certification to validate their ability to work in computer forensic investigations, which includes identifying hacker footprints and properly gathering evidence for successful prosecution.

How much do EC-Council certs cost?

EC-Council certifications cost between $250–$500 and may include an additional $100 eligibility application fee. The Council’s preparatory courses for these exams range between $1,195 and $1,899. You can avoid these expenses by earning your Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance at WGU. Both the preparation and exam fees for two EC-Council certs are included in your tuition.

What is EC-Council certification?

The Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is the world’s largest cybersecurity technical certification body. Earning an EC-Council certification demonstrates that you’re an expert in protecting information security domains. There are numerous certs that you can get, such as Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), which can help you move into new cybersecurity roles or advance your career.

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Western Governors University EC-Council Certifications

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