At Towson University Continuing & Professional Studies, our students’ success is our success. That’s why we work closely with them from registration through course completion to understand their career and continuing education needs and goals. Read on for Fred Urfer’s success story and and get inspired to create your own student success story.
Tell us a little about your background.
I’ve worked in the book publishing industry for virtually my entire professional career in NYC. During COVID, my wife and I relocated to the DMV area, finally settling in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood. I continued to work fully remote for the same book publisher from my basement, going into the office roughly every 12 weeks or so. My most recent role as senior manager of product innovation was a super unique one in that it wasn’t just project management, but contained aspects of business development and financial modeling. It was through that role that I started considering post-graduate degree programs and/or certifications.
What prompted you to pursue a PMP® certification?
Post-COVID, the organization I worked for underwent a number of executive and leadership changes. This manifested itself in an unfortunate series of headcount reductions in the name of cost savings. I started looking for PMP® certification programs as I thought it would help better position myself from other candidates if my position ended up being eliminated.
Why did you choose the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Prep Course at TU?
I’m a visual learner and do better in virtual or face-to-face environments, so it was important for me to find a program that included live, instructor-led classes. I found Towson University on my own through a Google search, looking primarily for universities or colleges in the area that offered PMP® training through a continuing education division. Having the classes on Zoom was convenient for my schedule and allowed for some lively back and forth discussions amongst my classmates.
What did you gain from our program?
Obviously, a lot of foundational knowledge about managing projects, management plans, and all of the project components. For me, I really enjoyed learning about leadership philosophies, how to manage people, and create high-performing teams. The focus on Servant Leadership really struck a chord with me and I was able to implement those active listening, emotional intelligence, and mentoring philosophies immediately into my day to day at work.
Could you talk about the instructor, Tushar Rathod, and how he helped prepare you for the certification exam?
Tushar was great and able to apply highly-complex project methodologies into easy to understand scenarios. That was really key for prepping for the exam, as the exam isn’t just memorization or knowing definitions. The exam is nearly entirely scenario-based, so understanding which tactic, technique, or element to apply to a given scenario was key.
Did you take your certification exam yet? Did you pass?
After the class ended, I took a few months to continue studying and took some practice exams offered by PMI online. I’ll admit I was dragging my feet a bit, but took the exam a little less than four months after the class ended. I’m proud to share that I passed the exam scoring AT (above target) in all three domains: People, Processes, Business Environment!
Could you provide any tips for anyone preparing for the PMP® certification exam?
I would recommend understanding the Process Groups—Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing—along with the corresponding knowledge areas of integration, scope, schedule, cost, etc. It’s important to know when a response is needed within the project timeline. For me, the exam was more focused on Agile methodologies, and I was seeing more Agile questions on practice tests before I signed up for the exam. Lastly, I’d very highly recommend following the servant leadership philosophy of removing barriers for the team and understanding the ART acronym: (1) analyze the root cause of the issue/opportunity/problem; (2) review the project management plan to ensure documents are all in alignment; (3) take action by submitting a change request, improving a process, removing a barrier, or whatever else the scenario calls for.
If you could say anything to someone who is on the fence about taking a continuing education course, what would you say?
You owe it to yourself. It’s like that instruction we get on the airplane, “put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others.” Investing in yourself, expanding your skill set, and improving operations in your organization are what separate the good workers from the great workers. The time, cost, and effort you expend in a continuing education course pays off in dividends down the road.
So, what’s next for your career?
Likely a change in career! Tushar mentioned as we finished Towson University Continuing and Professional Studies PMP® course that this training is meant for people to be able to work in virtually any industry. The value we bring as a PMP® is the ability to focus on the value proposition and create high-performing teams, not necessarily being a subject-matter expert. So, after a roughly 15 year career in book publishing, I’m moving on to work in the lighting industry in a sales position! It couldn’t be any different than where I started, but I’m excited to employ the lessons I learned at Towson University into my next career.
