In each issue, Cheetah News features an individual who shares his or her ideas, insight, and experience with Cheetah Learning's Methodology.

Believe It When You See It
Seeing is believing, and when Mark Johnson saw career opportunities start to  appear for a business-school friend who earned his PMP^® certification in 2006, Mark became a believer in the power of certification. A marketing executive in the wireless telecommunications industry in Reston, Va., Mark decided the PMP certification was worth pursuing.

“The first thing my boss said when I told him I was interested in getting my PMP certification was that if I was going to do it, he’d heard Cheetah Learning was the best bet,” Mark says. “Based on his recommendation, I called and spoke with Pam Gieras at Cheetah. Cheetah’s Exam Prep^® for the PMP^® course sounded like a great program, and there were a number of classes offered in northern Virginia.”

Mark tried an online prep course before coming to Cheetah, and although he was familiar with the content from spending hours reviewing it, he wasn’t confident about it. “What really caught my attention with Cheetah was the mental aspect,” Mark explains. “With test questions interspersed in the teaching and having to write down how many questions I thought I got right, I went into the PMP exam knowing exactly what I was going to score. It took all the anxiety out of the exam, so I was well prepared psychologically for the test.”

Passing the exam just as he anticipated, Mark found the whole experience to be a confidence booster. “I earned my MBA in 1986 and had sat for few tests since,” he says. “Earning my PMP certification showed me that I still have it!”

Not only does Mark still have it, but he’s already using his PM knowledge in his current position. “Even though I’m very much in a marketing role, there’s still a sub context of Project Management where I can apply my skills.