Originally posted by Kengkaj Sathianpantarit:
PMP requires at least 3 years experience as project manager.
Right. There seems to be a big difference between the two certifications (not that PMP is that great either, but at least PMI agrees in principle that the latter is relevant to a project manager's job), from how PMI describes them on their web site and materials. Notice how they carefully describe CAPM's limitation:
"Considered an essential step for
project team members". Note, NOT project managers or aspiring project managers.
"Provide
subject matter expertise (e.g. marketing, finance, customer care, processing, fulfillment)". Note how they are saying that CAPM certificants are people who are individual contributors in non-project management tasks, and how project management is excluded from the list of expertise. In other words, they are explicitly saying that
CAPM certificants have no expertise in project management.
So due to PMI's own position on CAPM, I cannot recommend its use as an avenue of personal growth, or something to be considered when looking at a resume.