Oracle Primavera P6 is one of the most powerful project management solutions available today. It allows users to create, define, and manage a wide variety of project schedules. P6 offers state-of-the-art tools, allowing you to do everything from cost and resource loading to plan management. With industry standard scheduling mechanics, many contracts now require Primavera P6 schedules specifically. With more and more organizations using Primavera P6, the demand for professionals with P6 skills continues to grow. However, just knowing how to use the program might not be enough in a competitive job market. To showcase your Primavera P6 skills on your resume, you may want to look into Primavera P6 certification.

What is Primavera P6 Certification?

Primavera P6 certification often comes in the form of a digital certificate. This certificate shows that a user has the skills needed to use the program. Typically, you’ll receive a P6 certificate after completing a P6 training course or passing an exam. Primavera P6 certification is extremely valuable for resumes or job applications. This certificate can provide proof to employers that the applicant is skilled in creating and managing projects using P6.

Where Can You Get Primavera P6 Certification?

There are several ways to get Primavera P6 certification, both officially and unofficially. Most companies that offer Primavera P6 training will provide a certificate after the course. This is what we would refer to as “unofficial” certification.

Here at Taradigm, we offer certificates of completion for all of our training courses. Here, you can receive a certificate for Primavera P6, Oracle Primavera Cloud, and Microsoft Project. This certification is unofficial, or in-house – as it’s provided by an outside company, rather than by Oracle. However, as we are an Oracle partner, this certification has more accreditation than those provided by companies unaffiliated with Oracle.

For many applicants, an in-house Primavera P6 certification may be all they need. This certification shows that they have attended a comprehensive P6 training by an experienced trainer. As Taradigm’s Primavera P6 instructor, I have seen this with many of the attendees from my training. As I often provide post-training support, these attendees will email me as they look for employment in this industry. With our certification and their acquired skills, they are often able to quickly find a job as a Primavera P6 scheduler.

This type of certification often doesn’t require the completion of an exam – thus making it a much faster way of getting certified. For employers, this certification shows that a user can use P6 to manage projects – without needing any additional training.

However, there is an option for official Primavera P6 certification as well. Oracle offers one certification option from their Oracle University network: Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Implementation Certified Professional. While this certification does not require users to take a training course, it does require them to complete and pass an online exam. 

What Do I Need To Know To Pass This Exam?

To pass this exam, you will want to know how to do the following within Primavera P6 EPPM:

Navigate through the program

You will need to know both how to login and navigate through Primavera P6 EPPM. This includes using the P6 title bar and context menu, adjusting activity views on the activities page, and navigating the Activity and WBS detail windows.

Develop a new project

You will need to be able to create a new project within the program, add activities, and tie them together with logic. Additionally, you will need to be able to create and assign activity details, such as activity codes and calendars.

Create and use the work breakdown structure (WBS)

You will need to understand what the work breakdown structure is and how to create it by adding new WBS layers within Primavera P6 EPPM.

Schedule a project

You will need to know how to schedule the project and use the Schedule Check Report to identify and correct any potential errors. This includes missed activities and loops in logic. 

Understand and use constraints

You will need a full understanding of constraints and how they work. Specifically, you’ll need to know how to apply constraints to activities and how they will affect the schedule.

Create and adjust activity views

You will need to know how to create new activity views by adjusting page configuration options. This includes adjusting the activity columns, the sort order, and the Gantt Chart timescale. Once created, you will also need to know how to save an activity view and make it available to other users. 

Cost load with resources and roles

You will need to know how to perform basic cost loading on a project schedule by assigning resources and roles to activities. Also, you will want to know how to create resource and role teams, view resource allocations, and use the open request for resource portlet.

Optimize and summarize the project

You will need to know how to summarize the project. To do this, you must be able to filter for critical activities, analyze resource allocation, and compare a project’s finish date with its “Must Finish By” date.

Baseline a project

You will need to know how to baseline a project by creating and assigning baselines. Additionally, you will need to know how to progress the project by statusing activities and updating actuals. Along with being able to perform standard status updates, you will also need to know how to perform updates via timesheets.

Compare schedules

You will need to know how to compare a current, updated schedule with its baseline version. Within this comparison, you will need to understand how to analyze differing values between the two schedule versions.

Use portfolios and dashboards

You will need to know how to view portlets, adjust portlet layouts, and filter portlet data. You will also need to know how to utilize dashboards, including how to create new dashboards and how to manage their settings.

Manage resource allocation

You will need to know how to use the Analysis page and adjust spreadsheet views to manage resource allocation. Additionally, you’ll need to know how to use the Assignments page to view and filter resource data.

Level resources

You will need to know how to use the leveler tool to level resources and ease overallocation. It will be important to know which situations the leveler tool should be used in.

Manage portfolios

You will need to know how to work with portfolios in Primavera P6 EPPM. This includes opening portfolios, editing portfolio data, and creating new portfolio views.

Use advanced scheduling tools

You will need to know how to adjust the scheduling options to access more advanced features. Specifically, you’ll want to know how to set multiple float paths and use different predecessor/successor calendar options.

Manage multiple projects

You will need to know how to open multiple projects simultaneously and schedule them appropriately – even if they have external relationships.

Manage risks and issues

You will need to know how to use risks, thresholds and issues to track potential project concerns. This includes creating and assigning risks, performing risk analysis, and creating project issues.

Use duration types

You will need to understand how the different duration types work in Primavera P6 EPPM. Specifically, you’ll want to know how these different duration types affect resource values.

You can learn most of this information by attending a Primavera P6 EPPM training course. Oracle offers training within their Construction and Engineering Learning Subscription – but you’ll also find these courses offered by a variety of outside organizations. Along with attending a training course, it is also recommended that you get some hands-on practice with the program. 

Is There a Certification for Primavera P6 Professional, Primavera Contractor, or Primavera Cloud?

At this time, Oracle only offers certification for P6 EPPM. There is no official certification for Primavera P6, Contractor, or Cloud.

It is important to note that being proficient in Primavera P6 Professional, Primavera Contractor, or Primavera Cloud alone will NOT be enough to pass the Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM Implementation Certification exam. Primavera P6 EPPM includes several features missing from these other programs – like portfolios. Accurate usage of these tools will be necessary to pass the exam.

However, many organizations will offer in-house training and certification for these other programs. Here at Taradigm, we offer both Primavera P6 and Primavera Cloud certification for users attending our training courses.

What Kind of Certification Do I Need?

Although having an official certification from Oracle may seem prestigious, it may not be necessary. If you are a CPM scheduler or a project manager, having the official EPPM certification may not be a real benefit to your organization. This especially is true if you primarily use Primavera P6 Professional or Primavera Cloud. In these circumstances, it would be a better idea to attend a training course for the application your organization is using. This will allow you to receive in-house certification specific to your scheduling software.

However, if your organization uses Primavera P6 EPPM, the official Oracle certification may be ideal for you. Additionally, aiming for the Oracle certification can show your dedication to learning and utilizing every aspect of the program.

If a job requires certification, this may not mean “official” Oracle certification. This is especially true if the posting asks for certification in a particular program like Primavera P6 Professional or Primavera Cloud. As there are no official certification options for these programs, in-house certification may be all you need. Often, having in-house certification, especially from an Oracle Partner, can indicate that you have the skills to create and manage project schedules – without any additional training.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please use the comment section on the bottom of this page. Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog to get more scheduling tips & tricks directly in your inbox!

Lauren Hecker is an Primavera P6, Oracle Primavera Cloud, and Microsoft Project instructor. She teaches both onsite and virtual scheduling courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!