The difference between a project manager and a manager of projects

I look for opportunities with a myriad of companies and a truckload of recruiters on my search for Project Management positions. I have made a note of a few situations where there seems to be a misunderstanding of the actual purpose and responsibility of a Project Manager.

Being a formally trained and experienced Project Manager, I fully know there is no need to have a certificate talking of my capabilities when I have the experience and recommendations to do the talking for me.  During my current recruiting process, I have noted a few things that I will bullet below to keep it a little shorter:

• Most positions that recruiters request a PMP have no formal requirement for the certification.  The position is at best a Project Coordinator and yet shows the necessity of a PM needing a Masters’s degree, PMP, ITIL, Six Sigma, and only Heaven knows what else.
• The position is for a Manager of a department or section and yet still requires a project manager?  This concept in and of itself is entirely ridiculous, and if you’re an actual Project Manager, you know why, if you are not a Project Manager or don’t understand, please ask.
• Most companies requiring all these certifications, PMP, ITIL, and others, are not even PMP, ITIL, or other shops themselves.  To hire a person to build these companies, a proper PMO or PMI centric office would be a great benefit and money-saving opportunity for the company and thus should pay inline with the responsibility, profitability, and revenue driven to the company by the individual or team creating this organizational department.
• A PMP is a certificate for common language and ability across an ISO (International Standards Organization)standard in over 100 countries. It allows for Project Managers to work across industry domains, not just the one that the most recent experience.  For example, a PMP should be able to Project Manage a house building even though the PMP earner may have done IT Infrastructure for ten years.

The company needs to make an honest, in-depth inward-looking assessment if they need someone to drive a project (a Project Manager) or someone to drive a department that has projects (a Manager with Projects).

In summary, the time should be taken to review the capability of the individual and not the “exact” fit to an industry.  If such focus is put to find a person that is from the same sector, then the “outsider looking in” benefit of a fresh look may be lost, unless that is what a company is wanting, to continue what is familiar, and not to take a project to what could be significant.