If you want to become a risk manager, you will have to combine two types of training.
On the one hand, you must be a specialist in a particular field. For example, if you want to be a risk manager in the field of medicine or pharmaceuticals, you’ll need medical training, or hospital management training.
On the other hand, you need to acquire specialist training in risk management. Several institutions offer specific degrees in these areas.
Where to find risk management training
These are some of the major international institutions offering specific training in risk management.
Institute of Risk Management. Founded in 1986 in the UK with the aim of facilitating training and certification in risk management, it has international prestige and is one of the first institutions to grant degrees in this area. The diplomas offered are: the International Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management, the International Diploma in Enterprise Risk Management and Certificate in Risk Management in Financial Services. The price is around £1,000 for non-members.
Project Management Institute. The international reference for project management also has a specific course on risk management: the PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP). The certificate costs $670 (or $520 if a member of a PMI institute), and is obtained after a multiple choice test based on the PMI-RMP manual, which is available for free in this pdf.
The Chartered Insurance Institute. Also based in the UK, it is a comprised of approximately 120,000 members in societies in over 150 countries. It is the world's largest professional association in the field of financial planning and insurance. Although not dedicated solely to risk management, it provides accreditation in this and other areas.
If you’re hot for the more academic part of the issue, a host of Higher Education Institutions in the US offer Risk Management courses, from Stanford’s strategic decision and risk management courses to the PhD programs offered by Columbia University’s (Decision, risk and operations) or the University of Pennsylvania’s insurance and risk management. As you can imagine, this is the kind of PhD program that can be at least as rewarding careerwise as the most expensive MBA.
Of course, big firms and multinational corporations also have their say. If you’re interested in in-company training tailored to the needs of your organization and in implementing international standards like ISO 31000:2009, you can look up BSI’s risk management training courses or ASQs’ risk management essentials and implementation strategies.
Risk Doctor. Under the slogan "Exploiting Uncertainty Future", this website is the initiative of David Hillson, a celebrity in the field who calls himself the "Risk Doctor". It specializes in training for risk managers. Their slogan makes reference to precisely one of the functions of risk and project management: to turn adversity into strengths. On the page you can find plenty of resources, from books and scholarly articles to specialized webinars and videos of Hillsons’ conferences.
Constant Change
Even with good training and certification, risk management, like any other discipline, is subject to constant change and evolution. A professional who wants to stay up to date must constantly be looking for new sources of training and information. To do this, the internet is your best ally.
We recommend periodically visiting our blog where you can find up to date risk management and project items.
Here are some recommended articles:
Our new Risk Assessment Matrix is online
Keys to becoming a good risk manager
Risk management... The what, the why and the what to do