PMP APPLICATION PROCESS AND ROADMAP - Connoisseur Solutions

Check for Eligibility

Eligibility Criteria for PMP

An individual with enough working experience in project management can take the PMP certification program. Individuals must fall under either of the following categories:

Secondary degree with minimum of five years of experience in project management with 7500 hours leading projects and thirty five hours of formal education in project management (35 PDU)
Higher degree (Bachelors or Masters degree) with minimum of three years of experience in project management with 4500 hours leading projects and thirty five hours of formal education in project management (35 PDU).

Project management experience is not related to the designation, but it refers that you have experience in project handling. One must be involved in all the five stages of the project management lifecycle i.e. planning, initiating, monitoring, directing and closing.

Individuals must have taken up a minimum of thirty five hours of project management training. For the PMI, one actual hour of training or education is equivalent to one contact hour. One can either take online or in-person classroom training.

Step 1: Create a PMI.org account.

The first step in the application process , create account at PMI.org. You do NOT have to become a member of PMI to earn your credential, but it's a good decision to become a member. The cost of the exam is $405 for members but $555 for non-members. PMI membership is $129/year, so the discount makes up for the cost of membership. Membership affords you access to free electronic copies of the PMBOK® Guide, Salary Report, and other guides and standards published by PMI. Joining your local chapter usually requires paying an additional small annual fee. You can become a PMI global member without joining your local chapter.

Step 2: Complete and submit the online application.

The application form can be accessed online once you've logged into your account. The site will ask you to provide information about yourself and your eligibility. Don't worry,...if you don't have time to complete the whole thing at once, you can save your progress and continue later. Here are the main sections you'll need to complete:

Education Section

In this section, you'll first need to provide your academic information, including:

Highest level of education achieved
Name of Institution
Field of Study
Country of Institution
Years Attended

You'll also need to enter your professional education information to prove you have attained the necessary 35 hours of project management training. You will need to list the following for every course that you are counting toward the 35-hour requirement:

Course Title
Provider Name
Course Dates
Qualifying Hours

In this section, you'll list your project experiences, starting with your most recent project. PMI will calculate your total months from Start Date to Finish Date to ensure no overlaps. For each project, you'll need to provide:

Project Title
Organization
Job Title
Functional Reporting Area
Organization Primary Focus (i.e., Industry)
Approach/Methodology (e.g., Traditional, Agile, or Hybrid)
Project Team Size
Project Budget
Project Dates (including whether or not the project is in progress)
Project Description (200-500 words)

Your project description should summarize your experience on the project, including the project objective, outcome, your role on the project, and your responsibilities or deliverables. It is a good idea to focus the description primarily on what you did on the project (your project management experience) vs. the scope of the project itself. Ensure that the responsibilities you list generally align with the responsibilities of a project manager, as described in the Exam Content

Outline.

Exam Details

In this section, you'll put some basic contact information about yourself, including how you want your name to appear on your PMP® certificate once it is earned. You'll also be given a chance to note where you intend to take this exam and any exam accommodations you may require.

Step 3: Wait for approval from PMI

PMI may take up to five days to verify that your application is complete and provide approval for you to pay for and schedule your exam. Alternatively, during the same time period, you may receive notification that you've been audited. If that occurs, see Step 4.

Step 4: If You Are Audited...

Audits are primarily random. If you're selected for an audit, you'll be notified by email before the certification fee payment. During an audit, you'll be asked to submit supporting documentation like:

Copies of your diploma (or global equivalent)
Signatures from your supervisor(s) or manager(s) from the projects recorded in the experience section
Copies of certificates and/or letters from the training institutes for each course recorded on the application to meet the required contact hours of project management education

You have 90 days to send your audit materials. Once received, PMI will process those materials within 5-7 days.

Step 5: Pay the Credential Fee.

The next step is to pay your credential fee. This can be done online.

Some companies will offer to pay for PMP Prep training or your exam fee. Use this Training Request Template to draft your letter.

Step 6: Prepare For the Exam.

The 2021 PMP exam is challenging. Most people find that they need to use multiple strategies to prepare for the exam (prep books, exam simulation software, and/or formal exam prep training.)

Here are a few guidelines we've found to be most helpful when preparing for the exam:

Seek resources and training from a PMI® Premier Authorized Training Partner. These companies are fully approved to teach the official, PMI-developed materials, so that you can be confident that you're getting everything you need to prepare for the exam. Premier ATPs have additional access to real cloned questions from the PMI exam, so they are best positioned to help you prepare for test day.
Spend as much time completing practice questions and exams as you do studying the content. Practicing REAL exam questions helps you think like the Test Makers, and helps you choose the correct answer (even when multiple choices seem right!) Additionally, going over exam questions also helps you simulate the "pressure" that you are likely to experience on test day, and learn to thrive on it.
Choose an instructor you like! PMP Prep courses can be grueling. There is a lot of content to cover, so make sure that your instructor is engaging, likeable, experienced, and highly gifted at explaining concepts multiple ways. If possible, read about your instructor up front or email them to ask them questions about the class before purchasing.

Want a good place to start? PM Expert's 35 hours program is designed especially with busy professionals in mind. It includes all the support you need to pass the exam the first time, including access to 1000+ exceptionally realistic PMP exam questions.

Step 7: Schedule (and Pass) Your Exam!

The PMP® exam can be taken online or at a testing site near you. The exam is a 200-question, multiple-choice exam. Regardless of how experienced you are, you should still prepare rigorously for the exam. Successful candidates typically use multiple study aids, including courses and study groups.

Once you take your exam, you'll immediately receive your score. In addition to the overall pass/fail status, important diagnostic information on your performance is provided for each domain. Within the results, the test report will show you one of four performance levels by domain: Above Target, Target, Below Target, and Needs Improvement.

You can take the exam up to 3 times during the year after your application approval. Your certification becomes official the day you pass the exam!

Certification Renewal

The PMP credential is valid for three years and to renew the PMP certificate one need to earn and submit an additional 60 PDUs every three years. However, you can earn these 60 PDUs in the certification year itself. Each dedicated hour for professional development activities will offer you one PDU. PMI has defined two ways to earn PDUs, education and profession.

1. Educational PDUs (No limit for PDUs earned)

You can earn PDUs by attending events like webinars, seminars and workshops conducted by PMI® Registered Education Providers (REP) or PMI® itself.
Completing short term or long term courses in training institutes or a university can help you earn PDUs.
You can attend a PMI® Publication Quiz that includes reading articles and answering a minimum of 70 percent of the questions accurately.
Informal education activities like reading books, podcasts, articles, watching videos, etc., associated to project management, program management, project scheduling and project risk.

2. Professional PDUs (Maximum 45 PDUs in the three year cycle)

By creating a new knowledge base such as writing a book, articles, serving as a speaker, presenting a webinar, etc. for the topic of your expertise, can earn you PDUs.
By offering non-compensated project scheduling or project management services to non-employer.

You need to update earned PDUs in PMI’s PDU Activity Reporting Form. After earning 60 PDUs at the end of the credential cycle, you can apply for renewal by paying the renewal fee, which is $60 for members and $150 for non-members.

Follow the above-mentioned process to get PMP certified and to maintain your credentials for the same.