Project Management Professional Certification – PMP | PMI

Project Management Professional, also is known as PMP, is a certification offered by the Project Management Institute, also known as PMI.

It is arguably the most recognized certificate in project management Prinace2 is a competitor, you can say. PMP is USA-based, while Prince2 is UK based certificate.

The PMI survey claims that PMP certification holders get a higher salary (20% higher on average) than working colleagues without having PMP certification.

Being a PMP certified me, I can say it gives you confidence while presenting your case with other stakeholders, and your resume always floats on top at job portals when looking for a change.

What are PMP Certification is Requirements?

There is a significant rise in PMP applicants in recent years. That’s the reason for the strict PMI requirement to sit in the exam.

Qualification

If you have 4 years degree, then 3 years of Project management experience, 4500 hours experience in leading and directing the projects, plus 35 PDUs (Professional Development Units).

On the other hand, If you have secondary level qualifications, then 5 years of Project management experience, 7500 hours experience in leading and directing the projects, plus 35 PDUs (Professional Development Units).

Application Process

Fill online application at PMI’s official website is pmi.org. After that, wait for 5 working days. Once your application is approved, then you have to pass the exam in one year. But you can pay a fee at any time within that year. It is not necessary to pay the fee on the spot.

Please note, you may be asked for a PMI audit after fee submission. You have to clear the audit in 90 days. PMI randomly audits (5%) of overall applicants. You have to send verified required documents in the PMP audit like signed experience letters and degree, 35 PDU’s certificate, etc.

Application Fee

PMP application fee is 405$ for PMI members and 555$ for non-members. It is always advisable to get a PMI membership that is worth 139$. You can have access to the PMI official resources like PMBOK and other webinars, and much more.

Also, if someone gets failed in the first attempt, then he/she have to pay 375$ in the case of a non-member and 275$ for a member in case of reappearing in the exam.

By the way, you can make three attempts only in a year; then, you will be banned for one year and start from zero in the next years after completion of the PMI ban.

PMP Examination

Once you have paid the exam fee and are quite confident in your preparation, you can schedule the exam at any Prometric center.

PMP exam is online (also paper-based, where the system is not available). The exam pattern is Multiple Choice Questions—a total of 200 questions you have to solve in four hours. You will receive your result as soon as you hit the complete button.

Ongoing Maintenance

The certificate you will receive after clearing the exam is valid for 3 years. You have to earn and report 60 PDU’s in those three years. The renewal fee is 60$ & 150$ for members and non-member, respectively.

Read More:  What is PMP

PMP Certification Training

Here, I have covered some important notes that will help the PMP aspirants. I used to prepare and read this kind of stuff during my exam preparations. Here are a few topics

Work Breakdown Structure

Work breakdown structure is a must to have in any project. Here we divide a project into manageable chunks.

A WBS is a planning tool that is used after the Project Charter is finalized. It is a hierarchical structure of overall project work. It is the same as Product Breakdown structure, Organization Breakdown Structure, Cost Breakdown Structure.

You can read here for more details—work Breakdown Structure with Example.

Functional Organizational Structure

Functional Organization Structure is a hierarchical organizational structure in which areas of specialization group people.

For example, a hierarchical structure is created based on ranking, a group of specialization must have the same set of skills, and they are reported to one single manager.

You can read here for more details on Functional Organization Structure.

Estimation Techniques

There are many project estimation techniques. Majors are stated below;

  • Expert Judgement
  • Analogous Estimation
  • Parametric Estimation
  • Three-Point Estimation
  • Bottom-up Estimation
  • Group Decision / Data Analysis
  • Decision Making

You can read here for more details Difference between Analogous and Parametric Estimation.

Risk Management Process

Project risk management is unavoidable nowadays to negatively affect the project objectives and get maximum opportunities.

There are many Risk Analysis Techniques, but e the two most common techniques are used for risk analysis on any project.

  1. Qualitative Risk Analysis
  2. Quantitative Risk Analysis

You can read here for more details—the risk Analysis Process.

Project Management Life Cycle

The Project Life Cycle can be different for any given project, while the Project Management Life Cycle is the same.

Most PMP aspirants get confused with these terms when they are preparing for the exam. Project Life Cycle and Project Management Life Cycle are significantly different terms.

You can read here for more details about the Project Management Life Cycle.

Triple Constraints of Project Management

Triple Constraint is a model of constraints of a project. These are areas where changes are typically introduced into a project. Balancing these constraints through the change control process is the key to a successful project. All three constraints should be treated at equal importance. These three are the most significant attributes of a project.

You can read here for more details, Triple Constraints of Project Management.

Project Charter

A Project Charter is a high-level document that formally authorizes a project’s beginning after a feasibility study is done.

To have a Project charter is considered an industry best practice.

If you think you are not doing Project Charter at your project, you may be wrong as the term may be different at your end, like you may be calling it SOW.

You can read here for more details on Project Charter.

Agile Methodology

According to PMI®, one of the major agile concepts is to deliver “usable” outputs from each sprint, providing a return of investment to the organization and the customer.

A sprint is a time period when performance is appraised, and a single project has several discrete periods. A sprint is usually allowed in one to four weeks.

You can read here for more details on Agile Methodology.

S Curves in Project Management

An S-Curve is one of the major tools used in Project Management that tracks project progress over time. It is a graphical representation that gives the required information in a flash.

You can read here for more details, S Curves in Project Management.

Project Management Courses

Several institutions offer online and campus-based project management courses.

You can find the write one in this blog: Project Management Courses.

Project Management Softwares

There is much software available in the market. Like

  • Primavera P6
  • MS Project
  • Asta Power Project
  • Tilos, Etc.

But in this blog, I have covered Primavera P6 tutorials.

You can find the write one in this blog: Primavera P6.

Raci Model

This model helps to assign a team to a project accurately. Like you put a team in accountable, responsible, information-like positions. You can read more about RACE Model here.

What is the Raci Model?

Network Diagrams

The network diagram is not the latest but very difficult to understand.  I have tried to explain it here in a secure manner.

7 Basic Quality Tools

Quality is a significant component of any project nowadays. Here are essential quality tools used to define, control, and find the root cause of any project and a process.

Team Development Stages

Tuckman studied and developed the stages that a project team goes through on any project. This model is helping Project Managers to form better & manage their teams.

To be Continued!

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3 thoughts on “Project Management Professional Certification – PMP | PMI”

  1. You are awesome whatever you write. I have learnt a great about Project Management, PMP and Primavera P6. keep up good work. I can see you you are delaying your posts nowadays.

  2. Project Management Professional all the way. Prince2 is equally important but depends where you work and apply. I am going for PMP by the way.

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