PMP® CERTIFICATION FAQ
Wondering about how to maintain your PMP certification? -- See FAQ #15
1. Why is Project Management Important?
You may have a client question the value of project management. You may even start to wonder yourself.
Doubt not!
Project Management is vitally important.
We’ve created a short video to help articulate why project management is important, and how it relates to corporate strategy.
Click here to see the video on YouTube/
2. Why would I want the PMP certification?
If you are an experienced project manager, eligible to sit for the PMP exam, you might want to go ahead and earn your PMP certification for the following reasons:
Credibility - the PMP certification is widely recognized and respected and can help you stand-out from the competition in that next big project proposal
Knowledge - PMI's 6th Edition PMBOK® Guide ("A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge") is a successful codification of the art and science of project management. Even if you are a master of your craft, the rigorous framework you learn in the course of preparing for the exam is bound to help clarify your thinking about your work and how the various activities relate to each other, to a successful project outcome and to a happy client.
3. What do I need to be eligible to sit for the PMP exam?
The requirements can be found on PMI's web site. High-level recap, you will need:
a) 36 months of project management work experience within the past eight years (or 60 months if you don't have a 4-year college degree). (The 4500 / 7500 hours requirement no longer applies).
b) 35 hours of qualified project management training (See FAQ #7 below)
4. What if I am not eligible to sit for the PMP exam?
The CAPM® certification may be just the thing for you. If you are a high school graduate, all you need to be eligible is 23 hours of qualified training.
If you are thinking about the CAPM, you may also be wondering how to get started accumulating project management experience. See this article for recommendations.
5. What is the PMP test like?
The test is described on PMI's web site. As a high-level recap:
a) The test consists of 180 questions which must be completed in 230 minutes (just under 4 hours).
b) Most questions are multiple-choice, with four choices
c) There is no penalty for incorrect choices, so leave no question unanswered.
6. What reference material should I study for the test?
PMI is promoting the 7th edition PMBOK® Guide as relevant to the PMP exam now… but my recommendation is still to focus 90%+ of your energy on the 6th edition PMBOK® Guide at this time (Spring 2024) for both the CAPM and the PMP exams. The 6th Edition is getting hard to find. You might look for a used copy. PMI appears to be in the process of trying to distance from it since they published the 7th edition.
PMI provides the critical guts of the 6th Edition PMBOK® Guide in a new book, called “Process Groups: A Practice Guide” which you can purchase on Amazon or through PMI.org or, as a member of PMI you can download a soft copy of it at no cost. This book includes the ITTOs (Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs) of the process-based framework described in the 6th Edition PMBOK® Guide, which is so important for high-risk, capital-intensive projects where the cost of late, unplanned change can be quite high. Unfortunately the material in this new book is structured in a way which makes it difficult to absorb - which is why I suggest you find a copy of the 6th edition PMBOK® Guide if you can.
The “Agile Practice Guide” covers ‘Agile’ concepts you will see on the test.
There is a “Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct” document on PMIs web site, relevant for the exam.
There is a smattering of other outside material that might be found on the exam — detailed in our free eBook
7. How can I satisfy the requirement for 23 or 35 hours of qualified project management training?
Option (a)
With the CAPM certification in hand, the requirement for 35 hours of PMP training is waived (authoritative source: page 6 of the PMP Handbook, available on pmi.org). I recommend this ‘CAPM-first’ approach in any case, as explained in this essay.
You will need 23 hours for the CAPM, and the course I recommend is by PMTraining, found here. Members of the PMI San Diego Chapter can obtain discounted price here.
Option (b)
When success is critical, there is nothing like class time with a really good instructor. But the quality of that instructor is really critical — check references! Expect to self-study as well. No 35 hr in-person course is going to fully prepare you for the PMP exam. If anyone promises otherwise, walk away briskly.
Option (c)
The only self-paced 35-hour PMP training option endorsed by PMI is the ‘official’ PMI On-Demand course, priced at $799. I cannot recommend this course. To my knowledge, no other on-demand options are authorized by PMI for the 35 hour training requirement.
Option (d)
There are many rogue training companies (not endorsed by PMI) providing PMP training and issuing certificates of completion… those certificates of completion seem to be passing muster so far… but there is risk they could start to fail and prove worthless (be rejected by PMI) if PMI “closes the channel” and enforces a policy of only recognizing ATP trainers — who spend so much every year to maintain their ATP status.
8. How long should I expect it to take to prepare for the PMP or CAPM certification exam?
It depends on the student, of course. More than a couple of weeks, that's for sure.
The test is a big deal. It takes a lot of diligent effort to get to the point where you feel 90% confident that you will pass.
Bottom line: most people should figure on giving it three months, putting in a consistent minimum of eight quality hours per week. You should not expect the 23 or 35 hour course to do the trick all by itself!
The e-Book by Project Road Training is intended to point you in the right direction -- to show you a well-traveled road that you can follow with confidence.
9. What changed between the 5th and 6th editions of The PMBOK® Guide?
The PMP test changed to be based on the 6th edition effective March 26, 2018
We've prepared a concise video describing the key changes made in going from 5th to 6th edition of The PMBOK® Guide, below:
10. How should I go about preparing for the PMP exam?
That is the question that our e-Book is designed to answer. You will also find good guidance in a series of short videos we've created.
One thing you should NOT do, which is widely recommended, is "a whole bunch of practice tests" early on. While doing so is commonly recommended, it is terrible advice. We explain why here.
However, late in your study cycle (say, a month before testing, working through a bunch of good practice tests is helpful. The ones we recommend are by PMTraining. (They have separate bundles for the PMP and the CAPM). My students found them on-target and very helpful. If you are consistently scoring 75% or better, you are probably ready to take and pass the actual exam.
11. Can you recommend a study guide?
Yes, we recommend the Crosswinds study guide. In our opinion it is far better than the market leader that many people tend to recommend -- perhaps because it is all they know. We've examined the market leading study guides and feel that Crosswinds is the best of the bunch.
12. What are the costs for your recommended ‘low-cost’ path to PMP certification?
$129 PMI Membership
$10 PMI 1-time Application Fee (to become PMI member)
$68 CAPM Practice Test Bundle by PMTraining
$225 CAPM Exam Fee (as PMI Member)
THEN…
$68 PMP Practice Test Bundle by PMTraining
$405 PMP Exam Fee — (eligible upon passing the CAPM exam and acceptance of your PMP exam application by PMI)
Recommended Study Materials:
PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition — hard to find now — try to buy a used copy at a good price
(Free soft copy available to PMI members)
PMI is promoting the 7th edition PMBOK Guide, but I’m going to tell you that edition is much less relevant in preparing for the CAPM and PMP exams, as of Spring 2024
Agile Practice Guide
(Free soft copy available to PMI members)
Study Guide we recommend (~ $76)
Crosswind Success Series: PMP Exam Bootcamp Manual (with Exam Simulation App) Paperback – September 30, 2017Summary of Costs (exclusive of purchasing hard copies of PMBOK & Agile Practice Guide):
129 + 10 + 348 + 76 (for Crosswind Study Guide) + 68 + 225 = $856 to reach CAPM, then…
68 + 405 = $473 to reach PMP, after achieving CAPM first
$856 + $473 = $1,329 Total
Note: you could easily pay more than this $1329 total — just for a 35-hour course — with no assurance of exam success (despite the marketing promises made!)
US Military Veterans: as graduates of the BDC Course, all of these costs are covered for you, thanks to generous support from BDC’s Sponsors. BDC also provides training and guidance to nurture you all the way across the finish line, to PMP exam success.
13. What is ‘Earned Schedule’? Do I need to worry about it on the PMP exam?
Earned Schedule (ES) is a refinement to Earned Value Management to try to deal better with schedule, because SPI is not a very good metric, especially late in the project, and especially for projects that are late.
See video at this page for an explanation of Earned Schedule. You are unlikely to see a question on this topic.
14. What are the PMP & CAPM Exams looking like now?
Here’s what’s happening: The PMP test changed effective January 2, 2021, but it is still based on the 6th edition of the PMBOK® Guide to a large degree. It will be some time before the test might change again in response to the new 7th edition of the PMBOK® Guide. My current estimate: PMP exam does not change again, significantly, until 2025 or later.
The changes to the PMP test are a change of emphasis — a tilt from ~15% Agile to ~50% Agile or hybrid development life cycles in the test questions. This is a big change in emphasis, but the scope of underlying material that you need to study is very similar to that in 2020. For a good deep dive on Agile, see our Lesson on Agile (free for a little while longer).
The CAPM will address Business Analysis concepts now, and will also remain based on 6th edition, as indicated in the new Examination Content Outline (ECO) for the CAPM.
15. How can I gather the PDUs to maintain my PMP Certification?
Establish an account at www.projectmanagement.com with same login credentials as for your PMI.org account. Then watch a free webinar once in a while to pick up PDUs at no cost. Chip away at it and you can gather all the PDUs you need to meet the 60 PDU renewal cycle every three years. With the account tied to your PMI.org account, the PDUs will be automatically credited and nearly audit-proof.
You can watch a free webinar during your lunch hour once or twice a month. There is no post-webinar quiz, so it is not like you need to take notes and exercise a huge about of mental energy in the process.
16. Where does all this talk about ‘Psychological Safety’ come from?
It picked up a lot of steam with this 2016 New York Times Magazine article “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team”. Originally developed by Amy Edmondson, Professor, Harvard Business School. Short interview (~ 3.5 Min) of Amy Edmondson about Psychological Safety.
17. Aside from project management certification, what books would you recommend for project managers?
On the Tactical Side:
Essential Scrum, Kenneth S. Rubin
Kanban, Successful Evolutionary Change for your Technology Business, David Anderson
Quiet Leadership, David Rock (re Coaching your team members)
Drive, Daniel Pink (re Motivation Psychology)
Your Perfect Right, Robert Alberti (re Assertiveness)
On the Strategic Side:
Scaling Up Excellence, Getting To More Without Settling For Less, Robert I. Sutton & Huggy Rao
Good Strategy / Bad Strategy, Richard P. Rumelt
The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling
Creativity, Inc., Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, Ed Catmull
How Big Things Get Done, Brent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
18. Authors of the Agile Manifesto — How Can I Learn More About Them?
All but two of them got together for a 10-year reunion of their famous meeting, for a park-bench panel discussion. A video of this panel is a nice way to see these folks speaking together, and is available on the Agile Alliance website, here.