Who should apply for the PMP Certification?

 

We know the PMP certification can open so many doors for your career and financial goals, but we first need to answer the question of “Do I even qualify for this cert.?” Before we get into the technicalities of things, lets first define the 3 W’s of Project Management.

What is a Project?

Who is a Project Manager?

What is Project Management?


By the way, people work on projects daily and they just don’t know it. A wedding is a project, our life is project, buying a car is project, remodeling your home is a project, putting together new processes at work is a project, planning for an audit is a project, yearly financial audits are a project, marketing a product is a project and the list goes on and on. If you dig deep into your resume and experiences you will see that you have been working on projects all these years and just didn’t know it. Our titles don’t make us project managers, it is the actual work performed. So, before you dismiss yourself as a potential PMP, really qualify yourself.

What is a Project?
A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Temporary endeavor meaning that it has a beginning and an end, not an on-going effort

Who is a Project Manager?
A Project Manager (Known by so many other titles) is the person assigned by their company to lead the team responsible for achieving the project objectives. The project manager’s reporting relationships are based on the organizational structure and project governance.

What is Project Management?
Project Management is defined as the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements.
Now that we have the important terms defined, let’s talk about your Project Management experiences. Do you have 50% experience with the following?
Perform duties under general supervision and are responsible for some aspects of the project for the life of the project

Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources

Demonstrate enough knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables.

If you said YES! then you are ready for the next step in your qualification process. Here are the technical requirements you need to sit in for the exam.

If you have a bachelor’s degree or Higher :
Then you need 4500 hours or 36 months of on the project management experience to qualify.
The experience needs to be in the past 8 years (Year 2011 and after)
You will also need 35 hours of PMP® training program through a Registered Educational Provider (R.E.P)

If you have a High School Diploma, Associate’s Degree or Global Equivalent :
Then you need 7500 hours or 60+ months of leading and directing projects to qualify for the certification.
You will also need 35 hours of PMP® training program through a Registered Educational Provider (R.E.P)


To make things even more simple, here is a PMP Journey Map for you.