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About this lesson

Project management credentials are used to ensure that individuals have the background and skills needed to be able to perform project management functions.

Exercise files

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Quick reference

Project Management Credentials

The Project Management Institute (PMI) awards several project management credentials.  The Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential is the most widely recognized.

When to use

Project management credentials are used to ensure that individuals have the background and skills needed to be able to perform project management functions.  Many companies include a project management credential as one of the qualifications for a project management position.  If you are seeking career advancement in the field of project management, you should strive to obtain a credential.

Instructions

There are many different levels of project management credentials and several organizations who serve as credentialing bodies.  However, the PMP® credential can only be awarded by the Project Management Institute.  This module briefly discusses the credentials that are awarded and managed by the Project Management Institute

  • Project Management Professional (PMP)® - this is the most widely recognized project management credential.  It is appropriate for individuals who are managing projects or are Core Team members on large multi-functional projects. Requirements for obtaining this credential include:
    • 35 contact hours of project management instruction.
    • A combination of education and experience per the table below:

  • Complete the PMP® application.
  • Pay the examination fee – this fee varies based upon whether you are a PMI member and other criteria.  It changes periodically, so check to determine the current amount.
  • Pass the PMP® examination.
  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® – this is an entry level certification.  It requires less experience and there is a smaller test.  It is often used by those entering the project management field who don’t yet have the experience needed to qualify for a PMP® credential, but who never-the-less need to have some credential as part of the position.  Requirements for obtaining this credential are found in PMI®’s Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® Handbook.  
  • Program Management Professional (PgMP)® – this is an advanced level of project management for those who are managing a program which normally consists of several linked or inter-related projects.  Requirements for obtaining and maintaining this credential are found in PMI®’s Program Management Professional (PgMP)® Handbook.
  • Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)® – this is an advanced level of project management for those who are managing a portfolio of projects which normally consists of many programs and projects that are aligned to achieve a business objective.  Requirements for obtaining and maintaining this credential are found in PMI®’s Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)® Handbook.
  • PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)® – this is a specialist level of project management certification.  The emphasis is on project scheduling.  Requirements for obtaining and maintaining this credential are found in the PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)® Handbook.   
  • PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® – this is a specialist level of project management certification.  The emphasis is on project risk management.  Requirements for obtaining and maintaining this credential are found in the PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® Handbook.   
  • PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® – this is a specialist level of project management certification.  The emphasis is on Agile practices such as SCRUM.  Requirements for obtaining and maintaining this credential are found in the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® Handbook.   

Maintaining the PMP® certification requires earning 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every three years and applying for recertification of the credential.  A PDU is an hour of time spent either helping the profession of project management or developing your personal project management knowledge and skills.  PDUs must be documented and are randomly audited.  The categories for PDUs are:

  • Category 1: Formal academic education.
  • Category 2: Professional activities and self-directed learning.
  • Category 3: Attend a course provided by PMI Registered Education Provider.
  • Category 4: Attend a course provided by other education provider.
  • Category 5: Volunteer project management service with selected organizations or charities.

Detailed requirements for each of these categories and how to record the PDUs are found in the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Handbook.

PMI, PMP, CAPM, PgMP, PfMP, PMI-SP, PMI-RMP and PMI-ACP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Let's talk about Project Management Credentials and in particular,
  • 00:09 the Project Management Professional Credential.
  • 00:12 The Project Management Professional or PMP is a globally recognized certification.
  • 00:17 To obtain this certification, the individual must demonstrate knowledge and
  • 00:21 experience in project management.
  • 00:24 It's not just an academic credential, it's also a practical one.
  • 00:28 The PMP is awarded by the Project Management Institute, which is a global
  • 00:32 association of professionals in the project management community.
  • 00:36 The Project Management Institute awards other credentials in addition to the PMP.
  • 00:41 One is the Certified Associate in Project Management,
  • 00:44 which is an entry level credential.
  • 00:46 It doesn't require as much experience and the exam is less rigorous,
  • 00:50 then there are two advance level credentials.
  • 00:53 The Program Management Professional known as the PgMP and
  • 00:57 the Portfolio Management Professional the PfMP.
  • 01:01 The PgMP is appropriate for those individuals who are managing a family of
  • 01:06 projects that are integrated and delivering on a common goal.
  • 01:09 The PfMP is for
  • 01:10 the individual who has oversight over a large portfolio of programs, projects and
  • 01:16 initiatives that are implementing a strategic business objective.
  • 01:20 Finally, at this time, there are three specialist levels of Project Management
  • 01:24 credentials that are awarded by the PMI.
  • 01:27 These are for individuals who are focused on special projects or
  • 01:31 activities within a project.
  • 01:33 They demonstrate that the individual is a subject matter expert in these areas.
  • 01:38 The three credentials are a Scheduling Professional,
  • 01:41 a Risk Management Professional and an Agile Practitioner.
  • 01:45 Let's talk about what is needed to be eligible to receive the PMP Credential.
  • 01:50 I'll start with the experience and education requirement.
  • 01:53 These two are combined.
  • 01:55 The amount of experience required is based upon the highest level of academic
  • 01:59 achievement that the individual has attained.
  • 02:01 If your education stopped at a secondary school or high school degree or
  • 02:05 an associates degree, you will need more experience than if you earned
  • 02:09 a degree from a college or university.
  • 02:11 With a secondary or associate degree,
  • 02:14 you need to have five years, that is sixty months of experience.
  • 02:18 That doesn't mean 60 consecutive months.
  • 02:21 There could be a break in the time that you were working on projects, but
  • 02:24 it is 60 non-overlapping months.
  • 02:26 Let me explain.
  • 02:28 Let's say, you worked on five projects, each of which was one year long.
  • 02:32 If those were consecutive, you would have had 60 consecutive months.
  • 02:37 But if you were running at the same time,
  • 02:40 you have only had 12 actual consecutive months when you were doing project work.
  • 02:45 In addition to the months, you must be able to document that you spent at least
  • 02:49 7,500 hours doing project management related activities during those 60 months.
  • 02:55 That means the project management work was about three-fourths of your
  • 02:58 work during that time.
  • 02:59 There is no requirement that you have the title project manager just that
  • 03:03 you are doing that type of work.
  • 03:05 If you are a core team member,
  • 03:06 you are likely doing a number of project management activities within your team.
  • 03:10 You are probably involved in planning, executing and
  • 03:13 controlling the activities of the project.
  • 03:16 Now, if you have a four-year college or university degree,
  • 03:19 the amount of experience required is reduced.
  • 03:21 You only need 36 months and 4,500 hours of experience.
  • 03:26 In addition to the experience,
  • 03:28 you need to have 35 hours of direct project management education.
  • 03:32 These 35 hours could be from just one course or
  • 03:35 a combination of several programs.
  • 03:37 This could have been a university course or
  • 03:39 could have been through a business seminar, like this one.
  • 03:42 In fact,
  • 03:43 this course that you are taking right now will count towards your 35 hours.
  • 03:48 The next requirement is to prepare and submit the PMP Application.
  • 03:52 This is not a trivial exercise.
  • 03:54 You must document all those hours and
  • 03:57 months of experience on the PMP application forms.
  • 04:00 You can't just send in a resume,
  • 04:02 I'll talk about the application process in more detail in another module.
  • 04:07 Next is to pay the appropriate fees,
  • 04:09 your fees will vary depending upon your PMI membership status.
  • 04:13 Finally, you must pass the exam and
  • 04:14 I'll talk about this more in another module also.
  • 04:18 Once you've obtained PMP Credentials, you need to maintain it.
  • 04:22 This is to ensure that you maintain your proficiency in project management.
  • 04:26 I recommend that you download the Project Management Professional Handbook,
  • 04:30 which spells out everything you need to do to maintain your PMP.
  • 04:34 I'll highlight a few points, but this is something that periodically changes, so
  • 04:38 check the handbook for the current details.
  • 04:41 The certification cycle for PMP is every three years, now you don't need to
  • 04:46 retake the exam as long as you're maintaining proficiency in other ways.
  • 04:50 You need to earn 60 Professional Development Units in each three year
  • 04:54 period.
  • 04:55 A Professional Development Unit or PDU is essentially an hour's worth of
  • 05:00 time involved in improving your skills or giving back to the profession.
  • 05:04 Since you have three years to earn the sixty PDUs, you should pace yourself and
  • 05:09 try to earn about twenty each year.
  • 05:11 Let's look at the categories in which you can earn these PDUs.
  • 05:15 The first one is formal project management academic education at an accredited
  • 05:19 university.
  • 05:21 The second is self-directed learning.
  • 05:23 There are some restrictions on this category, so
  • 05:25 check the current handbook when earning these PDUs.
  • 05:28 The third category is to take a seminar from a Registered Education Provider.
  • 05:33 These are courses that have been reviewed and approved by the PMI.
  • 05:36 The fourth category is to take a course provided by another education provider,
  • 05:40 such as your company's training department.
  • 05:43 And the final category is to volunteer your project management abilities and
  • 05:48 skills to selected organizations.
  • 05:50 Again, there are restrictions on this, so check the handbook.
  • 05:54 As you can see, the PMP is a rigorous professional credential.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

PMI, PMP and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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