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About this lesson

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

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 with PMI to determine the current amount.
  • Pass the PMP® examination.

Other credentials include:

  • 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.  PDUs are categorized as either educational PDUs or Giving Back PDUs.  A minimum of 35 of the PDUs in a three year cycle must be education PDUs.  The education PDUs are further categorized into three categories.  At least 8 PDUs must be earned in each category during every three cycles.

  • Leadership education
  • Technical Project Management education
  • Strategic and Business Management education

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.

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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Let's talk about Project Management Credentials, and
  • 00:08 in particular, the Project Management Professional credential.
  • 00:12 The Project Management Professional,
  • 00:15 or PMP, is a globally recognized certification.
  • 00:18 To obtain this certification, the individual must demonstrate both knowledge
  • 00:22 and experience in project management.
  • 00:24 It's not just an academic credential, it's also a practical one.
  • 00:29 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.
  • 00:40 One is the Certified Associate in Project Management,
  • 00:43 which is an entry level credential.
  • 00:45 It doesn't require as much experience and the exam is less rigorous.
  • 00:48 Then there are two advanced level credentials,
  • 00:50 the Program Management Professional, known as the PgMP,
  • 00:53 and the Portfolio Management Professional, known as the PfMP.
  • 00:57 The PgMP is appropriate for those individuals who are managing a family
  • 01:02 of projects that are integrated and delivering on a common goal.
  • 01:06 The PfMP is for
  • 01:07 the individual who has oversight over a large portfolio of programs, projects and
  • 01:11 initiatives that are implementing a strategic business objective.
  • 01:15 Finally, at this time, there are four special level project
  • 01:18 management credentials that are awarded by PMI.
  • 01:22 These are for individuals who are focused on special projects or
  • 01:25 activities within a project.
  • 01:27 They demonstrate that the individual is a subject matter expert in those areas.
  • 01:31 The four credentials are a scheduling professional, a risk management
  • 01:34 professional, a professional business analyst and agile practitioner.
  • 01:39 Let's talk about what is needed to be eligible to receive the PMP credential.
  • 01:44 Always check the Project Manager Professional handbook before
  • 01:46 starting to apply.
  • 01:48 PMI will periodically change the requirements on application process, but
  • 01:52 the latest requirements are found in this free handbook
  • 01:55 that can be downloaded from the PMI website.
  • 01:58 Well, let's look at each of the requirements.
  • 02:00 The requirements start with the experience and education.
  • 02:03 These two are combined.
  • 02:05 The amount of experience required is based upon the highest
  • 02:07 level of academic achievement the individual has attained.
  • 02:11 If your education stopped at a secondary school or high school degree, or
  • 02:15 an Associate Degree, you will need more experience than if you earned
  • 02:18 a Bachelor's Degree or its equivalent from a college or university.
  • 02:22 With a Secondary Degree or
  • 02:23 Associate's Degree, you need to have 5 years, that is 60 months of experience.
  • 02:29 This does not mean 60 consecutive months.
  • 02:31 There can be a break in the time that you were working on projects.
  • 02:35 But it is 60 non-overlapping months.
  • 02:37 Let me explain.
  • 02:39 Let's say you worked on five projects, each of them was one year long.
  • 02:43 If they were consecutive, you would have 60 months.
  • 02:46 But if they were running at the same time,
  • 02:48 you would only have 12 actual calendar months when you were doing project work.
  • 02:53 In addition to the months, you must also be able to document that you spent at
  • 02:57 least 7500 hours doing project management related activities during those 60 months.
  • 03:03 That means that the project management work was about three-fourths of your work
  • 03:06 during that time period.
  • 03:08 There is no requirement that you have the title Project Manager,
  • 03:11 just that you are doing that type of work.
  • 03:13 If you were a core team member,
  • 03:15 you were likely doing a number of project management activities within your team.
  • 03:19 You were probably involved in planning, executing and
  • 03:22 controlling the activities of the project.
  • 03:25 If you have a four year college degree,
  • 03:27 the amount of experience required is reduced.
  • 03:29 You only need 36 months or 4500 hours of experience.
  • 03:34 In addition to the experience,
  • 03:35 you need to have 35 hours of direct project management education.
  • 03:39 These 35 hours could be from just one course or
  • 03:42 a combination of several programs.
  • 03:44 This could have been a university course, or
  • 03:46 it could be through a business seminar like this one.
  • 03:49 This course you are taking now will count towards your 35 hours.
  • 03:53 The next requirement is that you prepare and submit the PMP application.
  • 03:57 This is not a trivial exercise.
  • 03:59 You must document all those hours and
  • 04:00 months of experiences on the PMP application from.
  • 04:03 You can't just send in a resume.
  • 04:05 I’ll talk about the application in more details in another lesson.
  • 04:09 Next is to pay the appropriate fees.
  • 04:11 Your fees will vary depending upon your PMI membership.
  • 04:15 Again check the handbook for the current fees.
  • 04:17 Finally, you must pass the exam.
  • 04:19 I'll talk about that in another lesson, also.
  • 04:22 Once you have obtained the PMP credential, you need to maintain it.
  • 04:26 This is to ensure that you maintain your proficiency in project management.
  • 04:30 I recommend that you download the Continuing Certification Requirements
  • 04:33 handbook, which spells out everything you need to do to maintain your
  • 04:37 PMP credential.
  • 04:38 I'll highlight a few points, but this is something that periodically changes, so
  • 04:42 check the handbook for the current details.
  • 04:44 The certification cycle for PMP is every three years.
  • 04:48 You don't need to retake the exam,
  • 04:49 as long as you are maintaining your proficiency in other ways.
  • 04:53 You need to earn 60 professional development units in
  • 04:56 each three-year period.
  • 04:57 Now, Professional Development Unit, or PDU, is essentially an hour's
  • 05:01 worth of time involved in improving your skills or giving back to the profession.
  • 05:06 Since you have three years to earn the 60 PDUs, you should pace yourself and
  • 05:10 try to earn about 20 each year.
  • 05:12 PDUs are segregated into two different activity categories.
  • 05:15 There is formal education to improve skills and knowledge.
  • 05:19 And there is giving back activities that are practical application of project
  • 05:22 management to the profession or for other organizations.
  • 05:26 Of the 60 PDUs in a three year cycle, at least 35 hours have to be education PDUs.
  • 05:32 Which means that, at most, you can only take credit for
  • 05:35 25 hours of giving back activities.
  • 05:38 And recently, PMI, further categorized the education PDUs into three types,
  • 05:43 leadership, project technical knowledge and strategic and business knowledge.
  • 05:47 PMI wants PMPs to earn PDUs in all three areas.
  • 05:51 So their requirement is that a minimum of eight PDUs
  • 05:55 must be earned at each of these three categories.
  • 05:57 That adds up to 24 PDUs.
  • 06:00 The remaining 11 educational PDUs can be in any of the three categories.
  • 06:04 The method for recording PDUs has been changing recently.
  • 06:07 So check the handbook to determine how to get credit for your activities.
  • 06:13 Well as you can see, the PMP is a rigorous professional credential.

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

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