Requirements for the PMP exam

Requirements for the PMP exam
By Chrisitan Bisson

Making the decision to apply for the PMP exam can be hard, and not knowing where to start can be a real demotivator sometimes, so I hope this will help you get a head start. Note that depending of your education, the requirements vary:

If you have a secondary degree

Includes high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent.

  • 35 hours of project management education. There are many courses available, and some will not require to physically be in a class.
  • Five years of project management experience. If you manage two projects in parallel for 3 months, it does not count as 6 months;

  • 7,500 hours leading and directing projects;

  • Hours and time are accumulated while you manage projects or parts of them, it doesn’t mean you officially are a project manager where you work.

If you have a four-year degree

Includes bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent.

  • 35 hours of project management education. There are many courses available, and some will not require to physically be in a class. The PM Prep class is a great example where you watch videos, and pass a small exam in order to receive your hours.
  • 3 years of project management experience. If you manage two projects in parallel for 3 months, it does not count as 6 months.

  • 4,500 hours leading and directing projects.

  • Hours and time are accumulated while you manage projects or parts of them, it doesn’t mean you officially are a project manager where you work.

Tips if you are not yet eligible

  • Make a list of all the projects you manage as you go on. Note the hours you spend on each of them separated by a process groups (initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, closing). This will become your best friend while you apply for the exam; and
  • For each project, note who was your superior in case of an audit. It may be especially helpful if you have worked in different places; and

  • Once you have passed your exam, it’s important to know you will have to gather 60 credits per 3 years to keep your certification. You may want to start searching and noting sources of PDU (webinars, books, Seminars, etc); and

  • Visit the PMI’s website for lots of resources, and if you have any specific questions, contact them; they are really helpful!

Christian Bisson is a project manager from Montreal, QC, Canada. His PM experience is concentrated in the Internet world, and he helped deliver over a 100 projects over his PM years. You can read more from Christian on his blog.

PMHut Team

PMHut Team

PMHut.com is a website dedicated to providing PM articles, detailed project management software reviews, and the latest news for the most popular web-based collaboration tools.

2 Responses

  1. It might be critical to candidates to be very clear on the experience requirements. The PMP Handbook for 2013 made a shift from “…experience leading & directing project tasks…” to the more difficult “…leading & directing projects…”

    Be sure your application reflects this very clearly.

    Also, many of the people who have applied recently have reported that PMI is being “difficult” in terms of the projects they claim for experience. While you may have “managed” projects, it seems that you must be “employed to manage the projects” or the reviewer may disallow the experience.

    This seems to fly in the face of PMBOK’s definition of project as well as the definition project management… Interesting.

  2. Although new applicants may not be very happy with PMI being more strict, I appreciate the fact that they give more importance to actual project management for the certification.

    It has been said over and over again that it’s too easy to apply to the PMP exam.

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