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The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI is one of the most recognised and valued in Project Management. Since 1984, more than 1.2 million Project Management professionals have obtained this certification. While you don’t have to have a PMP to work in project management, obtaining the certification will aid in showing employers that you have the skills and experience needed to make their projects successful. 

The prerequisites for PMP exam differ depending on your educational background: 

• If you have a High School or College Diploma, you require 60 months (5 years) of experience in leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education. 
• If you have a four-year University degree, you require 36 months (3 years) of experience in leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education. 

Note: For those of you who hold a CAPM certification from PMI, this counts as an equivalent to the 35 hours of project management education.  

The educational component can be obtained through various means. There is no one size fits all approach to learning, so much like a project, the educational component can be tailored to suit your needs. However, there are still some considerations to take into account. Many “free” resources might not be recognised by PMI, and/or will contain outdated information. There are cost-effective ways of obtaining the 35 education hours, but you should check to see if the provider you have chosen is accepted by PMI via their Authorised Training Partner list. 

PMI offers their own PMP course, the PMI® Authorized On-demand PMP® Exam Prep, which is $799 USD for non-PMI members, $699 USD for members.  

There are also online training options from PM Prepcast and RMC Learning Solutions. Udemy also offers PMP training that is accepted by PMI, such as the PMP Certification Exam Prep Course 35 PDU Contact Hours/PDU by TIA Education and Andrew Ramdayal, and PMP Exam Prep Seminar - Complete Exam Coverage with 35 PDUs by Joseph Phillips. These courses often go on sale, so keep an eye out.  

Google, in conjunction with Coursera, now offers Project Management education. Google’s Project Management training is approximately 60 hours and is free to try for seven days. After your seven days are up, you will be charged $39 dollars a month. There is a special discount code available through Grow with Google Meets PMI Program. You will need to contact PMI with a copy of your certificate from Google’s Project Management course to receive a discount code off your exam.

If you prefer in-class learning, universities such as Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s University, also offer PMP training that is accepted by PMI, although the cost may be higher than those of their online counterparts.  

Finally, be sure to check with your employer, as they may have offerings available through their Learning Management Systems. Skillsoft, for example, offers online boot camps, and on demand training in affiliation with PMI. 

Upon completion of the 35 hours of education, you can now apply to write your PMP exam. You will need to provide proof of your education, along with the required number of hours in Project Management experience. Your 36/60 months of experience must have been completed within the past eight years and cannot overlap. For example, if you worked on two projects concurrently from 2010 to 2016, only one project would count, and only from 2015 onward. However, if one of those projects ended in 2017, the hours outside of the overlap would count as separate experience on your application. 

You also cannot use projects completed during any secondary/post-secondary education, nor personal projects, such as a major life event. Leading the digitisation efforts of the technical data library of your company will count as a project, while planning your own wedding will not. However, volunteering experience will count. If you lead the project for a charity group you volunteer for, while it is use of your personal time, it is still professional experience. 

PMI may also choose to audit your submission. Don’t panic! If you are chosen for an audit, the process is simple to follow. PMI will give you 90 days to provide a copy of your Degree/Diploma, proof of your 35 hours of Project Management training, and a supervisor or manager to sign off on your Project Management experience. However, there are three ways in which you can fail the PMI audit:  

• No Fault – this usually is due to PMI being unable to verify education/experience. This may just be a simple case of application wording/terminology not matching PMI’s requirements. You can reach out to PMI customer service for clarification/assistance. There is no waiting period to reapply for the exam. You will still be subjected to the audit process until PMI is satisfied with your application. 
• Non-Compliance – if you choose to not comply/submit to the PMI audit, you forfeit the application, and will have a 1-year suspension period before you can apply again.  
• Fraud – If you lie on your application in any matter, and get caught, you will be permanently suspended from applying to ALL PMI certifications. PMI upholds strict standards and ethics, so if you’re caught making fraudulent claims, this reflects on the organisation as whole. It’s not worth risking this if you don’t quite meet the requirements. 

Upon successful submission of your application, you will then be permitted to schedule your PMP exam. You will have  one year from receiving confirmation of your exam to schedule, be it through a testing centre, or online in the comfort of your own home through Pearson Vue. You will be prompted to pay the exam fee of $555 USD if you are not a PMI member, or $405 USD if you are. Occasionally, PMI will also have discount codes available, which you can check through Microsoft Edge’s Shopping extension, which can be applied on top of the discount you receive if you are a PMI member.  

If needed, you will be able to reschedule your exam. You will have up to 48 hours to reschedule. If you reschedule your exam prior to 30 days before you are due to write, there is no fee. If you reschedule within 30 days of writing, there is a $70 USD fee. If you miss your appointment, you will forfeit the exam fee in its entirety.  

The exam is 180 questions long, and is 230 minutes, or 3 hours and 50 minutes, with two 10-minute breaks during the exam. The breaks occur after questions 60 and 120. Once you submit to take the 10-minute break, you will not be able to go back and review the previous questions in each section prior to your break. You can also choose to not take the full length of your break. The exam is broken out into three domains: People (42%), Process (50%), and Business Environment (8%). The exam is also comprised of questions from Traditional/Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid Project Management. The complete exam outline is available on PMI’s website in PDF format.  

There are only three testing centres approved by PMI and Pearson Vue in Nova Scotia, with all three testing centres being in Halifax. For many the online option is preferred for convenience. With the online exam, you can schedule it at any time, be it in the afternoon, or in the middle of the night. However, some of the requirements are more stringent. You will be allowed to login 15 minutes prior to the beginning of your online exam to re-check your machine and have your testing area approved by the Online Proctor. 

• You will need to ensure your computer meets the requirements to run the testing software and ensure your internet connection is relatively stable. Pearson Vue will allow you to run a test for compatibility prior to your exam. This test can be conducted at any time, and you must use the computer you used to run the compatibility check while writing your exam. 
• You will have to be in an area free from distraction.  
• You are not allowed to have anything on your desk, no external monitors connected to your laptop, and your webcam/audio will be on the whole time.  
• Your phone must be on silent, and out of reach. It may be in the room. In case the Online Proctor is unable to contact you through the web chat for any reason, they will attempt to contact you via your phone.  
• You will not be allowed to wear a watch of any sorts. This restriction does not just apply to smartwatches/fitness trackers. 
• You cannot read questions out loud, or even move your lips while silently reading the questions.
• You cannot look or move away from your screen. 
• If you fail to abide by any of these restrictions, you will have your exam revoked by the Online Proctor and will have to pay the rewrite fee.  

Note: You will still be allotted the two 10-minute breaks for the PMP exam if you write at home.  

Once you’ve booked your exam, you’ll need to study. There are many options available to assist. PMI offers various tools, such as the PMI Authorised Online Practice Exam ($99 USD), and Study Hall. Study Hall is a subscription service available at two levels: The Essentials version is $49 USD for 3 months, with an autorenewal feature, while the plus version is $79 USD. The main difference between the two is the amount of practice questions and mock exams are available. Upon passing your PMP, your Study Hall subscription will automatically be disabled. You can also disable the autorenewal within your PMI account at any time.

In addition to Study Hall and the Practice Exam, there are many non-PMI options to use as study aids. There are Reddit communities to assist with studying, along with other online courses and study aids, such as Pocket Prep. There are also many YouTube videos from instructors such as Andrew Ramdayal, Ricardo Vargas, and David McLachlan.

Being a PMI member will not only allow for a discount off your exam fee, but it will also grant you free access to digital copies of the latest editions of The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, Process Groups: A Practice Guide, and The Agile Practice Guide, which can be valuable study aids. 

Relying solely on the course you took to be eligible for the exam will most likely not be enough. PMI allows you three chances at passing the PMP exam during your one-year period, but there are fees associated with re-writing the exam. This fee is $275 USD for PMI members, or $375 USD for non-members. Also, if you do not pass the exam within your one-year period, you will have to wait one year from your last attempt at the exam before you can re-apply.  

Congratulations! You’ve passed and now have your PMP certification and can start earning PDUs to maintain your certification. You’re required to earn 60 PDUs over the next three years. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to PMINS, and we’ll be happy to assist.