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Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

PMP Certification And Training

What is PMP Certification

Usage and Utilities 

Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The PMI is a US non-profit professional organization for project management and provides services like development of standards, research, education, publication, networking opportunities in local chapters, hosting conferences and training seminars, and providing accreditation in project management. Government, commercial and other organizations employ PMP certified project managers in an attempt to improve the success rate of projects in all areas of knowledge, by applying a standardized and evolving set of project management principles. Since its launch in 1984, the PMP has become a de facto standard certification in project management.
The PMP Certification can be of real value to a person who’s had experience leading projects and who wants to continue managing projects. Although project management is very different from operations management, there are some common areas of competency that will be beneficial for both roles; these are – communications management, stakeholder management and human resource management.

What does PMP Certification Require?

Pre-Requisites

The exam is based on the PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), and the prerequisites are:

  • Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent)
  • 7,500 hours leading and directing projects
  • 35 hours of project management education
    OR
  • Four-year degree
  • 4,500 hours leading and directing projects
  • 35 hours of project management education

Other requisites

Continuous credential requirements or CCRs are required to maintain the PMP qualification. 60 professional development units (PDUs) must be earned over a three-year cycle, from activities such as researching, authoring articles, speaking on project management-related topics, or being engaged full-time in project management. Credential holders may earn PDUs towards the maintenance of their credential through formal academic courses or courses offered by a provider.(pmp certification)

  • A minimum of 35 contact hours (where one hour of classroom instruction is one contact hour) are required to appear for the exam
  • The contact hours can be accrued only from a formal education such as traditional classroom training, live online training etc. Self-study is not counted as contact hours.
  • The education can be taken from a PMI REP or non-REP. Some of the employer training programs can be utilized towards fulfilment of the contact hours.

What is it about?

PMP Certification

The exam consists of 200 multiple choice questions as written in the PMBOK specification and the PMP Code of Ethics. The exam is closed book; no reference materials are allowed. Twenty-five of the 200 questions on the exam are “sample” questions used to fine-tune the degree of difficulty and precision of the exam and as such are not counted for or against a test taker. These questions are placed randomly throughout the exam. The test taker is only graded on their proficiency on 175 questions. The numbers in parentheses describe the percentage of questions for each domain.

Exam Syllabus

PMP Certification Training

The exam is based on the PMP Examination Specification of five performance domains:

  • Initiating the project (13%)
  • Planning the project (24%)
  • Executing the project (31%)
  • Monitoring and controlling the project (25%)
  • Closing the project (7%)

These five process groups entail ten project management Knowledge Areas PMP Certification:

  • Project Integration Management
  • Project Scope Management
  • Project Time Management
  • Project Cost Management
  • Project Quality Management
  • Project Human Resource Management
  • Project Communications Management
  • Project Risk Management
  • Project Procurement Management
  • Project Stakeholder Management

How to go about it?

Broadly speaking there are three ways of Training

Traditional Classroom Training

It provides the best learning experience although it is the more expensive option. The classroom environment, the composition of students along the presence of an instructor can make the learning process truly effective. However, it is not efficacious for all because of the costs incurred and the inflexible schedule of classes pmp certification. Traveling to and from the institute might not be feasible for all.

It is good for you if:

  • You like to interact with peers and learn in a group
  • You want to attain Pmp certification pmp certification immediately
  • You need a proper study schedule and benefit from course structure of the instructor

 

Live Online Training

These courses are conducted over the internet using virtual conference rooms. They allow flexible time schedules and are usually less expensive than traditional classroom courses. It is important to sample and select a good and credible instructor/ Training provider.

It is good for PMP Certification  you if:

  • You need a proper study schedule but want to learn at your own pace
  • You might need some guidance from an instructor but can pick up on your own
  • You don’t want to spend time on travelling, peer review, interaction etc

Self-paced Online Training

These courses give you access to online study materials like audio, video, presentations, workbooks etc. PMP Certification albeit without the presence of a live instructor/trainer. Generally, these courses don’t prescribe a study schedule and one has to study and learn on one’s own. They provide complete schedule flexibility and are the least expensive mode of learning.

It is good for you if:

  • You are self-disciplined pmp certification  and can prepare and follow your own study schedule.
  • You have substantial project management experience of your own.
  • You get maximum output from self-study.

I hope that by now, you have a fair idea about the particulars of the PMP certification exam. encapsulated below are few tips that an aspirant may follow while developing a strategy to clear the exam:

  • Decide which training mode suits you best
  • Scan and sample available training options Go for cost-effective and credible provider
  • Acquire the essential reference books, especially the PMBOK guide (published by PMI)
  • Familiarize yourself with the PMI organization and join membership to have full access to all available materials.
  • Develop a study schedule for everyday/weekend with keen focus on solving test papers and workbooks.
  • Invest on a good exam simulator

Take the exam and become PMP certified!

Testimonials
Question and Answer

This question is likely to be one of the first you will be asked. It is a way to gauge your dedication and enthusiasm in becoming a project manager and to ensure you weren't lured just by the hype and benefits of being a Project Manager(PM). Be authentic in your reply; this question carries a lot of value. 

Communication is an essential tool that brings together colleagues, clients and other stakeholders. The interviewer is checking if you are a good motivator for your team, a good negotiator with sponsors and clients and, in general, if you can use language effectively. 

A project is a mission to create a unique product or solution, and a program is a group of interrelated projects usually managed together. A project has well-defined start and end points, but a program has a broad scope that can change with time constraints and client requirements. 

It is a technical question, so it's best to keep your answer short and to the point and only elaborate if needed. The Pareto principle is a statistical theory which states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. You can enhance your answer by explaining an instance when you used this in a particular project. 

This question is to analyse how well you and your team can deliver. It is preferable to give clear examples of instances and methods used when your team has impressed the customer and what your role exactly was in that project. 

Of course, if the interviewer wanted to probe a bit more, he/she could specifically ask you to elaborate on a situation where customer expectations were not met. Make sure you are honest while answering this, but project the failure as a lesson learnt rather than a bad experience.

While you can get descriptive in this answer, usually, leadership styles are of four types:

  1. Supportive: allows discussions and allows the team to have the final say
  2. Coaching: allows discussions but has the final say
  3. Delegate: giving full freedom to your team/subordinates
  4. Directing: authoritative behaviour; not open to discussions

Questions related to the projects you've done are to investigate your technical knowledge as a Project Manager. If you have used methods which are also used by the interviewer(s) in their line of work - like Agile, Kanban, Lean Manufacturing or Just In Time (JIT) Manufacturing - you are at an advantage. Answer this question with specific examples as well.

It is a series of various activities that are necessary for achieving the project objectives. They are divided into four phases: 

  1. Initiation: Initial scope is defined
  2. Planning: a detailed plan is created
  3. Execution: The actual processes, including reviews and tracking of potential problems
  4. Closure: Finalising all the activities and signing off the project

The scope statement has no set format; it depends on the type of project. Broadly, it should contain information about the product of the project, goals and objectives, requirements, deliverables, assumptions and constraints. 

This triangle is also known as the "Project management Triangle". This principle says that the quality of work is constrained by three key factors: cost/budget, time and scope. As a PM, you have the freedom to toggle the constraints to maximise quality, i.e. you might choose to increase quality and finish the project sooner but with more funding. 

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