The PMP Application Process

Transcription

1 The PMP Application Process The purpose of this document is to explain the PMP application process and provide helpful links and tools for submitting your application. Reference: The reference for the information included below is the PMP Credential Handbook which can be found on the Management Institute s website ( Here is the link: I suggest you download the handbook and read it as it contains everything you need to know about the application process. Following is a summary of the experience and education requirements for PMP certification: You are required to document experience you've accrued leading and directing projects under general supervision within the constraints of schedule, budget and scope. The project management experience being documented should indicate you can appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonable well-defined project requirements and deliverables. management experience must date back at least three years from application submittal date but not more than eight years from the application submittal date. Management Education. Minimum of 35 contact hours of formal education in project management (one contact hour is equivalent to one actual hour of training or instruction received). There is no timeframe associated with this requirement, therefore, candidates can document all project management education, regardless of when it was accrued. However, the coursework must be complete at the time of application. info@softkeyinc.com education@softkeyinc.com (305) Fax: (305) Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables FL 33134

2 To validate that you have the required experience, PMI requires that you document your project work. For each project, you must document certain information such as project name, start and end dates, your role, the applicable industry, etc. You must also include a contact person (as well as the contact s information) who can validate your work experience. In the event you are audited by PMI, the contact person listed for each project will be required to validate your work experience. Note that PMI does not require submission of actual document artifacts as part of the validation, only a sign off from the contact person. In addition to basic information about each project, you must also estimate the number of hours you worked on each project. The total hours must be decomposed into the following 5 process groups. management experience is required in each of the following process groups when all projects are totaled, but not on each project: Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and Controlling Closing In addition to decomposing your work experience into process groups, you must also decompose the hours into activities (within each process group). The list of activities for each process group is included in Appendix A. For example, let s suppose that you document the following project as part of your work experience: Hours Title ABC Started June 2007 Through ( End) May 2008 Role Initiating Planning Executing Leader Monitoring and Controlling Total Closing Hours ,080 The hours for the Initiating process group must be decomposed into the following activities: Activity Hours Conduct project selection methods to evaluate the feasibility of new products or 8 services Identify key stakeholders and perform analysis to gain buy-in and requirements 15 for the success of the project. Define the scope of the project based on the organization need to meet the 137 customer project expectations. Develop the project charter and review it with key stakeholders to confirm 32 project scope, risks, issues, assumptions and constraints as well as obtain project charter approval from the project sponsor. Identify and document high level risks, assumptions and constraints using 16 historical data and expert judgment. Total 208 PMP Certification Application Assistance 2 Updated April 2008

3 Similarly, the hours for the remaining process groups must be decomposed into the appropriate activities shown in Appendix A. Each project must be documented in this fashion. Note that you do not need to report hours in each process group for every project. You may have some projects, for example, for which you did not perform any initiating or planning tasks but were only involved during execution. That s fine. In total, however, for all of your projects, you must have at least 1 hour in each of the process groups, and I would recommend at least 1 hour in each of the activities listed for each process group (although the latter is not a specific requirement by PMI). I have prepared an Experience Verification Form to assist you in documenting your work experience. It is a simple spreadsheet to be used to compile your projects before you enter them online. Alternatively, you can begin documenting your work experience directly on PMI s website. You do not need to be a member of PMI. PMI will give you a temporary ID and password and you can save your information to a database. Following are the steps to begin entering your experience online: 1. Go to 2. Click Get Certified on the left hand side of the screen: 3. Click Register to Create a New Profile and answer the prompts as asked. If you have any questions about this process, you can send an to education@softkeyinc.com. PMP Certification Application Assistance 3 Updated April 2008

4 Appendix A This appendix includes the individual activities for each process group. For each project you include in your work experience, you must estimate the number of hours spent on the activities included for each process group. Initiating: Conduct project selection methods to evaluate the feasibility of new products or services Identify key stakeholders and perform analysis to gain buy-in and requirements for the success of the project. Define the scope of the project based on the organization need to meet the customer project expectations. Develop the project charter and review it with key stakeholders to confirm project scope, risks, issues, assumptions and constraints as well as obtain project charter approval from the project sponsor. Identify and document high level risks, assumptions and constraints using historical data and expert judgment. Planning: Identify key project team members and define roles and responsibilities to create a project organization structure to develop a communication plan. Create the work breakdown structure with the team to develop the cost, schedule, resource, quality and procurement plans. Identify project risks to define risk strategies and develop the risk management plan. Obtain project plan approval from the customer and conduct a kick off meeting with all key stakeholders. Define and record detail project requirements, constraints and assumptions with the stakeholders to establish the project deliverables. Develop the change management plan to define how changes will be handled to manage the triple constraints. Executing: Manage proactively the resource allocation by ensuring that appropriate resources and tools are assigned to the tasks according to the project plan. Execute the tasks defined in the project plan in order to achieve the project goals. Ensure a common understanding and set expectations through communication to align the stakeholders and team members. Improve team performance by building team cohesiveness, leading, mentoring, training, and motivating in order to facilitate cooperation, ensure project efficiency and boost morale. Implement a quality management plan to ensure that work is being performed according to required quality standards. Implement approved changes according to the Change Management Plan. Obtain project resources in accordance with a procurement plan. Implement the approved actions and workarounds required to minimize the impact of project risks. PMP Certification Application Assistance 4 Updated April 2008

5 Monitoring and Controlling: Measure project performance using appropriate tools and techniques. Verify and manage changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs as defined in the change management plan. Monitor the status of all identified risks, identify any new risks, take corrective actions and update the risk response plan. Ensure the project deliverables conform to quality standards established in the project quality plan. Closing: Formalize and obtain final acceptance for the project. Identify, document and communicate lessons learned. Archive and retain project records, historical information and documents (e.g., project schedule, project plan, lessons learned, surveys, risk and issues logs, etc.) in order to retain organizational knowledge, comply with statutory requirements, and availability of data for potential use in future projects and internal/external audits. Obtain financial, legal and administrative project closure (e.g., final payments, warranties, contract signoff). Release all project resources and provide performance feedback. Create and distribute final project report. Measure customer satisfaction at the end of the project. PMP Certification Application Assistance 5 Updated April 2008