Certification Requirements for Project Management Professional

If you’re looking to prepare yourself to take the exams offered by the Project Management Institute, an application is needed first. In the application, you will have to document that you do in fact meet the Project Management Professional certification requirements. The actual test is demanding. It’s constructed as a multiple-choice examination which consists of 175 questions which are scored. There are also 25 additional questions and candidates are given 4 hours to complete.

The exam is in-depth and very comprehensive and not something you can easily pass. It needs to be thorough as project managers who have valuable experience are being actively recruited in the US and around the globe. The Project Management Institute values their reputation and the professional nature their certification bestows on project managers who attain certification. PMI is honor-bound to keep and maintain a high level of integrity of their qualifications they have labored to build.. The objective is to not only protect their reputation but uphold the professional status of candidates who have achieved certification.

As to the actual certification requirements for the Project Management Professional credential, imposes what a candidate must posses before being allowed to take the Project Management Professional examination. A major prerequisite is that a candidate have a pretty healthy resume with project management experience under his or her belt. The minimum experience required to sit for the exam is 4500 hours amassed leading or directing projects. The minimum number of hours needed correlates to the level of academic education you have received. If a candidate has not graduated and obtained a bachelor’s degree, the minimum leading and directing projects is raised to 7,500 hours.

Of course, there are other project management certifications that can be sought after. For those who’s experience has been acquired with an emphasis on project scheduling, there is a specific certification that may be of interest; the PMI Scheduling Professional or PMI-SP. PMI offers certification to those who would like to specialize in risk management too. That course, PMI-RMP is the one for risk management professional certification. As previously mentioned, the amount of academic education achieved determines the number of hours of project management experience that is required. Risk Management candidates, at a minimum need a high school diploma plus the necessary hours of experience, are also required to have at least 30 hours of project risk management courses.

For project managers who are not interested in specialization of a particular aspect of project management but want to be known as an expert in all facets of the profession, then Project Management Professional certification is for you. And your qualification status does not end with successful completion of the exam. In order to maintain certification, PMI mandates that proof of continuing professional development of 60 hours be completed and submitted to them every three years. Updating your status can be done online by visiting PMI’s website.

The absolute best place to obtain exactly what the Project Management Professional certification requirements you will need to sit for the PMP exam, can be also be found at PMI’s website. They also offer a host of career information you’re sure to find helpful.