How do I get a PMP® Certification?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification. A certified individual should have the necessary education, experience, and background to be a successful project manager, according to standards set by the PMI. To obtain the PMP® certification, candidates with a four-year bachelor’s degree must have at least three years of project-management experience, a minimum of 4,500 hours of experience leading projects, 35 hours of project management courses, and a passing score on the PMP® certification exam. Candidates with a high-school diploma must have at least five years of project-management experience, and a minimum of 7,500 hours of experience in addition to meeting the coursework and exam requirements.

All PMPs must pass the certification exam given by the PMI. Before candidates can sit for the exam, however, they must submit an application and certify that they meet the other requirements. All candidates must take a minimum of 35 hours of project management courses from a third-party source that meets PMI accreditation standards. These sources may include education providers registered with PMI, training schools, colleges and universities, and distance-learning companies. Candidates can count courses that they have taken at any point in their career.

Candidates must also meet different work-experience requirements depending on the degree they earned. An individual with a four-year bachelor’s degree must have at least three years of project-management experience, with a minimum of 4,500 hours of experience as a project leader. Those with a high-school diploma must have at least five years of project-management experience and a minimum of 7,500 hours of project leadership. The work experience must be unique, not overlap with other projects, and have been accomplished within the last eight years.

After submitting the application for the PMP® certification and attesting to their qualifications, candidates can sit for the PMP® exam at an authorized PMI testing center. The computer-based exam consists of 200 questions, and candidates have four hours to finish. The exam is based on the PMP Examination Specifications, which lists the six project “domains” that the exam will cover: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, closing, and professional and social responsibility. Approximately 50% percent of the questions come from the planning and executing domains, with the monitoring and controlling domain accounting for another 20%.