pmStudent

Hello Josh,

Unfortunately my time frame to sit for the exam expired on August 23, 2012. I’m going have to reapply.Anyway, I have the 4th edition PMBOK Guide, do I need to get the more updated version (5th) for the current exam?

Please advise.

Thank you and kind regards,

Rosie

The exam isn't going to change until mid to late summer of 2013 - the 5th edition will be released around the end of this year according to the PMI.

So as long as you plan to take the exam in the next 9 months, you can stick with the 4th edition.

It will be interesting to see what the changes are in the 5th edition.

Personally, I am hoping to see more focus on Lean/Agile enablers in the framework. While the PMBOK Guide is a framework and not a methodology, many companies unfortunately try to use it as a methodology.

In doing so they come out with many formal documents and processes, many of which are unnecessarily difficult to get any value out of, if it's possible to derive value at all from them.

In doing so they build and buy tools which look great theoretically but are so bulky and untailored that they become the bane of project managers who are forced to use them.

We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to checking out the 5th edition.

<rant> /* open rant tag */

This gets my blood boiling every time.

People with honest questions about the PMP exam getting led astray.

It's a Good Question

Alex has a good chance of having the experience required since he stated he has managed projects - but how many hours of actually managing projects?  It's unclear.

Then this response comes in:

Really?

I don't know if this is just ignorance or if Nymph is a PMP training provider trying to snag a new student.

And frankly I don't care - this is the wrong answer.

There is no way from Alex' question that anyone could say "I am glad to inform you that you are eligible to take the PMP examination..."

It's clear from Alex' initial question that not all of his experience is directly managing projects, perhaps even less than half. We don't have enough information to tell.

From Page 8 of the PMP Handbook (http://www.pmi.org/Certification/~/media/PDF/Certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx):

The only way you'll know if you qualify or not is by documenting your specific experience and total it up.

My experience log template helps with that, and there are many others available with a quick google search. 

http://pmstudent.com/pmp-experience-log/

So Please

Training providers and people just trying to be helpful, make sure you aren't over-reaching.

Make sure you have your facts straight.

Direct people to the sources of information like the PMI website and PMP Handbook.

Don't make declarations and give people false hope ( or false negatory statements) when you can't possibly know what you're talking about with respect to their specific career experiences.

Give them the tools so they can figure this out for themselves.

It's the only real way to do it.

</rant> /* close rant tag */

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Leave a comment and tell me I'm full of it, or agree with me. Whatever. I'm just glad to have gotten that off my chest. :-)

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