Hi, in the PMP application form's exam eligibility section where one has to document his no. of hours of project management experience, can project experience be considered too? I have been working in project team for more than 3 years, but do not have seem to have enough project management experience because we have 1 PM here.
If not, does that mean that CAPM is probably more suitable for me? Some advice is really greatly appreciated. Thanks :) Saving Changes...
The application has changed since when I took the exam, and many of the questions are specific to project MANAGEMENT experience. Read the application carefully, to see where they are asking about your participation in a project in any capacity, and where they are asking about your role as manager.
If you do not have the required experience as project manager, the CAPM might be a better choice for you.
Do remember, though, that you might be managing a project, even though another person in your team has the title "Project Manager". The question is whether you were managing deliverables, scope, budgets, and so on.
I hope this advice helps. If you can point to a particular question on the application, perhaps we can be more specific. Sometimes the wording on the application is unclear, and getting advice may help. Of course, the final decision-maker here is PMI itself. Feel free to e-mail the certifications group at PMI for personal questions. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks for your advice; to further explain my situation:
I have been working as a team lead of my project for close to 3 soon. Time is mostly spent on 10-15% managment and the rest is software engineering- because I do have a PM managing the project.
Does that qualifiy as sufficient experience in PM? My company recognises only the PMP certification, so having the CAPM means that I will still be in the same zone thereafter. I have colleagues in the same expertise and they are pursing the PMP. Would that be ok?
Should I also pursue the PMP?
Pls advise. Really appreciate it.
Saving Changes...
I believe that your work as a team lead should qualify, because you were managing other people's work. Even as you were working on the software engineering, you were "executing" the project, but it was in a management role.
I had a large portion of my experience hours in the "executing" categories. My guess is that you spend 10-15% on planning, status reporting, and other pure management activities. The other 85-90% is probably spent supervising the day-to-day work of the team, and doing some actual software engineering yourself. Check the rules in the handbook, but that sounds like management work to me.
You may have been doing management work before you were given the title of "team lead" as well. I know that in companies I have worked, people are often doing the work for six months or more before they get the actual title.
Remember that the title that you hold does not matter. Even with someone above you with the title of "Project Manager", you may have been managing a project as a team lead.
Reread the application form and the handbook, and you should be able to decide what makes the most sense for you. I would encourage you to try to get the PMP. Few employers recognize the CAPM, and it sounds like it will not help you very much. If you are very close to the experience requirements, I would recommend that you start studying now, and wait a few months until you actually have the experience in order to apply and take the test. My guess is that you are either close or already have the experience needed. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks for your advice, it has been really encouraging. Would it be ok when most of my time is spent on the Executing processes (working on client's projects)? It seems that activities in the other processes like Initiating and Monitoring and Closing are usually done by my PM.
I cannot guarantee how they will look at it today, with your application. In 2001, when I applied, almost all of my experience was around ”executing" and "monitoring" activities. If you are executing and gathering status from your team, then you are doing "monitoring" too.
I was able to claim some initiation/close hours, though. Remember that these two processes take place with every PHASE of a project, not just at the start and end of every project. I had some minor involvement in coming up with a new project proposal and early estimates, and I had more serious involvement in the start and end of each phase.
For instance, we had kick-off activities when we started the testing phase of a software development process, and we had to set strategy for who would do what, and who is responsible. These are "initiating" activities. Even if you are doing these activities just within your team, they are still examples of "initiation".
Also, at the end of each phase we had to make sure everything was complete as agreed to. You need to file final records, get agreement and sign-off to launch the next phase. These are all "closing" activities. Even if it is just for your team, it is closing the project for your team.
I hope this helps. A lot of people get intimidated by all these terms and definitions. You can look at the scope of your project as being quite small, centered around the deliverables of your team. You do not have to claim responsibility for a huge deliverable to be a "project manager" under the PMI definition. You just need to lead some effort. Saving Changes...
Gary DrummCEO - Sr. ITSM Consultant| Drumm Consulting GroupKennedale, Tx, United States
Having just recently gone through the application process, and according the PMI's website, they do apparently accept project "work" experience for the application. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
On the topic of evaluating project experience -> For the past one year , I have been leading a team of project engineers. These engineers work in projects in managing deliverables not leading the projects.My contribution has been to ->train these project engineers in a certain engineering discipline ->oversee their performance in each project in a certain discipline -> identify risks in each project in a certain engineering discipline As this not a project in itself and more of continuous company work, can this be considered towards project experience ? As I mentioned,I have followed these projects in detail. Saving Changes...
One of the dangers and the wonders of the PMI definition of "project" is that is can be applied to almost anything. Try re-defining the work that you were doing, and I am certain that it will meet the definition of project.
There are two ways to think about this:
1. You were training/overseeing/managing risks as part of THEIR project
2. You were doing many, separate projects of your OWN, whose goals were to train engineers, establish project controls, or identify risk
In other words, on the application to the PMP, you could describe your engineer's projects as the main projects that you contributed to. Then accumulate your hours of work spent managing their work or contributing as a co-manager.
You could also define your own project. These project might not have been recognized by your company as being a "project", but they are temporary endeavors with a unique result. List the project that you launched to provide training, and list the work that you performed to plan, execute, control that training effort. Repeat with a new controls or oversight project that you launched, with the objective of improving controls on each project.
The key in either case is to define some clear end-point that you were moving towards. You do not need to have actually achieved that end-point. The project may still be in progress, or the project might have ended without achieving the final goal.
I hope this is helpful. I am basically applying the idea of "operations management by project" here, where you break down regular, operational work into clearly defined projects. It sounds like your company practices something similar anyway, and you just need to translate your experience properly to capture it on the application. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Thanks Alex, for taking the time to clarify in detail about my situation and it will help me prepare for my PMP. Saving Changes...
