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Topics: PMO
The first PMP exam was written in 1984. When did you get yours?
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Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Forty years. That's right! The PMP has been around for that long! 

I wrote and passed mine twenty years ago. Seems like yesterday, and I can't say enough about how it has helped me in my career. From accidental project manager to professional project manager, and from accidental PMO manager to professional PMO manager (and now credenitaled with the PMO-CP), I have never looked back. Well... okay... that's kind of what I am doing just now. 

But never mind. 

When did you get your PMP, and how has it helped you in your career? 

If you don't have one, when are you writing?
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Kiron Bondale
Community Champion
Mentor actively supporting PM practitioners in achieving their goals| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Studying for mine was a Y2K project - I got it in March 2000 (based on the PMBOK framework as described in the 2nd edition of the PMBOK Guide) and was lucky enough to get one of the old lapel pins before they changed (and later eliminated :-( ) it. So, I have two PMP lapel pins - old school and rev 2 :-)

I took an in-person prep course with Carl Pritchard who is STILL teaching PM courses including PMP prep ones.

And I was the only person in the Sylvan-Prometric testing center in Toronto writing a PM exam. Everyone else was doing Microsoft certifications...

Kiron
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1 reply by Mike Frenette
Oct 08, 2024 6:24 PM
Mike Frenette
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Well, I guess you had the foresight, Kiron.

I have the odd MS cert, but the value wanes very quickly.

PMP lasts for decades. Like fine 🍷 and 🧀, it never gets old.
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Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oct 08, 2024 5:01 PM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
...
Studying for mine was a Y2K project - I got it in March 2000 (based on the PMBOK framework as described in the 2nd edition of the PMBOK Guide) and was lucky enough to get one of the old lapel pins before they changed (and later eliminated :-( ) it. So, I have two PMP lapel pins - old school and rev 2 :-)

I took an in-person prep course with Carl Pritchard who is STILL teaching PM courses including PMP prep ones.

And I was the only person in the Sylvan-Prometric testing center in Toronto writing a PM exam. Everyone else was doing Microsoft certifications...

Kiron
Well, I guess you had the foresight, Kiron.

I have the odd MS cert, but the value wanes very quickly.

PMP lasts for decades. Like fine 🍷 and 🧀, it never gets old.
avatar
Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Mike, I got mine in 2015 and just mostly like you, from structural engineer to accidental project manager then to professional project manager, and from accidental PMO manager to professional PMO manager!
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1 reply by Mike Frenette
Oct 08, 2024 9:39 PM
Mike Frenette
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Birds of a feather, my friend!
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Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oct 08, 2024 9:12 PM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
...
Mike, I got mine in 2015 and just mostly like you, from structural engineer to accidental project manager then to professional project manager, and from accidental PMO manager to professional PMO manager!
Birds of a feather, my friend!
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George Freeman
Community Champion
PM Thought Leader and Author | Florida, USA
Hi Mike,

I got mine in 2008.

I had wanted to sit for the exam since around 2000 but was so buried in projects that I couldn’t see the light of day. Finally, I had an abrupt end to an international project and had no more excuses, so the company paid for a 1-week prep course, and I took the exam the following week.

George
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1 reply by Mike Frenette
Oct 09, 2024 6:55 AM
Mike Frenette
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Funny how people procrastinate, George, isn't it? "Bite the bullet - study, write it, and get it done", I kept telling myself since about 1999. Then, I was so embarrassed to become president of the PMI Nova Scotia Chapter, I got myself going, facilitated a few PMP Study groups to learn it all well, wrote, passed.... and the rest is history.
avatar
Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oct 08, 2024 10:01 PM
Replying to George Freeman
...
Hi Mike,

I got mine in 2008.

I had wanted to sit for the exam since around 2000 but was so buried in projects that I couldn’t see the light of day. Finally, I had an abrupt end to an international project and had no more excuses, so the company paid for a 1-week prep course, and I took the exam the following week.

George
Funny how people procrastinate, George, isn't it? "Bite the bullet - study, write it, and get it done", I kept telling myself since about 1999. Then, I was so embarrassed to become president of the PMI Nova Scotia Chapter, I got myself going, facilitated a few PMP Study groups to learn it all well, wrote, passed.... and the rest is history.
avatar
Thomas Walenta Global Project Economy Expert| self Hackenheim, Germany

I sat at the exam at the NCR location in Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of 1997 and received the PMP in 1998, being one of the first global 10K PMPs and the first at IBM Germany. The exam was paper/pencil only, based on PMBoK Guide ed.1 from 1996, had 400 questions, and took 8 hours. I was not confident to have passed after this effort, and it took PMI some weeks to check the results (the papers were sealed and sent to PMI HQ).
The PMP gave me confidence and a good reputation inside and outside IBM, and I started volunteering in the same year. Offering PMP prep courses for a fee and for free forced me to update my knowledge with each new PMBoK Guide edition.



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1 reply by Mike Frenette
Oct 09, 2024 8:26 AM
Mike Frenette
...
I think you are the earliest in this thread so far, Thomas. I had heard the early exams were paper and eight hours long. No wonder you were not confident of passing! I am sure you were delighted when you opened that envelope after waiting so long!

Shortening the exam at that time must have increased applications!

To touch on your comment about confidence, I too gained confidence knowing that I had the weight of the PMBOK and PMI behind me, as well as the many colleagues I knew worldwide from volunteering and from the LIMC group.

I leveraged PMI big time when I established the two PMOs I set up over the years. It is hard for anyone to argue against such powerful objective measures and such a professional global organization.
avatar
Mike Frenette
Community Champion
Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Oct 09, 2024 7:53 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
...

I sat at the exam at the NCR location in Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of 1997 and received the PMP in 1998, being one of the first global 10K PMPs and the first at IBM Germany. The exam was paper/pencil only, based on PMBoK Guide ed.1 from 1996, had 400 questions, and took 8 hours. I was not confident to have passed after this effort, and it took PMI some weeks to check the results (the papers were sealed and sent to PMI HQ).
The PMP gave me confidence and a good reputation inside and outside IBM, and I started volunteering in the same year. Offering PMP prep courses for a fee and for free forced me to update my knowledge with each new PMBoK Guide edition.



I think you are the earliest in this thread so far, Thomas. I had heard the early exams were paper and eight hours long. No wonder you were not confident of passing! I am sure you were delighted when you opened that envelope after waiting so long!

Shortening the exam at that time must have increased applications!

To touch on your comment about confidence, I too gained confidence knowing that I had the weight of the PMBOK and PMI behind me, as well as the many colleagues I knew worldwide from volunteering and from the LIMC group.

I leveraged PMI big time when I established the two PMOs I set up over the years. It is hard for anyone to argue against such powerful objective measures and such a professional global organization.
avatar
Kwiyuh Michael Wepngong
Community Champion
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace Corps / Cameroon Yaounde, Centre, Cameroon
I drove for about 250 kms from Cameroon's capital city of Yaoundé to Douala on Monday, March 30, 2020 to sit for my exams in a Pearson center. I made it at first attempt with excellent grades. At the time, I was working as an Accountant for an International NGO involved in diverse projects. I build interest in understanding the PM world and went for my PMP certification. It 's been a great experience since then
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Viraj Dua Project Management| Elevated Services Inc Toronto, ONTARIO, Canada
I had to write. I Just got mine last week and happy to be part of 40 year old legacy now.

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