I am planning to get certified in 1-2 years. Not sure which org. maybe PMI, or Australian equivalent.
Since these orgs require an applicant to have industry PM experience, I want to ask at this stage, what documents should I be collecting to prepare for my application?
I might need to actively fill the gaps in my current experience. Do I need employment certification that I did Risk Management, Scope Management, etc.?
John ReilingSeeking new opportunities | AcroVision Business Systems, Inc.Mendham, Nj, United States
For someone who is unsure of which direction to go - PMP versus another certification - you should first and foremost understand what your target employers prefer. As a second consideration, you should consider learning something about multiple approaches, with certification in at least one. This can only make you a stronger project manager.
I have a question on the experience verification form for the PMP certification.
under the section:
Execute the tasks defined in the project plan in order to achieve the project goals.
I am confused, should i list the hours the execution teams spent on the project goals, or should I enter my own contributions to the delivery. I am curious because the project I am documenting was very large and it seems that documenting all those hours when i document MY time would be misleading.
Any thoughts? Saving Changes...
Michael WellesManaging Director| EdWel Project and Risk Management TrainingChicago, Il, United States
Remember, the PMP Handbook states "leading and directing project tasks". Although I may be misinterpreting your question, you should put down your hours spent coordinating your team's activities.
- Just be confident and know your profession
- Go through PMBOK Guide
- Attempt moc questions as many as possible
- Have few days off from the job to study
- Attempt the questins on D-day with do or die attitude !!!
PMP Feb 2009 Saving Changes...
Venkatesh S JSenior Manager| IBM India P LtdBangalore, Ka, India
6 week charter for preparing for PMP which we followed. Refer to my attachment.
We were all successful of course. Saving Changes...
Andrew MakarProgram Manager| AMAKAR LLCOakland Township, Mi, United States
I'm encouraged to see so many responses that promote diligent study of the PMBOK vs. the current trend to take a 3 day boot camp course and be guaranteed to pass the exam.
Does anyone else think with all these 3 day fast track sessions, the PMP has become a commodity that can be purchased?
When I prepared for the exam, I did the following:
1. Identify a target date to take the exam
2. Developed a project schedule of studying to back into the end date
3. Joined a PMP study group and participated 1x per week
4. Purchased a tutorial product and ran sample quizzes and a 2 final assessments prior to taking the quiz.
All in all, it took 8-10 weeks of diligent study before I felt comfortable sitting for the exam. The key benefit was I actually understood the PMBOK content vs. studying to pass a test.
I often meet new PMPs who successfully pass the exam but lack some of the fundamentals on PM execution. A commodity based approach to obtaining the certification leaves new PMs asking "I passed the PMP...now what?"
Elyse NielsenSenior Project Manager| Ascension Health Information ServicesHaines City, Fl, United States
Hi,
I absolutely agree with Andy, it is good to understand the material not just memorize it.. I wrote a blog entry on this topic a month ago, hopefully it will help you on your pursuit.
Kelley Dean-CrowleySr. Project Manager| Major Financial FirmMartinez, Ca, United States
Vince, it seems like you have gotten a lot of advice on how to pass or prepare the PMP exam, but your questions was more about preparing for the application. The application can be laborious and you could be asked to pass an audit either randomly or because of your application.
In an audit, you have to justify every fact with accuracy and documentation. In order to do so, you should have:
-Educational transcripts from your degree if you have one.
-Training transcripts with dates and durations
-Contacts that will verify the experience, either the client or your people manager of the time.
Failure to provide this information will lead to your application being refused, and some monies being kept by the org for costs. Upon re-application, you will be automatically audited.
So to be sure that you can withstand an audit, I highly recommend that you gather the above materials before you prepare your application.
How do I know? I was unable to substantiate some training on my first application, took a no-fault failure on the audit (meaning without prejudice) and re-applied later when things settled down from job changes. I was subsequently re-audited and passed with flying colors.
I now have a fully-vetted PMP credential. Saving Changes...
Even better than that: Guarantee that you're going to pass the exam in your first time only studying less than a week doing a bootcamp course. There are various that are pretty good such as PMP Simple http://www.pmpsimple.com Saving Changes...
