Questions:

1.      How do I receive the Project Management Professional (PMP®) or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM^TM) credential?

2.      What happens if my eligibility expires and I have not taken the exam?

3.      If I fail the exam, can I take it again? If so, when can I take it? How often can I take the test again?

4.      How do I complete the Application?

5.      What does “unique non-Overlapping months” mean? Do the months of experience have to be consecutive?

6.      What is a contact hour? Is it the same as a PDU or CEU? How do I get contact hours?

7.      What supporting documentation should I send with my application?

8.      How do I schedule to take the certification examination?

9.      How long do I have to take the exam? How many questions are on each exam? What is the passing score for each exam? How can I prepare for the exam?

10.  What happens after I pass the exam? If I pass the CAPM exam, when can I take the PMP exam? What do I have to do to maintain the credential?

11.  Will taking the Central Arkansas of PMI (CAPMI) PMP Prep Course teach me everything I need to know to pass the PMP or CAPM exam?

Answers:

1.      To obtain the PMP or CAPM credential, you must first demonstrate that you are eligible by meeting the following eligibility requirements.

PMP

Category 1: Baccalaureate/equivalent university degree. 4500 hours of Project Management Experience. 3 years of Project Management Experience within the past six-year period prior to the application. 36 unique (non-overlapping) months of Project Management experience.35 contact hours of Project Management education.  Cost: $555.00 U.S. Dollars for non-members of PMI; $405.00 U.S. Dollars for members of PMI.1

Category 2: High school diploma/equivalent secondary school credential. 7500 hours of Project Management Experience. Five yeas of Project Management Experience within the past eight-year period prior to the application. 60 unique (non-overlapping) months of project management experience.35 contact hours of Project Management education.  Cost: $555.00 U.S. Dollars for non-members of PMI; $405.00 U.S. Dollars for members of PMI. 1

Note:  PMP eligibility requirements are subject to change by the Project Management Institute.  Please refer to www.pmi.org for current eligibility requirements and exam cost information.

 

CAPM

Category 1: Baccalaureate/equivalent university degree. 1500 hours of Project Management Experience. 2 years of Project Management Experience within the past two-year period prior to the application. 24 unique (non-overlapping) months of Project Management experience.23 contact hours of Project Management education.  Cost: $300.00 U.S. Dollars for non-members of PMI; $225.00 U.S. Dollars for members of PMI.

Category 2: High school diploma/equivalent secondary school credential. 2500 hours of Project Management Experience. Two years of Project Management Experience within the past four-year period. 24 unique (non-overlapping) months of project management experience.23 contact hours of Project Management education.  Cost: $300.00 U.S. Dollars for non-members of PMI; $225.00 U.S. Dollars for members of PMI.

Note:  CAPM eligibility requirements are subject to change by the Project Management Institute.  Please refer to www.pmi.org for current eligibility requirements and exam cost information.

Candidates may apply by completing and submitting via postal mail only a PMP paper application or a CAPM paper application. Candidates may also apply on-line at www.pmi.org for the PMP and CAPM credentials for faster processing.

Once your application has been processed, if eligible, you will receive an eligibility letter containing detailed scheduling instructions to take the PMP or CAPM examinations.

Test candidates have 1 year from the date their application is approved and processed to take the exam. Candidates may take the exam once within each eligibility period. The candidate’s eligibility expiration date is printed on the 1st page of the eligibility letter the candidate receives if their application is approved.

If eligibility to take the CAPM examination has not expired, candidates who applied for, but did not take the CAPM examination, may request cancellation of their CAPM application and submit a PMP application instead. The candidate must pay the full certification fee for the PMP examination, and a processing fee of $100.00 will apply.

2.     Candidate applications are valid for 2 years from the date of approval. If a candidate allows their eligibility to lapse, they can re-apply by submitting a short application form within 1 year of their eligibility expiration date. If the candidate’s eligibility is expired for more than 1 year, a new application must be submitted. When submitting the short or a full application, the candidate will include the full certification fee as payment for the examination.

3.     Candidates have 1 year from the date of their last exam, to apply for a re-examination. Candidates wishing to take a re-examination will pay a reduced certification examination fee. Candidates can apply for a re-examination at any time within 1 year of the exam as often as they wish. CAPM candidates, who do not pass the examination, cannot apply for the PMP examination until they pass the CAPM examination.

4.      The PMP and CAPM applications consists of 6 parts:

Page 1: Your name, PMI member number, current employment information, and personal contact information are entered on this page. All entries must be in English. If you are not employed at the time you are completing the application, you can use NA for the current employer information. You do not have to be employed currently to apply for the examination. Please note by signing the bottom of this page you agree to the terms of the Certificant and Candidate Agreement and Release on page 12 of the certification handbook.

Page 2: Select the business activity that is describes your current or moist recent employer.

Page 3: Enter your PMI membership status, participation in PMI chapter sponsored prep courses, general educational background, the summary of your project management experience, certification fees, special condition requests, 2nd language requests, and acceptance of the cancellation and rescheduling policies here.

For your general educational background, enter the highest level of education you have completed. For the certification fees select the appropriate rate, and indicate the method of payment. If you are paying by credit card, enter the credit card number, expiration date, and your signature authorizing PMI to charge the amount indicated.

For the project management experience section, summarize the hours of experience spent in each of the domains of project management and enter them in to the spaces provided, then total the hours of all the domains and enter them in the space provided. Count all unique months and enter this total for the total months section.

Complete the Special Conditions section if you have special needs that may impair your ability to take the exam (i.e. wheelchair accommodations, etc.). The test is always in English. However, by selecting a 2nd language, you have the option of seeing the questions in that language. Your signature on this page indicates you have read and accept the Examination Cancellation/Re-Scheduling/No-Shows Policies and the Extension and refund Policies given in the handbook.

Page 4: Enter your project management specific education here, by entering your name, the course provider’s name, the name of the course, the course start and completion dates, the contact hours earned, and the course category. Please note, while there is not a time limit as to when a course was taken, the course must be complete, before you can submit it for the contact hour requirement.

Page 5 & 6:  Complete this section by entering your name, PMI identification number, the name, address and Phone number of the company that paid you while you worked on the project, the project’s start and end dates, the project title, your role on the project, the total number of hours you worked on the project, approximately how many hours were spent in each of the 5 domains of project management, and a brief description of the deliverables for the project.

5.      When calculating months and hours of experience, a unique (non-overlapping) month is a month where only one project is counted. For example:

As you see from this example, the months where the projects overlap are counted once. Additionally, all of the hours worked on both projects are counted. The months of experience do not have to be consecutive.

6.      Contact hours are the actual amount of time a candidate spends receiving instruction in project management or any of the 5 domains of project management (Initializing, Planning, Executing, Controlling, Closing). For example, if a candidate takes a 1-day class that last 8 hours and provides instruction in project management, the candidate earns 8 contact hours.

Contact hours are not equal to PDUs or CEUs. Additionally, Test Candidates cannot obtain PDUs; they can earn contact hours only. Candidates can submit any class, seminar, on the job training, online training, and distance teaching classes whose learning objectives include Project Management or any of its domains. Independent study and PMI chapter meetings are not accepted for the contact hour requirement.

7.      When submitting an application, you do not need to send any documentation. However, PMI uses a random auditing process to check applications. If you are selected for a random audit, you will receive a letter via 1st class U. S. Mail, with the instructions and forms needed to complete the audit.

8.      The PMP and CAPM Credential Examinations are offered globally at Prometric Testing Centers during normal business hours Monday through Saturday, except holidays. You can not schedule your examination appointment until your receive your eligibility letter. Locate a Prometric Testing Center near you or schedule an examination appointment.

9.      The following table describes the characteristics of each exam:

 

You can find resources to prepare for the PMP and CAPM exams at PMI’s online bookstore that can be found at: www.pmi.org.

PMP and CAPM examination candidates may find these resources useful:

·         Project Management Body Of Knowledge 2000 Edition

·         Project Management Professional (PMP) Role Delineation Study

·         Certified Associate In Project Management (CAPM) Role Delineation Study

10.  After you pass the exam, you may immediately use the credential in your name (for example, John Doe, PMP). Your test results are sent to PMI and a certificate is sent to you.

CAPM candidates who pass the exam may use the credential for 5 years. The credential does not require PDUs or other activities for renewal. CAPMs may apply for the PMP at any time during the 5 years. After 5 years the credential expires, and the candidate can apply to take the CAPM or PMP examination. The full certification fee must be paid for whichever examination the candidate chooses.

PMP candidates who pass the exam may use the credential as long as they comply with the Continuing Credential Requirements (CCR) program. The CCR program supports PMPs in developing their professional knowledge and maintaining their credentials, by requiring participation in activities during the CCR cycle, which are assigned a Personal Development Unit (PDU) value.

A PMP’s initial CCR cycle begins with the date the exam is passed, and ends on December 31st of the 3rd full calendar year after that date. Subsequent CCR cycles are a period of 3 years, starting on January 1st of the period and ending December 31st of the third year. During each period the PMP must accrue at least 60 PDUs by the end of the CCR cycle. PDUs are a measuring unit used to quantify learning and professional activities. PMPs can obtain a description of the activities which earn PDUs, from www.pmi.org by referencing the PMP Continuing Certification Requirements or the PMP Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR)Handbook.

11.  Participation in CAPMI PMP Prep Course program is not a guarantee that each student will successfully complete Project Management Professional certification. This is a REVIEW session that is not designed to "teach" attendees project management.  It is designed to help attendees identify which areas they might want to focus on (if any) to prepare for the PMP examination.  It is a fast-paced review of nine (9) knowledge areas including integration that can be useful for final review or pre-study assessment.

Students taking this course are expected to have a solid foundation in project management, which includes knowledge of project management best practices, real-life project management experience, and previous classroom instruction in project management.  Those preparing for the exam should expect to dedicate 50 to 100 additional hours of study of the reference materials.

Source:  Project Management Institute, Inc. website (www.pmi.org), January 2004.  For further detailed information, go to “Professional Development & Careers” then “Certifications” from the PMI website home page