Cornelius Fichtner is the founder of Project Management PrepCast. He is a PMP certified expert with over 20 years of project management experience in various industries. Also, he is the former PMI Chapter President. Cornelius is currently an active volunteer in his local PMI chapter. At the same time, he is a founding member of both PMI’s New Media Council and Social Media Advisory Group. Also, he is the host of the Project Management Podcast and the PDU Podcast. Alongside its work in coaching project managers, PM PrepCast also works with project managers to maintain their PMI® credentials through providing webinars, PMP training and online learning tools that allow project managers to earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) for their re-certification.

As one of the top PMP exam preparation courses providers, PM PrepCast (or Project Management Prepcast PMP) coached over 30,000 project managers on their way to becoming PMP® certified. PM PrepCast trained around 50,218+ project managers in 56+ countries and it offers a wide set of PMI certifications trainings. As one of the leading online training providers, we are providing this extensive review for Project Management PrepCast PMP program.

What is PM PrepCast?

Project Management PrepCast PMP is a leading project management learning website that provides PMI certification-related training online. Until now it:

• Coached over 30,000 project managers on their way to becoming PMP® certified
• Trained around 50,218+ project managers on different PMI certifications preparation
• Provided services to project managers from 56+ Countries

Project Management Prepcast PMP offers training programs in a variety of PMI certifications including PMP, CAPM, and ACP. In addition to these certification training programs, PM PrepCast offers PDU programs for maintaining PMI certifications. At the same time, PM PrepCast offers a unique program for gaining PMI PDUs which it calls PDU Podcast.

What Are the Available Project Management Prepcast PMP Programs?

PM PrepCast offers a group of good trainings which focus solely on project management training programs. Moreover, Project Management Prepcast PMP provides unique formats for its project management training offerings, these products are self-paced training, including:

The PM PrepCast

The PM PrepCast is a Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam Prep Video Workshop that you can download to your tablet, smartphone or PC. You are free to study for the exam wherever and whenever you want. It is a complete PMP® exam study approach that increases your chance of succeeding in the PMP Exam. It will make your study time shorter because it keeps you focused and you don’t have to read dozens of other books to prepare. If you watch the 42 hours of video from the PM PrepCast and you’ll be ready to handle the exam.

This product includes high-quality self-study content organized by industry experts in addition to 24×7 student support and assistance. Also, this offering consists of complete PMP Course, Video Lessons, Expert Interviews, Sample Questions, Email Course, 35 Contact Hours and Online student forums.

The PM Exam Simulator

The PM Exam Simulator gives you a real experience of the actual PMP Exam. You can practice on 1,600+ highly realistic PMP Exam sample questions based on the current PMBOK® Guide. You can be prepared fully with the 90-day access as often as you want. Also, you can read detailed explanations with all answers and learn why your answer was/was not correct. Finally, you can learn effective test-taking strategies and pass the PMP Exam on your first attempt.

The PM Formulas

The PMP Exam Formula Study Guide and Cheat Sheet include all you need to know about PMP Exam formulas, values, and acronyms. You also get sample questions to test yourself on. It’s your reference to all the math that you need to know in order to succeed in the PMP Exam. It explains the formulas, the concepts behind them and you’ll learn how to interpret the results. It is a 90-pages of PDF document with 105 Free PMP Exam Questions. They will allow you to practice this deep understanding. Their Formula Study Guide also contains the correct formulas and it is the authoritative source.

PM PrepCast PMP offerings

The main two PMP offerings provided by PM PrepCast include the following:

PM PrepCast PMP Basic training

This option includes permanent access to high-quality self-study content organized by industry experts in addition to 24×7 student support and assistance. Also, this offering includes Online student forums but doesn’t include PMP Exam Simulator.

PM PrepCast PMP Elite training

This option includes permanent access to high-quality self-study content organized by industry experts in addition to 24×7 student support and assistance. Also, this offering includes Online student forums and PMP Exam Simulator.

Both options offer widespread material formats starting from over 50 hours of webinars video training. Besides the main course material, there is the Exam Simulator and 1,600+ questions. Also, the options include Podcasts & Recorded Videos Downloadable. In addition to these materials, there is also Study Material & Printable Quizzes.

The PMP Training Course is designed based on a long journey of 13 years with around 50,000 students. This content is regularly revised based on the latest PMBOK editions updates until reaching Sixth Edition. In addition to the PMP content outline, PM Prepcast PMP course contains PM podcasts which add to the richness of the course content.

PM PrepCast: PMP Exam and Certification Requirements

PMP certificate has a set of eligibility requirements that has to be fulfilled in order for PMP exam pursuers to apply for the PMP exam. These requirements involve a combination of education, experience and project management education. Project management experience ranges from 3 to 5 years based on the educational degree. On the other hand, the project management education requirement requires 35 PM education contact hours. At the same time, this 35 PM education contact hours need to satisfy PMP content outline requirement. Although it is not a requirement that the PM education contact hours contains strict content, it is a huge plus if the course covers the exam preparation.

Below is a summary of PMP exam application eligibility requirements

In light of the above requirements, Project Management PrepCast PMP offers extensive content with an appealing self-paced format. In addition, it also offers PMP education requirement 35 PM education contact hours in the form of exam preparation course. Also, OSP International LLC, the provider of Project Management PrepCast PMP, is a Project Management Institute (PMI)^® Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.).

Project Management PrepCast PMP program will bring you a certificate of completion once you complete all course related material. This certificate of completion can help you apply for PMP certification exam but it won’t be a replacement for PMP certificate itself. Also, since the course is self-paced training, attendance on specific times won’t be required. Furthermore, since it is a self-paced online learning program you still have to be committed to a study plan so time won’t slip. In addition, You will have to commit to the coaching weekly hours so you won’t miss the benefits comes along this feature.

PMP Exam and Project Management PrepCast PMP

PMI success rate for the PMP exam takers is about 60% but PMI refuses to disclose the success benchmark. These factors make taking PMP exam a challenging journey that requires not only good knowledge of the content outline but also excellent preparations for the exam which starts from the study plan.

In general, Project Management PrepCast PMP is one of these programs which gives you the tools for PMP knowledge mastery. In addition, it provides you with the tools required to not only know but also to understand. Although this understanding will serve the student significantly, still there is a part laying in the student’s shoulder. We will summarize this part in the following sections, we will tell you more about preparing a good study plan and committing to course material and study plan. In addition to the above, practicing what the PMBOK breach and practicing exam questions are effective tools that can dramatically increase the probability of success.

With Exam simulator Option, Project Management PrepCast PMP allows you to assess where you stand in terms of knowledge, practice, and sense of exam.

The post Project Management PrepCast PMP Programs – 100% Review appeared first on Project Hipo.

The project manager has to deliver their projects on time, on-budget results, with the available resources, and within the scope requirements. Thus, they need to learn how to integrate the organization’s need for the project with different project variables. Accordingly, project management is the application of the knowledge to different project activities and tasks to achieve this need as well as the skills, the tools, and the techniques.

Although project management practice is as old as human civilization beginning, it was not formally introduced until recently. PMI one of the leading institutes in the project management domain formulated the practice Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. PMBOK Guide identifies five groups of project management processes Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing. At the same time, the PMBOK  PDF Guide also identifies 10 project management knowledge areas. These areas are Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Procurement, Human resources, Communications, Risk management, Stakeholder management, and Integration.

Importance of Project Management Training for Companies

Still interested in project management training? Now let’s explore the reasons why so many companies see it valuable. As a start, companies lose a lot of money due to the unorganized efforts spent on different change events. As a method of managing changes, project management offers a wide set of benefits. These benefits include having control over deliverable, effectively meeting business goals and meeting stakeholder expectations. In addition to the previous, effective project management helps in increasing the chances of success and delivering the right products at the right time. Moreover, it provides a great framework for resolving problems and issues, responding to risks in a timely manner. In addition to other benefits that can benefit the company business greatly. The following are some of these additional benefits:

• Optimizing resources use
• Recovering or terminating failing projects
• Balancing constraints influence on the project
• Managing changes in a better way

At the same, effective project management training offers benefits but the lack of effective project management training causes many disadvantages. These disadvantages include missing deadlines, overspending costs, poor quality, rework and uncontrolled expansion of the project as well as, failure in achieving the objectives for which the project was undertaken. Moreover, it may cause issues that exceed the project itself like stakeholders’ dissatisfaction and loss of reputation for the organization.

Project Management Training

So what is the right project management training? How does it look like? What is the proper outline for it? From what we described above you can draw the outline of what sufficient project management training should include. Thus, effective project management training must cover project management key concepts and frameworks. Also, it should include a clear definition of project manager roles and responsibilities. Then project management training should cover scope management, schedule management, cost management, and resource management. These, of course, besides quality management, stakeholders management, and communication management. Additionally, the PM training should cover risk management and procurement management. Finally, the training must cover the key knowledge area of project management which is called integration management. What we mentioned in this section are called knowledge areas

Project management training should also cover the project life cycle and process groups. Understanding the different project life cycles is essential for project managers. Different life cycles require different approaches and methodologies. Thus, a good PM training should automatically involve a clear description and explanation of different life cycles and how to approach them. Also, understanding the different process groups is crucial to understanding project management in general.

Evolution of PM Training Programs

Project management training originally focused on waterfall methodologies only but this lasted from the late 60s to the early 2000s. Ever since then a huge evolution in PM training programs took place and that increased the popularity of Agile project management approaches. Thus, the demand for Agile Project Management Training Programs is popular now as well. The growing popularity of Agile Project Management shifted some attention from waterfall project management. At the same time, waterfall project management didn’t lose its momentum completely since it promotes efficiency. Accordingly, this shift created a new need for mixed approaches. Thus, companies look for project management professionals who have knowledge of both project management approaches. The evolution made many changes concerning the way companies look at project management training.

For a starter, the project manager must have multi-skills to manages different project life cycles. Also, organizations and companies become less focused on adopting a specific methodology and they are now more focused on getting work done. At the same time, achieving efficiency whenever possible requires waterfall planning to take advantage of the predictive nature of some projects. On the other hand, Agile methodologies do not come cheap, it requires more cost wasting some time, resources. However, it offers horizons that can be not achieved by waterfall approaches. Some changes and projects do not have enough clarity for the project team to predict how to carry out tasks. Thus, making waterfall approaches ineffective and putting forward the question: what is the alternative? The right answer for this is Agile project management.

Now the companies are more keen to benefit from both approaches. Thus, most companies prefer PM training that covers both approaches Agile and waterfall.

What are the important points you must be careful when choosing a PM training?

Now that’s the million-dollar question and to answer this question we have to go back to the basics. We will list down the most important criteria that you can use to evaluate different project management training options. You can use these criteria together to decide the right PM training option. Accordingly, we will base these criteria on the key important points when choosing a project management training.

Training provider’s credibility

It might look obvious still worth mentioning as it’s almost the most important feature. Training provider’s credibility means their wide positive recognition and their reputation of delivering their promises. In addition to this, their connection with knowledge bodies like PMI, Axelos, Scrum Alliance, PMO Global Alliance, American Society of Quality, etc. is crucial. Normally, Registered Education Providers achieve this status through compliance with strict standards the certifying organization set. Thus, being one of the registered providers to any of the globally recognized institutions increases the provider’s credibility. In addition to this factor, reputation among project management professional communities also counts.

Instructor expertise and reputation

The second important and key point for your decision to select the right project management training provider is the expertise and reputation of the instructor. A well known and well-recognized instructor offers you confidence in the offered program. Still, there are additional factors that contribute to the instructor offering confidence in the program. These include their background in terms of experience in project management, their knowledge of different project management practices as well as, their studies, academic background, professional certifications, and memberships.

Curriculum and content outline

Moving on to another key important point which should contribute greatly to your project management training decision. This important point is the program content. As we explained before in this article, project management is a mix of knowledge areas and project has more than one approach for management. Thus, it only makes sense that a good project management training must cover these knowledge areas in addition to covering the different project management approaches. A program outline that covers waterfall and Agile approaches is a good choice that should offer you exactly what you need. However, a program that offers you additional required skills like training for project management tools is even more than just good, it is brilliant. So make sure to select a training program that offers you an integrated bundle of training which includes both approaches and other required skills.

Quality of the content

That one is an obvious one I presume, having content that covers everything is good but having quality issues is far from good. Many providers provide extensive material and content that does not provide proper examples for their material. Some even offer material with key errors in understanding project management knowledge. To be honest that may represent the majority of programs out there all over the internet. So you need to be careful not to fall in the trap of extensive material and content with low quality, because you will be trading quality for quantity. Also, the quality of the media which the content is offered through is also as important so keep that in mind as well.

Student reviews

Now we come to our last criterion here, student reviews. Students are the customers for the training providers they offer you their experience while dealing with the training provider. Thus saving you the burden of going through unpleasant experiences. The collective reviews of students provide you with an immediate insight into how satisfied are the provider students with their learning journey. A feature that allows you to escape poor experience easily and skip those providers with poor reviews. Also, student feedbacks and comments are as valuable as the rating itself or even more. Students usually provide any outstanding or outrageous experience they passed through with the provider. Thus giving you an exact image of what makes the provider good or bad and allowing you to get a full picture of how the experience might look like. You can read more about Project Management Courses.

Top 10 PM Training Programs

ِAs we explained the meaning of project management and the evolution of project management training, now we come to help you explore the top 10 project management training programs. Thus, we will list down our picks for the top 10 PM training program providers based on the criteria we explained earlier. Accordingly, we will offer you a list of these picks alongside a review of the benefits of each option. Also, we are going to go through the content outline of each program and what they cover. By going through this list we will help you to identify your best option for project management training and to have a good idea of the best available options. Accordingly, you will have sufficient knowledge of the best options out there, thus you can decide which option you should choose.

These options are carefully selected and reviewed at your disposal. We’ve collected them for the sole purpose of providing you with the collective knowledge of options to save your time. Thus we’ve searched for options with the highest review score and the best feedback. In addition to this, we chose the programs with the high quality of content, comprehensive content that covers key project management concepts as well as covering Agile project management and waterfall project management different methodologies. Also, we focused on PM training providers who have a high level of credibility and host top tier project management instructors. This way we ensure the listed project management training programs and providers satisfy the criteria we mentioned earlier.

#1 PM Training Program – Master of Project Academy PM Training Bundle

Master of Project Academy is in the project management training business for years and they have several types of PM training programs. The Master of projects has a well-deserved reputation among its students with very good student reviews. They have waterfall and Agile project management courses such as PMP training and Agile Scrum training. Master of Project Academy PM Training Bundle covers waterfall and Agile PM approaches plus MS Project Training. So, you make sure that you will learn conventional and trending PM techniques during your PM training program. Besides, you will learn how to use MS project step-by-step.

Bundle details and specifications

The whole bundle is 100% online which makes it a completely self-paced project management training program. The bundle includes 35 self-paced contact hours of Project Management Professional Certification Online Training designed by industry experts. The second course is 10+ contacts hours of self-paced Agile Scrum Certification Training. In addition to the previous courses, a Microsoft Project Training course offers 9+ contact hours which will help you to create realistic project plans. Also, the bundle includes 2,100+ practice questions which can help you to prepare for the PMP certification exam. In addition, it includes 7 complete PMP Certification Sample Exams which will prepare you to the exam. Also, Master of Project offers a step by step project plan creation via MS Project with a real project example. All of this, in addition to PMP and Agile Cheat Sheets and more. You can read more about PMP certification requirements.

PMP® Certification Training – 35 Contact Hours Online PMP Training

The PMP certification training is a gold standard for project management professionals with wide global recognition. It is based on the PMBOK guide 6th edition which covers project management new trends and emerging practices and it provides the concept of tailoring considerations. Also, it focuses on strategic and business knowledge and carefully outlines the role of the project manager. The course also includes a sample PMP practice exam. You can read more about the best PMP training programs.

#2 Project Management Plus Bundle Masters Program – Simplilearn

Another project management training provider we will list here is Simplilearn. Simplilearn offers a group of interesting project management training programs. This training program that we are going to talk about covers both waterfall project management and Agile project management approaches. In addition to this, Simplilearn also offers Microsoft Project training. This satisfies most of the project management training content outline. This allows you to acquire the knowledge for most up to date knowledge for project management training.

The offered PMP Plus Bundle mainly helps you to earn around 60 PDU for maintaining PMI certification active status. Also, it helps to develop the necessary key skills for professional project managers, in addition to improving your knowledge in multiple domains. The courses in this bundle include Project Management, IT Service Management ITIL, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training. In addition to these, it also features Agile training course, Microsoft Project course, as well as Risk Management course.

This program enables you to implement quality to projects and apply the Lean Six Sigma approach as well. Furthermore, understanding Agile approaches and Scrum methodologies and also understanding and applying advanced risk management concepts and strategies. The program has the benefit of being self-paced training as well, so you are able to customize your learning path and pace. This project management training program also offers you access to high-quality virtual classes, e-learning, and real-life case studies. In addition, you can access quizzes at each chapter’s end, full simulation exams, and student community.

PM Plus Bundle Masters Program content covers the following training courses:

Project management professional

The PMP certification training is based on the PMBOK guide 6th edition and it covers both new project management trends and also emerging practices. It has a great emphasis on strategic and business knowledge. This course carefully outlines the role of the project manager.

Agile Scrum Master

This Agile training offers a deep dive and insights into the new trendy and highly popular Agile Scrum methodology. It covers the key concepts of Agile as a project management framework and how to lead project management teams. In addition to the prior, the training allows you to develop and deliver high-quality products.

Certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

This certification training course for Lean Six Sigma Green Belt covers the core principles of Lean Six Sigma and how to implement them for quality projects. Also, it integrates lean and DMAIC methodologies through case studies alongside real-life examples. The course aims to polish your skills and application of continuous process improvement.

Microsoft® Project

Intended to offer you the additional skill, this Microsoft Project 2013 Certification Training helps you to acquire the knowledge and application of the industry’s most popular project management tool. The Microsoft Project training course offers a comprehensive overview of project planning, scheduling, resource pooling, and consolidation. Introducing you to how to create customized reporting is another Microsoft Project skill obtained by this course.

ITIL® 4 Foundation

An extensive course over the IT service management popular framework ITIL. The course intends to introduce you to the key concepts and applications of the ITIL framework and prepare you for the ITIL Foundation certification exam.

PMI- RMP® Certification

This training course aims to upskill your knowledge and skills in risk management. The course introduces you to advanced techniques in project risk management. Also, this training course qualifies for PMI- RMP certification exam and prepares you for it.

#3 Project Management Training Bundle Program – Learning Tree

Since projects grow more complex, the need for having well trained and certified project managers became essential. The complexity of the projects is also growing in addition to the need for multi-skilled project management professionals. Accordingly, Learning Tree offers an integrated group of project management training. This bundle includes predictive waterfall project management training and adaptive project management training approaches. In addition, the programs cover Microsoft Project training as well. It also offers a variety of methodologies for both waterfall and Agile approaches. The group of training programs is offered separately through classroom, live online and on-demand learning formats. The project management training is can be scheduled through the Learning Tree’s website where you can select the training date that suits your calendar.

#4 Project Management Training Bundle Program – Global Knowledge

Global Knowledge is one of the top tier training providers that offer Project Management training programs that include wide content. Although Global Knowledge does not offer a bundle based training program, it still offers different sets of project management training courses. These project management training courses include different waterfall project management approaches in addition to offering different Agile project management training approaches. Still, the training courses are offered separately where you can select the set of project management training courses. Global Knowledge has an amazing reputation of top quality, however, it comes at a high price which is usually not affordable for many people.

Agile project management training

The training courses for Agile include Agile Project Management Foundation & Practitioner (AgilePM®) and Certified Professional in Agile Project Management (CPAPM). Also, they include packages for training and exams like Certified Scaled Agile Framework Leading SAFe® 5.0 and Certified SAFe® Product Manager / Product Owner Training and Exam in addition to Agile Project Management Foundation (AgilePM®) and Agile Project Management Practitioner (AgilePM®). The Agile training courses also include Agile Programme Management (AgilePgM®). Also, there are other various additional trainings including Agile Overview, Agile Project Management Black Belt /Green Belt, Agile for Teams and Agile User Stories.

Waterfall project management

This category includes project management training courses that cover different project management methodologies. These methodologies include PRINCE2 with its different levels from foundation to practitioner as well as PMI PMBoK 6th edition framework with its different certifications training.

Project Management Certification Exam Preparation

Summary of Project Management Training

In this article, we have explained what is project management, what are the main approaches of project management and the evolution of project management training. Also, we have discussed waterfall project management and Agile project management. Additionally, we have offered a list of criteria on how to select the right project management training provider. And finally, we have explored in detail the different offerings of project management training bundles and what they should include.

This article journey then concluded by listing down a list of the top  10 project management training bundle programs that fit the early defined criteria. This whole journey aimed to help you get a collective view of the best options you can pick from and then, provide you with insights into what these bundles contain and what value they can deliver. You should be aware of maintaining certification once you obtained it. For instance, you must earn PMP PDU points to retain your PMP certification. Scrum SEU points are required to renew your Scrum Alliance certification.

Overall, the provided list has more than one good option, however, we highly recommend that you focus on those options with great student reviews. Also, it is important that you make sure that the project management training provider is well recognized and has a well-recognized team of instructors. Finally, review the content outline as it’s an important indicator if it’s going to offer you the end-to-end content that you need.

We hope you have enjoyed this journey as we did and we wish you the best of luck in your journey.

The post Project Management Training – Top 10 PM Training appeared first on Project Hipo.

If those questions came across your mind, you need to read this article to understand the context of the PMP book as many project management practitioners show interested in obtaining a PMP certificate. In addition to that, companies usually distinguish between those project managers who have obtained certification from their peers.

What is the PMP certification?

PMP Certificate is an abbreviation for The Project Management Professional Certificate. The Project Management Institute (PMI) designed the PMP certificate for professionals who meet certain criteria for education and experience. As you may know, there is a number of requirements that professionals must meet before they can apply for certification. After PMI accepts and approves the application, the certificate applicant must pass a lengthy and comprehensive examination. So you can become a certified project manager.

Although this type of certification is not mandatory for most professions and company positions, it has a wide recognition that improves reliability and promotes any appeal. PMI developed its well known PMP certification to offer a project management standard which includes various industries and locations. Getting a PMP certification is one of several ways that a project management practitioner can showcase his ability and dedication to their career for a target or current employer.

What should we expect from a PMP certification holder?

Practitioners who fulfilled the application process and passed the examination successfully should be highly knowledgeable with project management concepts. In addition to that, they should have an understanding of challenges and a common vocabulary of project management. Most of the project managers’ key skills are common between different industries. Accordingly, certified practitioners should have the right preparation for various scenarios and results. Also, certificate holders should have significant experience in project management.

Minimum PMP application requirements

People interested in taking the PMP exam to become certified must meet one of two sets of strict pre-requisites. Applicants must have at least 7,500 hours of project management experience in addition to 35 hours of related education. Or they have to obtain a four-year degree with 4,500 hours of pilot projects and 35 hours of project management training.

In order to begin the process, applicants must log in to the PMI website and provide their personal information as required. There are also application fees for PMI members and non-members alike, although membership reduces the cost significantly. You can find more information about current requirements and fees on the official PMI website. You can read more about PMP certification cost.

Preparation for the exam

Many people seeking a PMP certification devote weeks or months to pre-test study to ensure they have covered the key topics of the course. The test is divided into five sections: project initiation, planning, implementation, monitoring, and closure. The test currently includes 200 questions from multiple options covering a wide range of topics, including ethics issues and conflict resolution.

Maintain your certification

Professionals who pass the test and obtain their certificate need to keep up with the requirements of continuing education in order to keep their status. Certificate holders must complete 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) in each three-year period to maintain their qualifications. PDUs can be gained through a variety of activities, including public speaking, full-time project management responsibilities, and essay writing for publication.

Is this certificate suitable for you?

Project management skills are applicable in almost any business environment and can be a great way to increase an organization’s personal value. Individuals who meet the requirements must consider obtaining the certificate if they wish to focus their career on project management or leadership. The PMI has thousands of members in various countries and their professional project management certification is globally recognized.

Should I follow PMBOK during my PMP study?

The project management knowledge in line with the PMI framework is fully described in the “Project management body of knowledge” also known as PMBOK. In fact, the value of this standard project management guide goes beyond just being a reference to you. PMBOK is essential for understanding project management standards and Project Management knowledge remains incomplete without this PMP book. But the fact is, it is not a must to fully study PMBOK itself to fully understand the project management framework. However, following a comprehensive PMP prep training is important. In most cases, you can follow a PMP book as supplementary material.

What is PMBOK?

PMBOK means “Project Management Knowledge Book”. It is issued by the famous Project Management Authority, PMI. If you are a project management aspirant preparing for PMP certification, this guide will help you. This PMBOK Guide is a valuable tool for those studying for a PMP certification. It helps uncover the standard project management process. This PMBOK Guide covers all the ten important areas of knowledge such as Integration Management, Domain Management, Time Management, and Cost Management and so on.

Why is “PMBOK” necessary?

Understanding the importance of the PMBOK Guide is really essential if you are stepping into the most popular project management field. Why is that?

1) A unified process across different departments allows companies to experience better performance and transparency. This is best achieved through PMBOK Guidance Practices as it is a set of global best practices in project management in various industries.

2) The PMBOK Guide documents what works best in project management. The documented methods will assist project managers to make better decisions, especially in situations of uncertainty, for example, how to manage project-related risk management.

3) A common system would definitely facilitate the workflow that was greatly achieved through the practice of PMBOK. This helps project managers work with this standard methodology across different companies.

The PMBOK Guide is not only a valuable guideline for the practice of project managers but also for the company to standardize the project management methodology. PMP certification is completely dependent on PMBOK. The advantage of obtaining PMP certification is that you are trained on these global best practices, allowing you to manage the project more successfully.

When the project manager is familiar with PMBOK standards, he assures that he/she can customize the project management process to suit the needs of their organization. Investing your valuable time in learning the PMBOK Guide will not only enhance your career but also allow you to set your priorities to deal with these important projects. Despite all the above features about PMBOK, there are many aspirants who do not prefer studying this PMP book, as there are disadvantages of PMBOK.

This makes us wonder about the disadvantages of PMBOK:

The PMBOK language is difficult and uses an academic way, which makes understanding its purpose difficult and complicated for the learner. Usually, the learner needs explanations for many of the rules and principles found in the book. Therefore, many students choose to take training courses on PMBOK instead of studying this PMP book itself. This is a result of the fact that training provides the necessary explanation of the rules and principles. Also, it provides many applications necessary to understand these rules. This makes it easier for learners to understand it. It is not a must-follow PMP book. Following a comprehensive PMP prep training is more important. You can follow a PMP book as supplementary material.

Should I follow a PMP book during my PMP study?

ِThere are a variety of PMP books spreading across different channels. These PMP books can help learners during their study for the exam. Although many of these PMP books are helpful, it is not a must to use a PMP book for your study. On the other side, it remains important to have a guided PMP preparation training and use the PMP book as supporting material. Before going through different PMP book options, we will first go through the source of PMP knowledge to give you a clear view of the source of all PMP book options.

What are the preparation books for PMP?

They are books based on PMBoK, but they are more used than PMBoK since their language is usually easier. Also, they tend to be less complicated than PMBoK. They also contain many applications, explanations. In addition to that, they feature models that help the learner to understand and grab the information.

What are the top 10 introductory PMP books? What are the choosing criteria?

We also explained previously that the PMP exam relies on PMBOK which is a huge source of information that sets the standards for what the project manager needs to know. And PMBOK is updated regularly, so exam prep books should also be updated. To get the best chance to pass a PMP exam, it is a must that you purchase a PMP introductory book that reflects the current standards as outlined in the PMBOK.

Criteria for selecting the right PMP book

The range of knowledge needed to pass the PMP exam should be included in any PMP book. There are many points to consider when shopping for a prep book that works best for you.

Ease of language

The easier PMP book is, the closer they are to the learner since PMP books that use complex language and difficult academic explanations are difficult to understand.

Learning style

PMP book which offers a light and exciting approach may be what you need in order to click everything in its place. Or diagrams and illustrations that are enhanced with puzzles and quizzes can be what makes you get a passing score on the first try. Others may prefer to provide dry information. Your PMP book must fit your favorite learning style.

Topics covered

The PMP exam covers 10 areas of knowledge and many ITTOs (input, tools, technology, and output). If you need a comprehensive study guide, then this is a much different book from a book that focuses only on practice tests. Make sure that the PMP book you are considering covers all the subjects you need to study.

Price

You can spend less than $10 or more than $100 on a PMP book. The main difference is in the coverage. In the end, you will find targeted books that focus on a small area of knowledge, which may be all you need. At the higher end, you can purchase a comprehensive course, most likely by accessing online additional training material. However, the range from $40 to $60 is where most people will find the PMP prep book they need.

Top 10 PMP Prep Books

#1 PMP Book – PMP Prep Book by Master of Project Academy

Most of the PMP books you can find have coverage of theoretical project management knowledge with ould fashioned teaching methods. If you compare this book to the others in the market, you will find about its unique characteristics. This is because the content of PMP® Prep Book by Master of Project Academy has been organized like a real project.

You will be able to see the practical implications of theoretical knowledge when studying PMP exam content. This will help you better understand the nuances of the PMP exam material. PMP Prep Book by Master of Project Academy will assist you in your first attempt to pass the PMP test.

The unique features of the PMP ® Prep Book by Master of Project Academy are as follows:

– Real-life project examples
– 100+ Must-to-Remember Master Points for the PMP® Exam
– 100+ Flash Cards – Mapping Practice for important concepts
– 500+ PMP®  Practice Questions – Answers & Detailed Rationales
– 550+ Pages PMP eBook PDF downloadable right after your purchase!

Furthermore, you to review the PMP Prep Book before your purchase. Because unlike the other PMP book providers, Master of Project Academy provides a sample free PMP book for you.

#2 PMP Book – Rita Mulcahy PMP book

Rita Mulcahy composed this book with an unconventional tone that makes you think she is talking to you properly. When taking the test, you almost imagine that Rita is right behind you and makes sure you stay alert. It’s great. The classes in the PMP book are aligned with the PMBOK and the questions at the end of the chapters are very similar to the exam. It is nicely organized with great visual tools and clear markings for the key points you need to know for the exam. This book is a great resource for both CAPM and PMP aspirants.

#3 PMP Book – How to Transfer Your First Experiment, Fourth Edition by Andy Crowe

Use this book to master earned value measurements. Learn the equations in the PMP book and you’ll get all the math you will need to know for the test. This book also contains a card that provides you with web access to InSite by Velociteach. It is a website where you can view algebra formulas and complete the earned value exercises. You will find either A or Group B test questions that are effective and direct. The system works just like the actual test.

#4 PMP Book – Head First PMP Book

A brain-friendly guide to passing the PMP Exam of Jennifer Green and Andrew Stillman. Reading this PMP book first allows you to break the barrier between you and PMP. More than a workbook with engaging and fun exercises, it connects you directly with its bizarre but really effective writing style. It is full of pictures, examples, and tests for progressive self-assessment. All the essentials that you will need for your test are included in this book. The fun you have doing in all activities and reading stories really makes the information great. This is a huge advantage, especially for people who don’t like dry materials. Visually, it looks like a third-grade textbook and does a good job of making you understand the process.

#5 PMP Book – Professional Exam Study Guide by Kim Hildman

If you are looking for a PMP book to help you get your passing score on the PMP exam, but you can still enjoy reading, this is it. You’ll love the way the author organizes this PMP book by sequencing information in real life, below the process groups. Some authors explain the processes along with the knowledge areas, crossing the sets of operations. However, the information hierarchy here makes reading more real and fun. This PMP book can be the key to your success by the way it introduces and repeats major themes in the context of the entire book.

#6 PMP Book – The PMP Exam: Quick Reference Guide Test Prep series by Andy Crowe

If you don’t have time to study on the PMP exam, get the PMP Exam: Quick Reference Guide. The people here did a great job summarizing the key points you need to know to pass the test. It’s a good idea to be able to use the quick reference guide right before taking the exam. Because it helps you to focus on the key information for review. This pre-test book is durable, convenient, and affordable. Your time is a valuable resource. If you are following your PMP project then this reference guide is definitely worth your money.

#7 PMP Book – PMP Certification All-In-One: Desk Reference For Dummies by Cynthia Snyder Stackpole

You will say thank you to Cynthia Stackpole for creating this book after you pass the PMP exam on your first try. The information presented here is uniquely arranged in a way that you do not process it directly through PMBOK, but rather through the functional way projects are supposed to work. You can instantly understand the information because it is well-established and follows a logical arrangement. This way, it ensures familiarity with the PMP processes and the materials needed to obtain your certification. It’s worth the cost and time to read this and take useful test questions.

#8 PMP Book – PMP Practice Makes Perfect PMP Book

This PMP Book contains over 1000 PMP Practice Questions and Answers and it is written by John Estrella, Charles Duncan, Sami Zahran, and James Haner. Also, it is very handy in helping you review your knowledge and maintain your focus on the topics that need to be strengthened. The test is very similar to the contents of this PMP exam preparation book that provides specific value for your money. It’s similar to the actual exam in terms of the level of difficulty, scope, and drafting, and this book will also be a great supplement to all your other materials.

#9 PMP Book – CAPM/PMP Project Management by Joseph Phillips

You will find the information in this PMP book to be comprehensive and easy to read. You will start to gain more and more confidence. The frustration and anxiety that you initially felt will start to fade, making the exam seem like a more manageable task. The author keeps the reader engaged through writing and coordination style. This edition accomplishes to arrange the intensive information in the PMBOK into a more manageable format.

#10 PMP Book – All-in-One PMP Exam Prep Kit – Test Prep series by Andy Crowe

This product makes those hours you study for PMP, less difficult. It’s a great package that has everything you need to pass the PMP test. It is well organized, it explains the important aspects of each area of knowledge and process well. It also contains tests with 20 questions about the topics at the end of each chapter. You will have a full sample exam of 200 questions as well. The PMP preparation book offers a great opportunity for those who already understand the concepts and standards to test their understanding and practice exam questions. Although it is very beneficial for the semi-ready students it does not benefit those who seek to understand the framework as much.

Summary

We have discussed the PMP books for PMP exam preparation. Also, we have discussed the top ten PMP books going through how you should select your pick for the PMP book for your preparation. We have explained the difference between PMBOK and other PMP exam preparation books. Also, we described the criteria you can use to select the best PMP exam preparation book that suits you. These criteria included ease of language, learning style, topics covered and price. Accordingly, you can use these criteria to make the right selection.

In addition, we explored our picks for the top 10 PMP exam preparation books offering you the best available PMP exam preparation books in the market. Starting by the PMP Prep Book by Master of Project Academy and moving through other PMP exam preparation books offered by famous authors like Rita Mulcahy, Joseph Phillips ad Andy Crowe. Now It is up to you to make your mind which PMP exam preparation book you will choose!

The post PMP® Book – Top 10 PMP Prep Books for PMP Study appeared first on Project Hipo.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) follows a very strict methodology for assessing its credentials holders’ eligibility to hold those credentials. It starts by putting forward a set of requirements for the certification acquisition, at the same time they bound the certifications to a limited time period.  So they require the certificate holders to obtain PDUs for the PMP renewal of their credentials. Hence the certificate holder has to work towards obtaining these PDUs which varies from one certificate to another. Otherwise, the certificate holder has to re-certify and retake the certification exam.

PMP Certification Requirements

Let’s give you a more clear view. Let’s assume that you are applying to the PMP exam, then you have to have three main PMP eligibility requirements. The first requirement is education. A PMP applicant is required to have a minimum secondary degree which includes high- school diploma or associate’s degree or a global equivalent.

At the same time, the PMP applicant must have sufficient working experience in the projects. To satisfy this condition a PMP applicant with a high school degree has to have a minimum of 7,500 hours in leading and directing projects. Alternatively, a four-year degree holder only needs to satisfy a minimum of 4,500 hours in leading and directing projects.

Finally, the PMP exam seeker has to attend 35 contact hours of project management education which covers all outlines of the PMP exam. But don’t forget that, a CAPM certification holder is exempted from the last condition. When the PMP applicants pass the exam successfully and obtain their PMP certification, they would need to maintain this certificate through obtaining PMP PDU as they have to renew this credential every 3 years. This PMP PDU collection is bound to the time limit of three years where the PMP holder must collect 60 PDUs.

What is PMP PDU?

So here comes a number of questions that would normally come to your mind when you read the introduction. What exactly is a PMP PDU? What is the difference between PMP PDU and Contact Hours?

So what is PMP PDU?

To explain the PDUs we can put it this way, PDU is an abbreviation of Professional Development Units. Professional Development is a measure that PMI uses to quantify professional services and activities to maintain PMI Credentials as well as the approved learning activities.

PMI considers the worth of one-hour of instructional PMP training related to project management equates to 1 PDU. This also applies to program management, Agile project management or even project scheduling. You can report a PMP PDU or Professional Development Unit partially. This means you can report 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 increments of a PDU. We will give more details about PMP PDU and its breakdown in relation to the talent triangle later in the article.

What is PMP contact hours?

Now let’s go through the PMP contact hours. PMP PDU can be education-related as well as professional work-related. While this case applies to PMP PDU, it does not apply to contact hours. Since PMP contact hours are basically project management training hours that must satisfy certain criteria so PMP contact hours must cover the PMP exam outline. At the same time, unlike PMP PDU, PMP contact hours have to be focused on project management knowledge. Also, PMP contact hours don’t count professional context or delivering training, but only receiving PMP training.

The major differences between PMP PDU and PMP contact hours

Last but not least is the difference of purpose between PMP PDU and PMP contact hours. Mainly, contact hours are one of PMP eligibility requirements, as you need them to satisfy the PMP exam requirements. On the other hand, PMP PDU is a requirement for renewing PMP certification after passing the exam successfully. Also, there is a very significant distinctive difference between PMP PDU and PMP contact hours. This difference is that to obtain PMP contact hours you need to go through formal outlined PMP training. On the other hand, you can obtain a PMP PDU through self-study without a specific formal outline.

What are the PMP PDU Requirements?

• First, to enhance the certification holders’ continuous learning as well as their development.
• Second, to provide clear direction for development areas ensuring the relevancy of certified practitioners.
• The third purpose is recognizing and encouraging learning opportunities.
• Another purpose is to provide a mechanism for recording activities related to professional development.
• And finally, sustaining the value of PMI certifications and their relative global recognition.

PMP PDU and Talent Triangle

1. Ways of Working,
2. Business Acumen
3. Power Skills

CCR requirements are different for each PMI certification

PDU requirements for PMP, PgMP, PMI-PBA, and PfMP

PMP PDU requirement for certification holders is to collect 60 PDUs through a maximum of 25 Giving Back PDUs and a minimum of 35 Education PDUs. The 35 Education PDUs also has another limitation of reporting at least 8 Ways of Working project management PDUs as well as limitation of reporting at least 8 Business Acumen PDUs and also a limitation of reporting at least 8 Power Skills PDUs. At the same time, reporting a maximum of 8 PDUs for working as a professional / practitioner of the giving back PDU category.

The same concept applies to PgMP PDU requirements for certification holders to collect 60 PDUs through a maximum of 25 Giving Back PDUs and a minimum of 35 Education PDUs. With the same distribution of education PDUs across talent triangle minimum of 8 Power Skills PDUs, 8 Ways of Working PM PDUs, and 8 Business management PDUs. As well as the limit of reporting a maximum of 8 PDUs for working as a professional / practitioner of the giving back PDU category. This also applies to PfMP and PMI-PBA certifications holders.

PDU requirements for PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP

While the renewal cycle stays the same, these certifications have different requirements for maintenance PDUs. PMI only requires 30 PDUs to maintain PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP, PMI-SP certifications instead of 60 PDUs. The PDUs distribution is the same for all of these certifications across both education and giving back to profession categories. Accordingly, PMI requires certification holders to report a maximum of 12 Giving Back PDUs and a minimum of 18 Education PDUs. The distribution of education PDUs between talent triangle skills is a minimum of 4 Power Skills PDUs as well as a minimum of 4 Ways of Working PM PDUs and a minimum of 4 Business Acumen PDUs. While setting a limit of a maximum of 4 PDUs for reporting working as a professional / practitioner of the giving back PDU category.

How can I earn PMP PDU to Renew PMP certification?

Since the Continuing Certification Requirements Program’s main objective is to ensure the continuous development of the certification holder. So PMI Certification renewal offers a learning opportunity for certification holders to obtain the latest skills that help them advance in their professional life. At the same time, they benefit from networking with other fellow professionals, as well as share knowledge and perform voluntary activities.

As we discussed before, there are two categories of professional development units that a certification holder can obtain for renewal requirements. These two types are Education and Giving Back to the Profession. Each one of those two categories includes a vast number of options while the certification holder is bound to satisfy some requirements that we detailed earlier. The certification holder can report the remaining PMP PDU through any of the other available options.

Ways to Collect Education PMP PDU

As we mentioned earlier there are numerous ways to obtain and report PMP PDU. Across all categories, one hour of learning equals 1 PMP PDU.

Course or Training

The first way you can earn PMP PDU is through training courses. Yes, normal training courses will be counted, as long as these courses are related to the earlier mentioned topics. These courses include formal Instructor-led training courses whether it is held in class or held in person or online.

Do you attend PMI’s face-to-face and instructor-led courses or seminars? If the answer is yes, then congratulations! You can report every hour you spent as one PMP PDU. On the other hand, if you don’t, then don’t worry, now you know an easy way of earning PMP PDUs.

Another option you can take is attending On-Demand e-learning courses. Self-paced learning is growing so fast due to its convenience. You can use such an option to earn your PMP PDU without the need to bound yourself with a trip to a training class. There are also Academic Education Programs accredited by PMI Global Accreditation Center as well as PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) training courses. Finally, PMI accepts any other third party training provider that offers relevant training courses. Does it get more simple than this? Any training you attend from any provider counts, as long it covers related topics.

But that is not all, the following options are even easier and more simple.

Organization Meetings

If you attend a meeting, event or even an activity related to the project management profession, you can earn PMP PDU. Even though it is limited to 1 to 2 PDUs, you can still use it as one of your ways to collect PMP PDU. Also, this option is not limited to PMI specific events or activities, but they are easier to report. To earn PMP PDU from this option, you can easily view the PMI events calendar or check with the nearest PMI chapter.

Reading

So if you thought the previous option was the easiest way to earn PMP PDU, let me tell you that you are wrong. PMI also accepts self-directed learning including reading books, material or even relevant articles. Also, PMI accepts Podcasts and other material that offers similar content as PMP PDU.

Informal Learning

Finally, if you were mentored, guided, instructed, or even went into the discussion over a project management related topic you can also report this as PMP PDU. This includes your typical professional discussions with your work colleagues over-improving your PMO practices.

Ways to earn Giving Back to the Profession PMP PDU

Moving forward to the next category, Giving Back to the Profession. A unique opportunity to expand the knowledge as well as the skills and at the same time growing personally as well as professionally. Giving Back to the Profession offers a roadmap for certification holders to grow steadily in line with the dynamics of today’s business environment. Despite the fact that PMI does not require it for renewal, still, it is an excellent way for expanding your skill horizons.

Usually, you would think it is all about working as a professional or a practitioner and this is where you are wrong. Although working as a professional is one of the major ways of earning Giving Back to the Profession PMP PDU it is not the only one. The following list illustrates the possible options to earn your PMP PDU through the Giving Back category.

Work as a professional / practitioner

The obvious one of them all, working as a professional / practitioner. By applying the knowledge and set of skills in a project management role within a practical setting, you can earn up to 8 PMP PDU per cycle. Also, these PMP PDU has to be reported once per the three years cycle, and you can not transfer extras to the next cycle.

Create Content

Do you develop content knowledge resources for the use of other practitioners to share your knowledge and expertise? If the answer is yes, then you can earn one PMP PDU per the number of hours you spent creating this content. This includes writing articles or books or even blogs, creating webinars or presentations. This also applies to develop content for PMI associated websites.

Give a Presentation

Now that’s a clear one. If you give a formal presentation to share knowledge related to PMP certification to others you can also claim one PMP PDU for each hour you spent.

Share Knowledge

It is similar to the education category’s informal learning. If you were at the other end of the mentoring table, i.e. you are the mentor you also get to claim PMP PDU. This means that you can report 1 PMP PDU per each mentoring hour. This does not only include mentoring, but it also includes teaching or instructing others as well as applying subject matter knowledge to an activity that others will benefit from through your perspective of experience.

Volunteer

Now we come to the final option for you to earn PMP PDU. This can be achieved by providing your volunteer services to an organization that is not your employer or a client. You can do this as a part of the PMI community of volunteers who support the Institute and the profession in a variant ranges of roles. For volunteering to count it has to be within the related domains and services of nonprofit organizations. Accordingly, a one-hour volunteering service is equal to 1 PMP PDU.

Important PMP PDU notes

Since we described all available options to earn different types of PMP PDU, we are going to highlight some important policies and notes related to PDUs. These policies will act as a guideline to you while reporting your PDUs in order to avoid ending up reporting wrong PDUs.

PDUs are subjected to audits

Similar to PMP exam eligibility requirements, PMI subjects PMP PDU to PMI audits. This means that you might be selected for an audit upon renewal. If PMI selects your PMP PDUs for PDU audit you need to know before reporting any PMP PDU that you might be asked for its evidence. The PDU evidence varies from one PDU to another according to the type and nature of the reported PDU. So be careful not to report fake PMP PDU or submitting a PDU that you can not prove.

Only report PDUs relevant to the period after being certified

If you had a number of activities you completed before you earn your PMI PMP certification, do not report them as PMP PDUs. PMI only considers activities as PDUs in which you are involved after you are PMP certified. All activities before that are not eligible as PDUs.

You only claim activity participation once

It may seem obvious, but we have seen worse. It is a big NO for trying to claim PDUs more than once for the same activity or course participation. Be careful PMI may take this with serious actions.

Some PDUs may carry over to the next three years cycle

If you earn more PDU than the required number for the three years cycle, you can carry over a portion of them to the next cycle. This comes with a restriction that you can only carry over PMP PDU earned in the last 12 months of the certification cycle. The number of PDUs you can carry over varies from one certificate to another. For PMP certification, you can carry over up to 20 PDUs. The same applies to PgMP, PfMP, and PMI- PBA. On the other hand, PMI -ACP, PMI -RMP, and PMI -SP can only carry over 10 PDUs.

Working as a practitioner does not carry over

The carryover rule does not apply to “working as a professional or practitioner” category anymore. This means that regardless of the timing of earning working as a professional or practitioner PMP PDUs, you can not report them in the future cycle even if they occur in the last 12 months of the current cycle. This restriction only applies to this type of activity. Meanwhile, the other giving back to profession activities treated with the same way education activities. They can carry over if they occur in the last 12 months of the current cycle to the next cycle. This means that you can report them in the future cycle normally. Be aware of this exception so you don’t fall a victim of such a rare rule if PMI selects your PDUs for audit!

Same PDUs can Maintain Multiple PMI Certifications

This is one of the great bonuses PMI offers its certification holders. If you hold more than one certification you can use the same PDU to maintain all your held certifications. This applies in different ways between different PDU categories. As a result, Education PDUs which fall under the Power Skills type can be applied to all certifications at the same time. For example, if you attend a 2 hours webinar about Power Skills, and you use it for PMP and PMI -ACP certifications. In that case, you can report 2 PMP PDU and at the same time apply the same 2 hours to PMI -ACP PDUs. The same concept applies to Business Acumen PDUs. The logic behind this merit is that Business Acumen as well as Power Skills concepts are wide educational topics and not bound to one specific certification.

On the other hand, the same concept can not be applied to Ways of Working. The reason behind this is that Ways of Working knowledge is specific to the certification knowledge domain. Thus only PMP and may be PgMP can fully benefit from all Ways of Working PDUs. While other certificates will only benefit from the relevant Ways of Working PDUs.

Alternatively, Giving Back to the Profession PDUs can apply to all certifications since practical experience and its associated activities are more broadly applicable to all certifications.

Certification Status

If you don’t track your certification status regularly, you might hit unexpected status unknown to you. Thus, we listed here the different certification statuses to give you a proper overview. Your certification status defined through the CCR program and the fulfillment of its requirements. Certification statuses include

• Active Status, which refers to your fulfillment of all CCR certification requirements.
• Suspended Status refers to your state of not satisfying CCR certification requirements within the running cycle. This status lasts 12 months after the cycle ends. This status can become active, in case you fulfill the CCR requirements.
• At the end of the suspension period if you still didn’t satisfy the CCR requirements your certification status changes to Expired Status and you will have to apply for a new exam in order to regain your certification.
• As for Retired Status, it only applies to a certification holder with good CCR standing but voluntarily asked to retire your certification due to your retirement. Only those who have been certification holders with good standing at least for 10 consecutive years.

Free PMP PDU Options

Now that we paved the way with a descriptive and detailed way and provided you with a clear understanding of how the whole PMP PDU thing work. Now we will help identify opportunities for earning free PMP PDU without needing to pay for it. The internet is full of project management related content which you can benefit from easily and use it as a way to earn PMP PDUs. Still, there are some concerns over some of these contents due to their lack of credibility. Because even if they might provide you with a way to earn real PMP PDU, they might harm your knowledge and understanding of project management critical concepts. So you need to select carefully and watch out for amateur content developers and bloggers. Now let’s go through the available sources for an easy PMP PDU.

PMI webinars, events, activities

The first option we are going to discuss is to participate in webinars, events, activities sponsored by PMI. PMI has an updated calendar that contains tons of upcoming webinars, events, and activities. You can join these activities for free without paying anything. Also, these webinars, events, and activities are credible and trustworthy. In addition to the mentioned, PMI reports most of these webinars, events, and activities automatically without your intervention. This means they are not subjected to any audit from any kind. Accordingly, you do not need to keep track of the webinars, events, and activities you attended. Despite the benefits offered by this option, you need to consider the PMP PDU categories’ limitations and requirements.

Volunteering with PMI

Another PMI option is to participate in the PMI volunteering community. PMI has a rigid volunteering system where you can subscribe and select your preferred volunteering activities. Then PMI matches your preferences with volunteering opportunities directly and notifies you. PMI may not report this type of activity automatically, so you need to keep track of your work. In other words, you have to keep evidence of your work through letters or certificates. This option has similar benefits to the prior one but you must be aware of the limitations over PMP PDU categories.

Reading and Self-studying PMI material

Although PMI offers content restricted only to its paid membership, it still offers another variety of free content. This free content includes articles, recorded webinars and other material in different media formats. Accordingly, you can read the articles and watch other media and earn your free PMP PDUs. Still, you need to be mindful of the PMP PDU categories’ limitation requirements.

Contributing to Project management.com Content

This is a good option but by far it is NO easy gig. PMI supervises the content of the projectmanagement.com website and they have strict requirements for any added content. Although they accept a contribution from any professional, they still review it carefully and reject many of the contents. So you can use this option if you can.

Project management.com reading and self-study material

Like PMI offered content but with much wider varieties and richness, projectmanagement.com offers a huge amount of free content includes articles, recorded webinars and other material in different media formats. Thus, you can read the articles and watch other media and earn your free PMP PDUs. Still, you need to be mindful of the PMP PDU categories’ limitation requirements.

Project management.com webinars, events, activities

Similar to PMI, projectmanagement.com offers a wide range of activities for you to participate in. They include webinars, events, activities sponsored by PMI and other sponsors. Also, projectmanagement.com updates its calendar with a huge amount of webinars, events, and activities. Similar to PMI, you can also join for free. Also, these webinars, events, and activities share the same level of credibility and trustworthy of PMI. Some of its activities and events reported automatically to your PMP PDU account directly without your intervention. This comes with the same benefit of not worrying about audit evidence. Just like it shares PMI privileges, it also shares its PMP PDU categories limitation requirements.

Youtube, bloggers, and V-loggers

In terms of availability, free content, and the number of contributors nothing beats this option. On the other side of the story, this option is full of harm if you are not careful. Most of the content provided through such channels is not accurate. At the same time, none of them are verified by a credible party. Accordingly, if you decide to go for this option, you must be extremely selective and cautious. There is no content auditor, there are no reviewers so you are only left to your personal judgment. At the same time, it is extremely hard to verify the content end to end considering the fact that you will deal with new information. This should be the least favored option between all the offered ones.

Credible blogs

Not all blogs belong to amateurs. There are some blogs that are associated with credible institutions or training providers. These institutions and training providers offer articles written by professionals, practitioners, instructors, and professors. This type of content gains its credibility from the credibility of the institutions or training provider itself. Thus the more credible the institutions or training provider, the more credible its associated blog. The issue with this PMP PDU earning option is that it has the limitation of not being well structure way to earn PDUs.

Free project management courses

Many of the training providers offer an introductory level of their courses online for free. Imagine a three hours online course offered by a reputable training provider for free. When you attend such a course you earn 3 PDUs with no paid fees. No, that’s not a daydream, as I mentioned above many training providers offer the introductory level of their courses online for free. They do this as a complement for their students. At the same time, as a gift for new joiners who are not sure yet if they want to follow the PMP track. A big benefit of such an option is the breakdown that is usually offered by the training providers for the PMP PDU category. Also, some of them are PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) which eases the way you report your earned PMP PDU.

Delivering project management training or developing project management material

If you are a trainer this should be an easy gig. Just do what you do, deliver project management training or develop the training material. This option, of course, only applies to those who work as trainers or training content developers. However, even if you are not a trainer but you have a group of audiences that you can deliver project management training to, then it’s possible for you to develop material and deliver the training to these audiences. This way you can use the time you spent to develop the material and the time you spent to deliver the training as earned PMP PDU. Although this way is extremely good it is not available for everyone.

What should I do after earning 60 PMP PDUs to Renew PMP Certification?

Once you complete earning your 60 PMP PDU, the first step you need to do is to report them to PMI. You do the reporting of your PMP PDU through entering your PDUs into the PMI online Continuing Certification Requirements – CCR – system.

Once you reported all of your PMP PDU, you need to pay the PMP certification renewal fees. The fees vary between PMI membership subscribers and nonmembers. Accordingly, PMI membership subscribers pay $60 to renew their PMP certification while non-PMI membership subscribers are required to pay $150 to renew their PMP certification. We highly recommend that once you renew your PMP certification, you should have a break from earning PMP PDU for the new three years cycle.

You can pay your renewal fees and complete your PMP renewal process at any point in your cycle just after you complete your PMP PDU requirements. At the same time, you have to process your renewal payment within 90 days after your cycle end date. The reason behind this advice is to give you a room to celebrate your achievement and have proper rest for a while. Later on, you can start a new journey with your new plan for the next three years cycle.

PMI Audit Process

As a holder of a PMI certification, you agreed on your compliance with PMI terms of use and conditions. These terms and conditions include your adherence to the terms of the PMI audit process. The PMI audit process terms state that all holders of PMI certification are subject to the PMI audit process. In the case of being selected for the PMI audit, PMI will only allow you to renew your PMP certification after you complete the audit. This means you must pass the PMI audit successfully and meet all of the PMI audit terms.

The PMI PMP PDU audit process involves randomly selecting a percentage of certification holders for the PMI’s audit process. The selected certification holders for an audit will have to submit supporting material to verify any reported PDUs. Accordingly, it is crucial for you to keep all of your PMP PDU documentation claims at least 18 months after the end of the CCR three year cycle.

The post PMP PDU Guide – 100% PDU Aspects Covered appeared first on Project Hipo.

What is a CAPM certificate?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers a professional certificate known as Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM). This certificate is intended for individuals aiming to add project management skills to their current roles. CAPM certification gives recognition to beginner practitioners of project management. It is also ideal for the project team members who aspire to demonstrate their project management knowledge. This certificate indicates knowledge of principles and terminology in the PMBOK. These are generally identified as best practices in project management. Also, project team members can benefit from this certification to align their understanding and work with project managers. The same goes to those who don’t have project experience but are interested in project management. The certificate showcases its holders’ professional knowledge. Most companies recognize CAPM certification as applied practical experience helping in developing skills needed for project management.

What are the benefits of CAPM?

A CAPM certification has many benefits and is definitely worth the time and investment if you decide that this is the certification for you. First, if your ultimate goal is to pass the PMP exam, CAPM puts you on the right track to do it. It proves your credibility with potential employers and increases your capabilities in the work experience required to qualify for the PMP exam. Secondly, if you are not eligible for PMP certification, CAPM certification comes as the second-best option for you.

What is a PMP certificate?

Since we talked about the CAPM certificate, we will briefly go through the most popular PMI credential. This certification is the Project Management Professional, in short PMP. Since the early days PMI developed PMP, it has been the golden medal for project managers worldwide. But PMP requires strict eligibility criteria for its pursuers before they can even attempt to take its exam. These PMP requirements include 5 years of managing projects, 35 hours of PMP training, and a high school diploma degree. Also, if you have a four-year degree, you can benefit from reducing the required project managing experience to 3 years only. Due to the appeal of PMP, these criteria may become frustrating for those who aspire to pursue the PMP certificate. Thus, CAPM comes as a good step for those who don’t satisfy the experience requirement.

CAPM Exam Prep Steps

To take the CAPM exam, you must fulfill the requirements set by PMI, which are as follows:

First, you need to submit your application online or by mail to PMI, PMI response time is faster for electronic requests. Then you have 90 days to complete the application. You also need to pay the certification fee. Accordingly, it takes PMI up to 24 hours to review the application. If your application is selected for the audit process, you have 90 days to submit your audit materials. Then, PMI processes the audit material in 5-7 days. Once PMI approves your application, you can take the exam at any Pearson VUE test center within one year of the date the application approval. As a side note, you can take the test up to 3 times during a year, however, you need to pay the re-examination fee for attempts past the first one.

The CAPM certification stays valid for 5 years from the date of passing the exam and to renew it you need to take a re-examination test. Also, you need to apply for re-accreditation in the last year of your certification course. On the other hand, in case of failure, you need to apply again as a new candidate for  CAPM certification. The CAPM exam consists of 150 substantive questions with four options and you have 3 hours to complete the test. 15 out of 150 questions are pre-test questions and are not counted for scoring test points. PMI does not disclose the passing score on the test and the passing score is determined by sound psychometric analysis. Now we are going through the different steps for you to do your CAPM exam prep.

Step #1 – Qualify for CAPM Certification Requirements

As we explained before, one of the key reasons why CAPM certification is gaining high recognition is that it’s achievable, mainly for some professionals who do not have the set of requirements for PMP. So what are CAPM basic requirements are? And how they are less comprehensive than those for PMP certification? In order to qualify for the CAPM test, you must have at least a high school degree (high school diploma, associate degree, or global equivalent). Also, you need to attend 23 hours of formal CAPM exam prep education. Easy huh? Indeed! No experience is required, just attend 23 hours of CAPM exam prep training course and you are ready. This solves the key blocker for PMP eligibility criteria which is experience. Also, it serves you as a good step if you are planning to obtain PMP certification.

CAPM Exam Prep Step #2 – Attend CAPM Exam Prep Training

As we discussed, in order to be eligible to take the CAPM exam, there are two requirements that must be fulfilled in your CAPM exam prep process. The first one is your general education, assuming you have this, you need to attend 23 hours of PM education. These 23 hours of project management education can serve more than one purpose. For starters, the obvious purpose is to complete the eligibility requirements. ِYou may already have some project management education. As long as you keep records of what you’ve done and when it happened, you may be able to use the current training as part of your 23 hours. For example, if you attended a course that included some project management elements, the hours related to project management count within the requirements of the CAPM. The same applies to your employer-provided training if you have taken an internal course on project management in your company, you can calculate those hours.

So what happens if you do not yet have any project management education, or you cannot prove your training? To be eligible for the test, you must be able to demonstrate that you have reached 23 hours of training. If you haven’t been able to do that yet, the simple answer is to take a CAPM certification course but you have to choose a trusted provider.

Here comes the second purpose we implied above, you can hit 2 birds with one stone when you select your training provider. One hit the eligibility criteria, the second is to start your CAPM exam prep. Many CAPM exam prep training providers offer the training with the outline of the 23 hours requirements as well as providing extensive CAPM exam prep for those who aspire to take the exam.

CAPM Exam Prep Step #3 – Make Practice As Much As Possible

There are many study guides and ideas to plan for the CAPM exam prep, as you need a good knowledge of the PMBOK framework. This includes knowledge of inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques for all project management processes and areas of knowledge to pass this test. Therefore, your best bet for feeling as ready as possible is to take a CAPM exam prep training course. Even if you have project experience and project management knowledge, we still recommend you attend a CAPM exam prep training as it will help you better understand the PMI project management framework. There are many top tier training providers offer CAPM exam prep training based on PMBOK Guide. The most important thing is that you ensure your understanding of the project management knowledge. Then, focus more on incorporating these concepts and understanding the relationship between different processes. Also, you should focus on understanding how to use the same tools and techniques in different processes.

Pay attention to these challenging areas to acquire relevant skills in project management. Another piece of advice, don’t overdo it, there is no need to follow many books; that will be difficult to manage before the exam. Then you need to plan how to study areas of knowledge in project management and test your understanding to identify weak areas. After completing the gaps, you need to take around 2 to 7 mock exams to strengthen your CAPM exam prep. This will give you an indication of where you stand on your certification journey. You should get over 80% on each test, which is an indication that you are on the right track. By analyzing the CAPM exam prep mock tests you can identify further knowledge gaps and work on them. 

Study plan and implementation strategy

The CAPM exam prep strategy varies among the candidates based on their current project management skills and they need to plan accordingly. A regular candidate with minimal knowledge of project management needs to plan at least two hours a day for two to three months to pass this test. They can plan an additional two hours during the weekends and holidays. Consistency is the key so don’t miss it even one day in preparation. You need to make sure that you are armed with the necessary CAPM exam prep materials and you attend the appropriate training for this test. You need to plan for an emergency fund as well as time for any unexpected deviations in your CAPM exam prep study plan. This will help you achieve success in the exam.

Your study plan should cover the following stages:

• Complete 23 hours CAPM exam prep course
• Prepare a CAPM exam prep plan with clear milestones for knowledge review
• Read through the PMBOK Guide
• Take notes of points of focus as you go
• Test your knowledge at the end of each knowledge area
• Identify knowledge gaps and restudy the related areas of knowledge
• Ask for advice from your tutor and join study group study
• Practice tests based on areas of knowledge
• Take 2 to 7 CAPM exam prep simulation program

CAPM Exam Prep Step #4 – Schedule & Sit for Your CAPM Exam

The next step in your CAPM exam prep is to schedule your CAMP exam itself, easy huh? Don’t be so sure about that, CAPM may seem easier than PMP but rest assured it is not that easy. You need to make sure you are well prepared for the exam by following the CAPM exam prep steps we offered above. Then you need to understand the following about CAPM exam prep:

Exam content structure

First of all the exam structure, CAPM exam contains the following content ratios across different knowledge areas:

• Understanding the key project management framework and key concepts (15%)
• Integration management (12%)
• Project scope management (11%)
• Time management (12%)
• Project cost management (7%)
• Quality management (6%)
• Project human resources management (8%)
• Communications management (6%)
• Project risk management (9%)
• Procurement Management (7%)
• Project stakeholders management (7%)

Types of questions in the CAPM test

Also, as a part of your CAPM exam prep, you need to understand the type of questions you will have to answer during the exam. PMI always offers its exam questions in the MCQ format. So you need to train yourself over this type of question. Also, keep in mind that these questions vary between knowledge check questions and situational questions. Thus you need to deepen your understanding of the topics not just memorizing the knowledge. Also, you need to support your understanding by exploring the practical example of how to apply project management knowledge. Then as a part of your CAPM exam prep, you should have had a number of practice questions and practice exams. Of course, if you followed the plan we advised you to follow earlier in the article you will cover all these points easily.

Here are the different types of questions you can see in the CAPM exam

• Tools, techniques, inputs, and outputs of the project management process-related questions.
• Questions with two or more correct answers but you need to select the best answer.
• Makeup conditions questions
• Questions where understanding is important
• Basic mathematics knowledge of project management related questions
• Situational questions where you need to consider a different set of data before deciding the right answer
• CAPM exam prep math questions

How do you prepare for questions regarding tools, techniques, inputs, and outputs for the project management process?

For the direct questions, you can answer well in using your CAPM exam prep gained knowledge. You need a very good knowledge of the PMBOK Guide created with the same approach. Since you have limited or no real-time project management experience, memory also plays a role in answering these questions. Focus on memorizing concepts after understanding them. This would help answer well in these areas.

Math questions

Unlike PMP exam math questions, CAPM math questions are very direct and most of the time they ask you ask directly for different formulas. Thus your CAPM exam prep won’t require much in-depth preparation for math questions. Even applying the formulas is less frequent on the exam. We have many formulas that we need to know for each set of project management processes and understand that it will give a lot of learning related to project management. This will help you address these questions in the exam.

However, for the situational questions, you need to sharpen your mind and use your imagination, in addition to the practical examples you studied to reach the right answer.

Common Mistakes

As a CAPM exam taker, you need to avoid the following mistakes during your CAPM exam prep. Thus read the following tips carefully and avoid falling in these mistakes. PMI exams are high standard tests and do not reduce test quality and your CAPM exam prep should reflect the same. So if your preparation is not good, you will be surprised and have no idea what to do. Limited knowledge in some areas of knowledge leads to exam failure. You must have a good understanding of all areas of knowledge to pass the test. 

Reschedule the exam date several times

Reschedule the test only if it is necessary due to emergency situations. Stick to the exam date. If you do not stick to a certain date, your study plan will not be tracked properly.

Choose not to follow a study plan

If you look at unsuccessful candidates you will find something in common: The willingness to invest in all the tools needed to prepare themselves well for the exam. This includes not having a CAPM exam prep plan and study loosely based on availability. This CAPM exam prep plan may seem not necessary but the truth is it is not optional. Having a CAPM exam prep plan as essential as taking the exam itself. To understand the concept well, you need to do a lot of tests related to every area of ​​project management knowledge. The process helps you get rid of your weakness, and successfully prepare yourself for the test. You need to have a question bank on hand to practice a lot of questions and plan to get one or register for an online course on the same thing.

Not taking mock exams

Another common mistake while CAPM exam prep is not practicing exam questions through a CAPM test simulator. A high-quality exam sample helps you analyze where you are at the time. Taking the 3-hour test requires strength, physical and mental techniques to stay focused. This experiment in performing the test in the simulation environment helps you to plan the real test well. It is better to face the problem in the mock test than in the real exam. There are questions from all areas of knowledge and this will give an indication of your understanding of project management process groups and areas of knowledge.

Schedule the CAPM exam

Now that you are ready to sit for the CAPM exam, followed the proposed steps for the CAPM exam prep that we offered you. You can get ready to schedule your and take the exam and make your CAPM exam prep come to fruition. PMI offers its exams through Pearson VUE test centers and you can look up the nearest test center to your location accordingly. At the same time, and luckily for you, PMI offers another more convenient option for CAPM exam takers. This option is the CAPM proctored online exam at your home or at your office. You can choose a convenient method for you. Before deciding which option you would take you should first review the online proctored exam requirements.

This will help you prepare the environment you need in case you decide to go for the proctored option. As a side note, if you are this type of people who need to feel the exam environment of test centers then it’s better to go for it.

Before your exam

After completing your CAPM exam prep, we highly recommend that you take two days off before your CAPM exam date. This will give your mind the time it needs to process everything you’ve learned so far. Also, you can have some relaxation from your CAPM exam prep related activities. If you choose to utilize Pearson VUE, pay a visit to the examination place before the exam date. This will allow you to understand the amount of time it takes to reach the place. On the other hand, if you choose the proctored online exam, make a note in your CAPM exam prep to test the examination platform 1 day before the exam date

On CAPM exam day

Of course, you have scheduled the exam on the day that suits you. As we mentioned, you can take a CAPM test online at your home by monitoring online, or you can take the test at the Pearson VUE test center as well. As a part of your CAPM exam prep, you must prepare yourself for the exam formalities. Thus you need to bring your PMI authorization letter and an ID with the same name as your authorization letter.

Exam tips

At this point, all of your hard work during your CAPM exam prep comes to the test, follow these tips to avoid wasting your efforts:

• Once the exam starts, if you are having trouble remembering any concepts, write those concepts down on your worksheet. This will help relax your mind before the exam.
• You will see one question at a time. However, you have the option to tag the question for later review and you can move forward and backward. If you’ve read the question multiple times and you are exhausted, use the breathing technique to relax.
• Focus on the question and the answer. If you were thinking about question ten when answering question 80, you did not focus well on almost 70 questions and the result should be a disaster for you.
• Answer every question from a PMI perspective.
• Follow the removal strategy to get rid of the wrong options. This will help to answer more questions correctly.
• Use every 3 hours for the test and never leave the test room before. Take the test based on your plan and take the exam. Never allow the test to control you.

CAPM Exam Prep Step #5 – Gear Up for PMP Certification

If you pass the CAPM exam successfully after following CAPM exam prep, then congratulations on your CAPM certificate granted for 5 years. Then you will receive your CAPM certification from PMI through email. Your CAPM exam prep has proven successful and you can have some rest and celebrate your achievement.

Now, what is next? After successfully applying your CAPM exam prep plan and achieving the credential you will likely gain enough project management experience. Thus, you may think forward and look forward to the transition to PMP® certification at some near-future point. We recommend that you keep track of your progress in your career and measure your position in meeting PMP requirements. And if you pass the 5 years CAPM validity, you may take the PMP exam instead of taking the CAPM reexamination.

As a matter of fact, being an active CAPM owner will give you an advantage while pursuing the PMP certification. Because CAPM holders do not need to meet the PMP requirement of Project Management Education 35 contact hours.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed CAPM certification details and offered you a proposed CAPM exam prep plan. Also, we moved through the most important steps for CAPM exam prep and given you the recipe for an effective CAPM exam prep plan. Then we covered the CAPM exam prep before exam tips, tricks, and best practices that you may use to pass the CAPM exam. And as a part of the CAPM exam prep process, we explained the importance of CAPM certification in context with the more popular PMP certificate. Now you are fully ready for your CAPM exam prep journey, we wish you the best of luck.

The post CAPM Exam Prep – 100% Success Path to Get CAPM appeared first on Project Hipo.

Project management is the art of planning and organizing the company’s resources to achieve a specific mission, event or duty towards completion. The resources managed include personnel, finances, technology, and intellectual property. Project management is often associated with engineering and construction fields, but recently project management also entered healthcare and information technology (IT) fields. These fields usually have a complex set of components, which project managers complete and assemble to create a functioning product. Regardless of the industry, project managers prefer to work on defining project objectives as well as determining when to complete different project components in addition to determining who will perform these activities. They also work on creating quality control tests to ensure that the completed components comply with a specific standard. Thus, this makes us wonder what the project manager’s mission is, what are his responsibilities towards his work and towards his team?

Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The project manager’s responsibilities include Planning, Executing, and Closing Projects. In addition to that, there are other responsibilities such as defining the project scope, building its comprehensive work plan, and managing the budget. Managing teams, facilitating commitment and productivity, removing obstacles, and motivating team members are also a part of the project manager’s responsibilities.

These responsibilities not only require many skills, but they also need to develop these skills continually. Therefore, to become a professional project manager, you must develop your skills. You can do this by constantly obtaining relevant courses and project management certifications that enhance your expertise. You have to bear in mind that these courses and certifications need to be accredited from internationally recognized providers. This will allow you to have a great deal of confidence in your project management certification and boost your project management skills.

So, did you fail to achieve a goal because you did not plan for it well? Have you ever wondered why your project final look did not look as expected?

We must admit that one of the most important tools of success is to set the steps to achieve this success. Therefore, project management contains a number of groups of steps to achieve the project goal. These groups’ steps are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitor and Control, and Close.

Initiation

This stage begins by asking two important questions, what is the project extensively? What is the benefit and return from its implementation?

In order to answer these questions, the project manager creates two important documents:
Business Case: All the reasons for needing this project are explained, which includes the analysis of the return on investment.
Feasibility Study: You need to evaluate what the project’s goals are, the timeline to completion and how much will it cost. You also need to know what resources will be required to fulfill the project and whether it makes sense or not financially and commercially.

Planning

If the upper management approves the project, the project manager starts planning for the project. Starting by how to manage the project so that it can achieve its goals within budget and on time. The project plan should include the necessary resources, funding, and materials. Also, the plan gives direction to your team and the following:

Scope: A written scoping statement that reiterates the need for the project.
Definition: Here you can divide large products into smaller ones.
Tasks: Identify the tasks necessary to produce the results, and see if any tasks depend on other tasks.
Timetable: Determine the duration of tasks and set dates to complete them.
Cost: Estimate the costs involved in the project and formulate a budget.
Quality: Ensure achieving the quality objectives throughout the project.
Organization: Observe how the project will be organized, and including reporting on progress.
Staff: Define the roles and responsibilities of the project team.
Communication: Decide how to publish the information, to whom and with what frequency.
Risk: Identify potential risks and how they will affect the project, and then plan how to solve them.
Procurement: Specify the work or materials to be contracted. Also, identify the contractors.
Management: Managing the secured contracts in the project.

Implementation

After the completion of the planning, it is time to act and start the project. You must follow the plan you created, assign tasks to team members, manage and monitor their progress using project management tools, such as the project dashboard.

Monitor and control

To ensure that the project plan is in progress the project manager must monitor and adjust the plan as needed. To do this, they have to follow these operations:
Reporting: Get a benchmark to measure project progress and a tool to provide this information.
Scope: Monitor scope and control changes.
Quality: Measure the quality of the deliveries and ensure meeting the planned quality. If not, evaluate how to improve quality.
Schedule: Tracking delays or blocks that affect the project schedule and adapting to the correct course.
Cost: Monitor costs and control cost changes.
Risk: Note the changes in risk throughout the project and respond accordingly.

Close the project

Once the project achieves its goals and objectives, the last stage of the project is to close it. This stage includes the following set of activities:
Scope: Ensure that the project results are completed as planned.
Management: Closing all pending contracts and administrative matters, archiving and publishing papers to the appropriate parties.

Now let us discuss the top tier Project Management Certifications available across the globe. There are multiple reputable Project Management Certification programs. We will go through each of them in the following section.

#1 Project Management Certification Program – PMP Certification

What is PMP? Wherever you are in your career, the internationally recognized Project Management Certification (PMP) tells employers, peers and the world you know what to do with project management. Even if the Project Manager is not part of your job title, the PMP as a project management certification still applies to anyone who helps complete the project. Just as the CPA certificate validates the experience for accountants, PMP understands your ability to manage projects – and the hard work you have done so far. This makes us wonder how important is of PMP certification? What is its impact on my project manager’s career?

As a PMP certified you can work in almost any industry or location. While you need to complete a few steps to get it, it can be a powerful tool. Here are some reasons why PMP certification can help you build your career successfully.

Why PMP certification is important for your career?

Across all different project management certifications, PMP is one of the best. There are multiple reasons motivates you to acquire project management professional certification, those reasons are illustrated below:

It adds credibility to your skills

As a PMP certified, you are a professional in this field. When looking for a job, this is a clear demonstration of your abilities and skills. Your CV will not only look more credible but also become a trusted expert for potential employers and future employees. You can see PMP training options.

It can increase your employment opportunities

Like most of the project management certifications, PMP provides its holders with higher pay than their peers. According to the PMI report, by 2027, employers will need 87.7 million individuals working in project-oriented roles. However, there is a shortage of qualified talent.

The best way for you to increase your chances of finding a job is to get your PMP certification. It will help you stand out from the competition and get hired much faster.

It can help you achieve career growth

The PMP certification course can help you not only learn a lot of new skills related to your profession but also broaden the way you learn and grow. These form the perfect foundation for you to keep growing and working your way up.

It allows you to keep abreast of industry trends

Project Management Institute (PMI) is always up to date with changes in the rapidly changing industry. Course content is constantly updated and updated based on the current industry situation, which means you will be familiar with the latest project management trends.

Helps you establish effective relationships

There are 791,448 PMP holders currently. When you become a PMI Club member, you will get the chance to meet new people who can be of great help to know them in the future. Whether you need help finding a job to enjoy or need a recommendation, these colleagues can help you.

Helps you know new job opportunities

PMI often organizes meetings around the world for its members. As a PMP Certificate Holder, you will be able to attend these meetings where you can easily see all the important business opportunities from your fellow PMI members.

Helps you to improve your skills

To pass a PMP certification test, candidates need to undergo training and a large number of courses. This means that you will have to spend hours and hours reading material, research and practice to be able to handle any aspect of the exam.

Helps you rise to the occasion

The skills you learn through the course are many and can help you do your job better and justify employer confidence. No matter what type of project management task you advance, you will be able to show your new boss that you can adapt to any challenges you face, thanks to the knowledge you have gained.

It increases your marketing

PMP certification is internationally accredited and recognized by the entire global business community. One of its biggest advantages is that it can help you increase your marketing ability and legitimize your experience as a project manager. As a result, you will be able to search for work wherever there are project management jobs available.

Allows you to earn a higher salary

These are the main factors affecting salary increase after PMP certification:

When you choose a specific course to upgrade your qualifications, you are definitely looking at financial rewards. PMI conducts surveys in various countries regularly to analyze project managers’ salary increases once they obtain PMP certification. Documented reports confirm the value of obtaining a PMP certification. Besides PMP certification, the 6 most important factors affecting salary are position or role, the average project size, the average project budget, the average size of the project team, years of experience in project management, job location.

Accordingly, as soon as you get a chance to manage a large project with a large team after getting a PMP certification, your opportunities will grow significantly.

Impact of PMP certification on salary:

According to PMI’s ninth PM salary survey, a PMP certified project manager gets a 20% higher salary than an uncertified project manager. This survey covers a total of 26,000 project managers in 34 countries. The survey results show a significant variance between project managers with the PMP certification and PMs without it.

It makes you add value to any organization you work for

Certified project managers add significant benefit and value to any organization. Not only are they able to deal with problems and setbacks more easily, but they can also organize their teams better and achieve the necessary results with minimal effort and resources, making them a valuable asset for every company they work in. An individual with PMP certification can work in almost any industry or location. While you need to complete a few steps to get it, it can be a fairly powerful tool. You can read about PMP certification requirements and PMP certification cost.

#2 Project Management Certification Program – Agile Certifications

Starting from the early 2000s Agile project management certifications became more popular especially after 2010s. Especially the IT and Software industry has a high demand for agile certified professionals. There is a variety of agile project management certifications offered by a variety of institutions across the globe. These project management certifications usually are based on the same frameworks and methodologies. Accordingly, we have picked a number of top-tier agile project management certifications to review in this article.

PMI-ACP project management certification

This agile project management certification initially developed by the Project Management Institute. It aims to assist people who practice Agile’s on-the-job approach. To take the exam you must study various agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Lean, Kanban, and XP – to broaden your knowledge base. Thus, gaining a PMI ACP certificate testifies that your credentials when it comes to agile practices. You should learn most of the agile practices understanding differences, methods and ways to pass the test. This not only opens your mind but also makes you more skilled in agile practices that you already know.

Getting certified means that you have the features to implement agile methodologies, and it gives the employers confidence in you. The value of the certificate does not drop, due to the high standards set by the PMI globally. The certification requires not only hard work on your part but also requires that you have extensive project experience.

PMI-ACP project management certification requirements

This extensive experience requires a candidate to have at least 2000 hours of project experience. Therefore, you will never have to waste your time proving your credentials to anyone. PMI ACP has seen a rapid rise to the top of the best Agile Certifications on the market and hence there is a great demand for certified practitioners today. PMI ACP is used as an employer benchmark to measure your knowledge of Agile practices, especially for companies that use Agile.

Certified practitioners are always preferred compared to their unaccredited peers. Their high levels of knowledge of various Agile practices, such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP and Crystal also help them reach the top of the group. There are more benefits to getting a PMI ACP Certification. The PMI also provides a certification maintenance program, which enables the practitioner to keep abreast of the many developments in Agile. This means that the degree never becomes irrelevant and contributes to your career growth significantly.

PMI-ACP project management salary

Your career opportunities are also enhanced because all companies want employees who are able to apply and understand internal business aspects. Being a reliable source of enterprise, employers tend to chase you to get your high qualifications in this field. The average salary of a certified practitioner is approximately 20% higher than their non-accredited colleagues – which clearly enhances the value of this certification. According to surveys, it was found that Agile certified professionals earn about $ 120,000 on average, while employees without certificates earn only about $ 95,000 at the same level. The certification not only increases your shares with employers but also significantly increases your profits. In conclusion, PMI ACP project management certification may be new to the market, but it is one of the most effective and comprehensive testimonials available on Agile’s practices.

All of Agile’s methodologies and frameworks are covered under this single certification, giving you a better view of each Agile practice and its differences with each other. This certification opens you up to massive career growth and a large number of new job opportunities. The exam can be expensive, but the benefits are huge – you always keep in touch with new developments, your inventory is constantly rising, and the money spent on training and exams can be recovered within two months, even. So what are you waiting for? Take an Agile course accredited by the Project Management Institute!

PMI-ACP project management certification evolution

With the growth of the Agile community and institutions beginning to apply the Agile methodology excessively to implement their projects in a dynamic environment, PMI-ACP has become a popular and rapidly growing certification. The PMI ACP certificate offers its holders a huge advantage over others through its formal recognition of their knowledge and experience of Agile principles as well as using Agile tools. PMI ACP certificate is a set of qualifications combining Agile Training, Agile project experience and Evaluation of Agile Principles and Practices. Organizations usually depend on project practitioners to apply various project management approaches. Thus PMI-ACP serves this purpose as one of the global certifications which elevate professionals’ ability to support that need.

PMI-ACP project management certification benefits

The benefits of acquiring PMI-ACP project management certification are the following:

High demand

Around the world, there is a great demand for competent project managers in industries. Regardless of the academic background, the correct certification will demonstrate your expertise in project management skills. With various that heavily utilize Agile related technologies, there is a demand gap of professionals who apply Agile methodologies and practices. Thus, for practitioners who have working experience within an Agile environment even as project managers and developers, ACP project management certification offers a reason to praise their achievement.

Wide range

PMI-ACP includes more than one method of Agile methodologies including Scrum, FDD, XP, Kanban, DSDM, Crystal, etc. The purpose of this certification developed by PMI is the ability to credit professionals who practice Agile approaches, tools, and techniques in their work. It shows to employers that a professional has practical experience working in an agile environment. It has become a more popular and desirable certification by PMI.

Professional growth

PMI ACP certificate provides a vital role for your professional growth opportunities. It demonstrates to employers the level of professionalism in Agile practices required in project management. It increases your professional skills in project management tools and techniques. PMI ACP also helps you learn about the different Agile methods and improves your ability to adapt to Agile technologies which ultimately enhances customer satisfaction and team productivity. This certificate also proves you have the required level of experience in Agile as well as the knowledge of Agile tools and techniques and that you have professional resources to undertake any project based on Agile methodology.

Make you marketable

PMI-ACP project management certification enhances your CV, earns appreciation in your organization as well as with other employers and provides you with better job opportunities for career advancement. Proven to be incredibly helpful for your career in Agile Project Management, it opens doors to many methodologies for project development, collaboration, and better job opportunities. This certificate makes you a salable employee. The increased demand for Agile professionals, agile certifications like PMI-ACP tempts employers to chase you, given your competence in project management.

Benefits the organization

Today more and more companies are adopting the Agile approach instead of the traditional waterfall model. PMI-ACP certification helps discover technologies to effectively manage project scope and learn Agile principles and practices that improve team performance and collaboration that ultimately ensures better delivery.

Scrum Project Management Certifications

The Scrum methodology is an incredibly powerful group of values, principles, and practices despite being lightweight.
Scrum methodology depends on teams that are cross-functional which deliver work in short time boxes. Thus enabling fast feedback, rapid adaptation to change, continuous improvement and accelerated delivery. Generally, Scrum works by breaking large work into smaller pieces to complete in a short time. Typically, Scrum teams test each group of completed components. Then, the teams learn from their previous work, feedback to adapt upcoming work, minimize risk and reduce waste. Accordingly, repeating the cycle until the full completion of work in a manner that meets the needs of the customer.  This happens due to the opportunities for adjustment at the end of each cycle.

Benefits of using Scrum

Scrum teams give the highest priority to the continuous creation of working functionality, the business benefits with the maximum possible investment returns. Thus, utilizing Scrum offers businesses benefits like faster innovation, quickly moving the idea to delivery, generating a higher level of customer satisfaction and increasing the level of employee morale.

a-) Scrum Alliance project management certifications

Scrum Alliance offers a wide range of agile project management certification types which ranges between various tracks. These tracks include Scrum Master track, product owner track, and developer track. To obtain the advanced level of any scrum project management certification tracks you will need to acquire the prior level first.

Scrum Master track

The Scrum Master track has three levels of project management certification. The first level is Certified Scrum Master, which is the intro level for this track which fills the role of scrum master or scrum team member. The second level of this track is the Advanced Certified Scrum Master project management certification. Finally, the top tier level of this track is Certified Scrum Professional – Scrum Master, which certifies that you are able to challenge scrum teams to enhance the application of Scrum and Agile principles. At the same time, this project management certification certifies your demonstrated scrum experience, received training, and knowledge.

Scrum Product Owner track

The Scrum Product Owner track contains three levels of project management certification as well. Certified Scrum Product Owner is the first level of this track. This project management certification recognizes the role of creating product vision, ordering Product Backlog as well as ensuring the best possible job to satisfy the customer. The second level of this project management certification is the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner. This project management certification testifies the holder’s ability to maximize business value as well as optimize Product Backlog to reach the best way possible to increase key stakeholders’ satisfaction. The top tier level project management certification of this track is the Certified Scrum Professional Product Owner. As a Certified Scrum Professional, you are able to challenge your teams to enhance the application of Scrum and Agile principles. Also, this project management certification testifies that you demonstrate scrum experience, training, and knowledge.

Scrum Developer track

This track of project management certification Certified Scrum Developer includes two levels, the Certified Scrum Developer and the Certified Scrum Professional. Those two project management certifications certify development professionals who work within scrum teams.

b-) Scrum.org project management certifications

The Scrum.org offers a wide range of project management certification tracks, which all are based on scrum. The institution offers seven main project management certification tracks. Professional Scrum Master track is the first of these seven tracks. This project management certification track has 3 levels, to proceed for a higher level you must complete the prior level. The second track is the Professional Scrum Product Owner track and it has three levels with the same rules applied. The Professional Scrum Developer is the third track, which targets Scrum Development Team Members with 1 level only. Following there is the Scaled Professional Scrum track, which validates your ability to understate the key elements of agile scaling with 1 level only.

The Professional Scrum with Kanban track offers 1 level project management certification which verifies your ability to use Scrum and Kanban methodologies. The Professional Agile Leadership certificate validates that your leadership abilities and understanding Agile added value to the business. The final track Scrum.org offers is the Professional Scrum with User Experience. This track validates your understanding of how Scrum Teams integrates Scrum with User Experience to improve the creation of value.

#3 Project Management Certification Program – Prince2 Certification

The Prince2 project management certification offered through the Axelos institution. It is more popular in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and in some EU countries despite the fact that PMP is much more popular all around the world.

Benefits of having PRINCE2 Certification

Unlike PMP’s PMP, PRINCE2 is an effective project management methodology. The key difference between them is basically within the process as well as the body of knowledge. PMP is all about providing best practices for project management around the world in a standardized format. In fact, it turns away from recommending the processes to follow while managing projects, and here PRINCE2 project management certification comes into the picture, as it fills the void left by PMP.

The entire project is justified even before it starts

The PRINCE2 methodology requires full justification for actions at every level. The project should provide regular updates on business cases throughout the project life cycle to ensure delivery of the intended value to the project and its clients. Failure to do so will end the justification for continuing the project.

PRINCE2 tailoring according to any project in size and complexity

The best part about PRINCE2 is that you can tailor it according to project size and complexity. In PRINCE2 you can never remove an operation. Process activity must be completed, but you can customize the process to suit the right environment. Moreover, a lot of resources and time are saved because PRINCE2 is a built-in methodology, which means PRINCE2 will be applied to all aspects of the organization.

Improving salary opportunities with global opportunities

Professionals with PRINCE2 certification qualifications have more chances to land their dream job and pay well. Especially in countries like the UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia, your employer has all the rationale needed for your skills to give you an increase in salaries. According to Payscale.com, the highest average annual salary for PRINCE2 certified professionals ranges between approximately $ 60,000 and $ 123,000.

Employers all over the world have a great demand for project practitioners. Thre is more demand for PRINCE2 credential holders in the UK Australia, New Zealand, India and in some EU countries. While the demand for PMP certified professionals is more in the US and the rest of the world. At the end of the day, it all depends on the institution and the type of project you are dealing with to choose the right certification that best suits your career. The PMP certification is useful for obtaining a comprehensive view of project management, and PRINCE2 also mainly helps in understanding the processes and people in the project.

For project management practitioners to take their next level for their project management skills, they need to undergo accredited training in both PMP and PRINCE2. It will help you gain an in-depth understanding of project management approaches and apply project management techniques that are best suited for successful project completion.

Prince2 Certification levels

Axelos provided Prince2 Certification has two levels where you have to acquire the 1st level in order to acquire the second level.

Prince2 Foundation Certification

Foundation level certification of Prince2 requires you to have an in-depth understanding of how to work with Prince2 methodology effectively on projects as well as understanding the basics of Prince2 methodology and terminology.

Prince2 Practitioner Certification

It is the advanced level certification of Prince2. The requirement for this project management certification is to confirm your ability to customize Prince2 principles to fit project requirements. While as a Practitioner, you become fit to lead teams that use Prince2 Methodology.

#4 Project Management Certification Program – CAPM Project Management Certification

Are you in your early years of Project Management career? If yes, that means you do not have enough project management experience. Thus, you are not qualified for some project management certification such as PMP. CAPM project management certification is entry-level certification of PMI for project managers in their early years in their careers.

What are the different benefits of CAPM project management certification?

CAPM project management certification can be a starting point for your career as a project manager. It has many advantages.

1. It will give you global recognition

PMI is world-famous for its literature and project management certificates. CAPM is an entry-level project management certification. It is widely accepted all over the world by various organizations. By earning this accreditation, you will be recognized as a knowledgeable professional.

2. It will enhance your knowledge

By studying for the CAPM project management certification exam, you will learn about various project management tools and techniques. In addition, you will learn about project management practices that have proven to improve the project’s success rate. Some might say that knowledge can be acquired without preparing for the test. Right! But everyone knows that true knowledge comes only when seriously preparing for the exam.

3. It is a professional achievement

CAPM project management certification is a relatively difficult exam to pass. The credentials give you instant recognition and respect among your peers.

4. It will increase your confidence

The idea of passing a globally recognized certification exam level is a challenge. You will feel comfortable and feel good after passing the exam. It would give a huge boost to your confidence.

5. It has the potential to give you better job opportunities

Since CAPM project management certification is a well-recognized certification that enhances your knowledge, it may open doors for junior project management jobs. Even if you do not have commensurate professional experience or are not fully qualified for a job, companies may give you preference over more qualified candidates.

6. Organizations tend to give you greater responsibilities

After getting the CAPM certification, you will be recognized as more knowledgeable and skilled than your peers. Organizations tend to benefit from your additional knowledge in assuming project responsibilities. This can lead to more complex project management.

7. It can improve the project’s success

The credentials give you the knowledge to apply project management tools and techniques to project activities. This improves the overall efficiency of project management and will likely lead to more successful projects.

8. It can improve customer satisfaction

CAPM project management certification enhances a person’s basic knowledge about project management that appears in their commitment to action. It also increases the customer’s confidence in your abilities and skills.

9. It enhances the marketing of your organizations

CAPM project management certification comes with global recognition. Your organization can use it as a marketing tool to win more contracts from clients.

10. It can serve as a platform for PMP certification follow-up

The examination content for CAPM project management certification and PMP project management certification is almost the same. CAPM project management certification relies only on the PMBOK Guide while PMP project management certification mostly relies on it. After you get the CAPM project management certification, you are almost ready to pass the PMP project management certification exam. Once you are eligible for taking the PMP project management certification exam, you can apply for the PMP project management certification immediately.

#5 Other Project Management Certification Programs

I addition to the project management certification programs we mentioned, there are other top tier project management certification programs we will list and discuss below for your review.

Certified Project Director – CPD Project Management Certification

CPD is a project management certification at the orientation level as it is not only difficult to take the exam, but the accredited institute also has certain requirements to keep the CPD project management certification course active. As an approved project manager, this obligates you to “maintain” your degree by completing a pre-determined number of hours in the field service.
Likewise, the courses for subordinates are also an additional point. CPD contains two units; the official and unofficial CPD documents. You should not confuse them with each other because the official, certified project manager is considered a professional with structured online education, appropriate certification, and supporting documents.
Regardless, CPD is one of the most prestigious accredited project management courses. As much as CPD itself represents a daunting adventure, it rewards qualified employees with equal job opportunities and salaries.

Requirements for a certified project manager

Since CPD project management certification accredited with GAQM, they have been tasked with obtaining solid knowledge about project management principles and methodologies. Additionally, you need to demonstrate practical knowledge in project management as a manager to qualify for the exam.

Certified Project Manager – CPM-IAPM Project Management Certification

The Phytosanitary Measures Authority introduced more than a decade ago when the terrorist attacks shook the foundations of the US government on September 11, 2001. The main body at that time offered the course of the Certified Project Manager course due to the unexpected nature of the disaster at hand.

Along with buildings and other physical ruin, the attack sent tremors through IT infrastructure. Companies were not prepared to deal with such pressure and needed certified project managers to assess their skills through practical experience. Since then, this certification has been internationally recognized by project management training institutes.

Requirements for a certified project manager

CPM and CPM-IAPM tests are relatively easier. There are no prerequisites for taking the test, except for proof of attending a 3-day course.

Professional Project Management – PPM Project Management Certification

Although it is not difficult to obtain a certificate such as PPM project management certification, companies prefer to hire experienced professionals compared to those who have just completed their courses.

As a certified PPM professional, if you are looking to enter the job market, many companies will expect you to have knowledge/skill regarding resource allocation and QoS maintenance with minimal risk and effective communication and perseverance to bring about change in the company.

Just like CPM, the PRO line up in Project Management Certification with Risk and Crisis Management Training.
Professional in project management requirements:
• Unlike its peers, the PPM certification exam does not require that you obtain an official university degree
• Candidates need at least some experience in project management. If this is not a possibility, then you need to demonstrate your knowledge and familiarity with project management in one way or another

Master Project Manager (MPM)

Project management is growing at a rapid pace and is used in all industries, whether health, communications, chemicals, and energy, as well as in the social sector. The MPM project management certification is designed for professionals who want to increase productivity in the workplace.

MPM project management certification mainly focuses on professional project managers, but in addition, it also supports these professionals in technical and business management roles.

MPM project management certification is one of the certifications that help you earn additional points for IT professionals who are in the field of project management in their company. It provides a simple yet effective training environment for professionals with a technical background by identifying and linking management teachings to engineering.

Professional in Master Project Manager requirements
• Three years of training and project management experience makes applicants eligible for exemptions with a master’s degree with relevant job experience
• Graduates who have less than three project management years of experience are eligible to take this certification.

Associate in Project Management (APM) Project Management Certification

Associate in Project Management is one of the introductory project management certifications.

It is an internationally recognized important accreditation in the field of project management that demonstrates that the candidate has the required knowledge in this field that is limited to the level of project management initiation.

The exam consists of 50 questions to choose from which the candidate needs to obtain 70% (35 out of 50 correct) to pass the test and the total exam duration is one hour (60 minutes).

Professional in project management requirements
• No formal education or experience required

Certified Project Management Practitioner – Project Management Certification

Immediately after the establishment of the European Council in 2001, the government wanted to address some of the fundamental issues that resulted from the notorious terrorist attack. For this issue, the CPMP project management certification was created as a standard for those with a talent for managing disaster recovery operations.

It is expected that people with a certified project management practitioner certification will take a number of projects related to infrastructure development, administrative obstacles, and leadership obstacles. Although CPMP project management certification is not a high degree, it does serve as a solid foundation for anyone looking to enter a field that requires work experience.

As a result, value is added over time to management expertise, leadership characteristics, and technical skills.

CPMP project management certification requirements.

The CPMP project management certification requirements are rather simple. There are no prerequisites for this certificate. However, you have to submit a non-refundable fee of $ 200 for the exam. CPMP project management certification is taught in various training companies in two to three days. They charge exorbitant fees for these categories, so set aside a large portion of your budget in advance.

Six Sigma Black Belt Project Management Certification (CSSBB)

The next one on the list is CSSBB – also known as the Six Sigma Black Belt project management certification. Yes, it has a great name, and this name accompanies a good salary check with a host of challenges.

Another interesting thing about CSSBB project management certification is that it is not the only certificate in this category. If you are not up to the challenge or do not meet the prerequisite, you can sign up for the Six Sigma Green Belt certification. This is a lower-level certification and serves as a starting point for those looking to get a “Black Belt”.

CSSBB project management certification is internationally recognized and accredited through the ASQ Institute. ASQ Body of Knowledge has 18 other certificates. Three of these certifications are for project managers, while others elevate the PM level experience to a more professional level.

CSSBB project management certification is difficult to obtain. The path is strict due to the complex prerequisites and different fee structures. The good news is that once you’re done, you’ll enjoy the benefits of a decent wage schedule and many other perks offered by major corporations to professionals.

Six Sigma Black Belt Certification requirements (CSSBB)

In order to get the exam, or at least be eligible, you must prove that you have completed two different projects before. ASQ will require you to produce pre-written written project certificates plus 3 years of experience in this field.

Breaking the deal with this certificate is that it is only valid for three years. This is not a bad part. In order to retake the test, you need to retest all 18 certification exams that are part of the CSSBB structure! It looks cool, right?

Six Sigma Green Belt Certification Certificate

This certificate is part of another project management certification in the Six Sigma Black Belt certification group. There are a total of three certificates, and CSSGB project management certification is one of them. Three certificates are necessary for anyone looking to hone their skills as a project manager.

As usual, the ASQ Institute accredits CSSGB project management certification. Before the exam, candidates must have at least three years of experience in Six Sigma Projects. Additionally, the work experience must be full-time and paid for. Therefore, detainees or part-time workers are unable to pass the six accredited Green Belt exams.

The good news is that within the limits of the Green Belt Authority certification, you will be able to do one of the following with great ease and comfort.

• Dealing with related phase projects. The stages in Six Sigma can be customer voice, fundamentals of project management, project identification, planning, resource management, team dynamics, and vice versa. Each “stage” is a legacy of its own.
• You will also be able to perform operations analysis, measure the performance and capabilities of team members in a project and collect the data necessary for the current Six Sigma preparation.

Six Sigma Green Belt certification requirements (CSSGB)

CSSGB project management certification requirements are somewhat complicated. As mentioned earlier, you need to show written certificates or contracts for a minimum of 3 years of experience as a full-time worker in Six Sigma Projects.

ITIL Certification

ITIL is an IT service management certification that Axelos offers which has a lot of relevance to project management certifications. The ITIL set of certification systems offers a standard approach to the context of the ITIL framework. It consists of various levels of qualifications that concentrate on different pillars of ITIL service management best practices. This offering comes with varying levels of detail. The progressive nature of certification creates flexibility in terms of different areas and disciplines in addition to the ability to study only the areas of their main interest.

ITIL 4 Certification theme

Axelos offers four levels of certification within the ITIL 4 :

Foundation level

Designed as an introductory level to ITIL 4 to test exam taker’s understanding of IT service management within an end to end operating model. This is done through the creation, delivery and continual improvement of services and products. This level of the certificate does not require any perquisites, however, the certificate holder must pass the level exam.

ITIL 4 Managing Professional level

The ITIL 4 Managing Professional level offers practical and technical knowledge in terms of running successful IT services. It mainly targets IT service management practitioners who work within the technology context. This level requires you to certify the foundation level first before applying to any certification within this level. This level or stream contains four modules the candidate can take:

• First Module: ITIL 4 Specialist Create, Deliver and Support
• Second Module: ITIL 4 Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value
• Third Module: ITIL 4 Specialist High-Velocity IT
• Fourth Module: ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve.

For Axelos to certify you with the ITIL 4 Managing Professional designation, you must complete all modules in the stream.

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level recognizes the ITIL value, for all digitally enabled services not only for IT operations. To Become an ITIL 4 Strategic Leader, you must demonstrate a clear understanding of the influences of IT over business strategy. ITIL 4 Strategic Leader level stream consists of two modules. Those two modules are ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve and ITIL 4 Leader Digital and IT Strategy. For Axelos to certify you with the ITIL 4 Strategic Leader designation, you must complete all modules in the stream.

Master level

The highest level of ITIL is the ITIL Master certification. To achieve this level, you must explain and justify your personal application of a range of principles, knowledge, techniques, and methods of ITIL in addition to, explaining management support techniques, to achieve the desired business outcomes in practical assignments.

Summary of Project Management Certification Programs

In this article, we went through different top tier project management certifications and discussed the details of each project management certification. We went through the major project management certifications like PMP, Agile project management certifications, Prince2, and others. In conclusion, selecting the best project management certification for you depends on your location, experience, and career plans. Also, selecting one project management certification is not the optimum choice as each project management certification has its own areas of strength. While all project management certification has its strengths, still project management professional certification (PMP) standout as the top of all of them. As explained earlier, PMP is the top recognized project management certification across the globe.

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Since CAPM is an entry-level certification for project management, it targets those with little to no project management experience. Thus, it focuses on the basics of project management, including project management terminology, knowledge, and effective practices as well as project management tools and best practices. Also, this reflects directly on the requirements that PMI sets as a prerequisite for CAPM certification. Thus, PMI sets only two eligibility prerequisites for CAPM exam:

-You must have a high school diploma or any international equivalent to be eligible for the CAPM exam.

–In addition to attending a 23-hour training course. This course should explain the basics of project management and should align with the PMBOK Guide and CAPM Exam Content Scheme.

Achieving those two simple conditions automatically qualifies you to apply for the CAPM exam without the need for any project management experience. This makes CAPM certificate easier to achieve than PMI’s more popular PMP which requires 4500 hours of project management experience.

The importance of CAPM

CAPM certification acts as a basic starting point for project managers as well as for those who aspire to work in project management. CAPM certification from the perspective of job, salary, and future planning is an important positive step for the project management profession. It is also considered as a milestone for qualifying for PMP certification, As by obtaining CAPM certification you are one step away for obtaining a PMP certificate. Also, CAPM provides employers with proof of knowledge of project management framework so CAPM holders can stand out among their non-certified peers.

CAPM Certification Cost

Now that you have decided to pursue Certified Associated in Project Management certificate. The next step is to identify the costs that you will endure to obtain it. There are three main components of the CAPM certification cost. These costs are Training, Exam Fee, and Preparation Time. In this article, we will explore and explain all of them one by one in the following points.

CAPM Certification Cost #1 – CAPM Training

As we have already explained before to be eligible to sit for the CAPM exam, you must attend in 23 contact hours CAPM exam prep training. You can attend this training in any form of training you find suitable. Generally speaking, there are usually 4 main ways to attend the CAPM 23 hours project management training course. Each one of these training methods has its own CAPM certification cost that differs from the other. Still, all of these methods achieve the objective of satisfying the 23 hours of project management education requirement.

This includes attending e-learning self-paced CAPM training where you can attend from any place at any time. Thus, providing you with the flexibility of both time and place. This option is the most convenient for full-time employees.  At the same time, the CAPM certification cost of this option is usually affordable in comparison to the other options.

Another option for CAPM training is the 3 or 4 days in-person CAPM classroom training where a student has to visit a training center to attend the training. Usually, this option involves a fixed calendar for the training time and date and requires physical attendance. At the same time due to the tools and preparations required for such training, the CAPM certification cost becomes higher than other options.

Next is the virtual live classes, this option allows the trainee to attend remotely achieving the place convenience. At the same time, it’s still time-bound with a fixed calendar that requires adherence to a schedule. Also, the CAPM certification cost of this option usually higher than self-paced e-learning. Giving the CAPM certification cost of each option and the flexibility of attendance. It is obvious that the most convenient and affordable option is attending e-learning self-paced CAPM training.

CAPM Cost #2 – Preparation Time

This one is not much of CAPM certification cost in terms of money but rather a CAPM certification cost of your time. You do not pay a monetary cost for preparation time however time is money and you invest your time to get CAPM. Usually, the average preparation time you need to spend preparing for the CAPM exam ranges from three to four months. So after you’ve completed your 23 hours of project management training, how do you prepare for the CAPM certification exam? We are fully aware that time is money, but before we talk about how to prepare for the CAPM exam we must know about the content of the exam questions and the topics that will be addressed.

CAPM exam content outline

To start your preparation you need to understand first the exam questions distribution across different PMBoK chapters.

According to PMI – Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) handbook, CAPM exam questions are distributed as follows:

1. Introduction to Project Management (6%)
2. Project Environment (6%)
3. The Role of the Project Manager (7%)
4. Integration Management (9%)
5. Scope Management (9%)
6. Schedule Management (9%)
7. Cost Management (8%)
8. Project Quality Management (7%)
9. Resource Management (8%)
10. Communication Management (10%)
11. Risk Management (8%)
12. Procurement Management (4%)
13. Stakeholder Management (9%)

Preparing to take the CAPM exam

Know that having a serious and good preparation for the CAPM is very important before taking the exam. Regardless of how much experience you possess we highly recommend that you have robust preparation. If you don’t have good preparation you will end up losing all the CAPM certification costs you spent on it. Thus we are offering you some tips for your CAPM exam preparation, helping you to make your CAPM certification cost pay off and you pass the test at the first attempt:

• Review the content of the above-mentioned CAPM exam questions

• Study PMBoK at least once before taking the test:

Use PMBoK to familiarize yourself with all the tools, techniques, inputs, and outputs of all operations. Therefore it is important to know a lot of information before entering the exam.

• Practice a number of simulation tests that help you increase confidence levels:

Plan to take at one sample exam from a provider. This will give you an indication of where you stand on your certification journey. Then, analyze the outcome of this exam to see which weaknesses you have to strengthen. After a week or two, plan to run another simulation exam to see what your training has reached. If you find that the results of these tests are not satisfactory, you must repeat these tests until you reach a satisfactory result by registering about 80-90% in the tests. Remember PMI doesn’t disclose the way it evaluates the success of its exam takers, however, this increases your confidence during the performance of the real test. 

• Ask questions to your fellow studying group:

Continually keep asking questions when you don’t reach a full understanding of the material. You can take advantage of these benefits by forming a study group where you can support each other. Or ask your mentor or instructor.

Optional preparation CAPM certification cost

We have stated that CAPM certification exam preparation is generally non-monetary. However, there are some parts of the CAPM certification cost that you may need to pay as optional. This mainly includes CAPM preparation online courses where you can review the most important tips and tricks of CAPM certification exam questions. Also, there is another part CAPM certification cost that you may need to pay f0r better preparation for the CAPM exam. This includes CAPM exam simulation tests but you should keep in mind that you can find some of them available for free.

#3 CAPM Exam Fee

Now that you have paid the first CAPM certification cost for the training. Then paid the non-monetary CAPM certification cost of the exam preparation. We have come to the third and the last component of the CAPM certification cost. The exam fee is the last CAPM certification cost component you need to cover. You pay the CAPM certification exam fee to PMI in order to allow you to take the CAPM exam. The CAPM test process begins with the exam application. After completing your application form, PMI reviews it and sends you your application approval. Then, you will need to pay the exam fee. CAPM certification exam fees vary between PMI members and non-PMI members. PMI members get a discounted exam fee. Fees for members are 225 USD and nonmembers 300 USD. However, members have to pay a $ 129 USD yearly for membership.

Many exam applicants would consider PMI membership as they get additional benefits apart from getting a $ 75 discount on test fees. These benefits include free or discounted study materials, access to PMI’s library, webinars, and other exclusive content. What are the other steps for the CAPM certification exam fee? Let’s go through them one by one in the following points.

PMI order completion details:

As soon as you start your CAPM application, it will remain active for 90 days and after that, it will be closed. Tip: To complete the request quickly, collect all the information and documents you need before beginning. Otherwise, you may have to redo it over and over and waste your time – that’s an unnecessary additional CAPM certification cost.

 Application review

Once PMI receives your application form, they will verify that you meet the eligibility criteria including your education and PM education. The application review period usually takes 24 hours to be fully validated. Once the review is complete, PMI sends an email to you to proceed to the next step.

Audit process

Another potential CAPM certification cost in terms of time is the PMI application audit process. PMI follows a standardized audit process where it selects a random sample of each certification application for audit. If PMI selects your application for audit you have 90 days to send your requested audit material. Once you send the audit material, PMI verifies audit material within a period from 5 to 7 days. Once you pass the audit successfully, PMI notifies you through an email to proceed to payment.

CAPM certification cost fees payment

Once you get the notification of your order approval, you must make the payment in order to move to the final stage. The fastest and easiest way to pay is with their online system. Once the payment is received, the eligibility number that you will use to schedule the test appointment will be sent via email. Note that you will have one year in front of you, and you can take the test three times during that year.

However, you need to understand that if you fail in the exam in the first attempt, you will face an additional CAPM certification cost. This cost varies between PMI members and non-PMI members. Reexamination fees for the second and the third attempts are $150 each time for PMI members. Whereas for non-PMI members, reexamination fees are $200 each time. 

Also, it is important to remember that if you fail the third attempt you will have to wait until your application expires. Then you will need to start over with a new application after one year from your last examination date to reapply for the CAPM certification.

Thus it is important to consider investing more time and more CAPM certification cost for your preparation in order to pass from the first time. This proves to be less costly than taking the risk of taking the exam more than one time and failing.

 Schedule the exam date

Once you become eligible, PMI will email you about exam scheduling instructions with eligibility code, which you will need when scheduling the exam date. Or you can schedule to take a proctored online exam from your office or home. The choice is yours, choose which suits your needs the most.

We recommend that you take the online proctored exam if possible for you to help you relax while taking the exam. However, you need to verify that you have the right requirements for an online proctored exam if you decide to take that option. 

CAPM Certification Cost Summary

We have provided a brief intro about CAPM certification and went through its benefits briefly. Also, we have explored the main three aspects of CAPM certification cost. Thus we allowed you to understand the details of CAPM certification cost for each component; giving you the chance to understand the structure of mandatory CAPM certification cost aspects.

Then we explained to you the training options and their relative CAPM certification cost in comparison with each other. Naming self-paced online training as the favored option since it is usually associated with a lower CAPM certification cost and more flexibility.

At the same time, we have expanded on the other optional aspects of CAPM certification cost that you should also consider. This aspect of the CAPM certification cost as we explained is not mandatory but still important for having a robust preparation for the exam. Also, we have detailed the list of steps you will need to take in order to pay for the CAPM exam fee. Thus, we have provided you with a clear view of what you need to do and the timelines for each step of the CAPM exam fee payment process.

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