10 Steps to Begin your PMP certification

Do you have experience in leading projects? Great, now you can plan PMP certification. PMP® Certification is worthwhile for growth, recognition, and higher salary in all project management approaches – whether in Predictive(waterfall), Agile, or a mix of these two (Hybrid). If you make up your mind to pass the PMP, let’s chart out your step-by-step journey to begin –

1. Ensure you’re Eligible for the PMP Certification

2. Get 35 Contact Hours of Project Management Training Certificate

3. Get a PMP Exam Prep Book

4. Become a PMI member and join PMI Chapter

5. Create A Roadmap and study plan to pass the PMP Exam

6. Apply for the PMP exam

7. Envision and Book the PMP Exam

8. Study Hard

9. Engage and Seek support

10. Take and pass the PMP Exam

1. Ensure you’re Eligible for the PMP Certification –The first step is to make sure that you meet the following eligibility criteria –

• For Graduates – 36 months of leading project experience
• For non-graduates or diploma holders – 60 months of leading project experience

You don’t need a formal Project Manager designation to fulfil the above-required project experience. Instead of designation, PMI considers your role – if you are leading and directing projects; for more details, kindly refer – My Designation Is Not Project Manager – AM I Eligible For PMP® Certification?

Following are the Frequently Asked Questions related to this mandatory leading project experience-

• Am I eligible to take the PMP exam if I am unemployed?
• I have leading project experience, but it includes gaps; still, am I eligible to take the PMP Exam?

The answer is Yes. You can provide these 36 or 60 months of experience within the last eight years. So, if these 36 or 60 months plus gap is less than eight years, you are eligible to take the PMP® exam. For more details, kindly refer- I Am Experienced, But Unemployed. Am I Eligible For PMP® Certification?

2. Get 35 Contact Hours of Project Management Training Certificate –The PMP exam has a syllabus mentioned in the PMP exam content outline. Based on this content outline, you must need at least 35 hours of professional education or training. It gives you a 35 contact hours certificate. One hour of training equals one contact hour.

You can undertake these 35 hours of PMP Training from an Authorized Training Partner or ATP. PMI Authorized Training Partners (ATPs) are organizations approved by PMI to deliver PMP training. iZenBridge is ATP of PMI. Here iZenBridge PMP certification course can help you get these essential 35 PDUs. This course provides a complete solution to passing the PMP exam.

3. Get a PMP Exam Prep Book – In January 2021, PMI released a PMP exam prep guide to cover the PMP exam content outline. Usually, you get this book from ATPs upon enrolment; as an ATP, iZenBridge shares this book with each participant. This book covers the following five modules to describe the content of 3 domains of PMP exam content outline – People, Process, and Business Environment Domain–

• Creating a High Performing Team – Learn to support diversity, equity, and inclusion, take care of virtual teams, define team charter, ground rules, training needs, engage and support virtual teams, and more.
• Starting the Project- Learn to define lifecycle, stakeholders engage strategies, manage and plan scope, cost, schedule, quality, procurement, risk, and more.
• Doing the Work –Learn to assess and manage risks, execute the project to deliver business value, manage communications, create project artifacts, manage project changes, manage project issues, ensure knowledge transfer to project continuity, and more.
• Keeping the team on track – Learn to lead, support team performance, address and remove impediments, obstacles, and blockers, manage conflict, collaborate with stakeholders, mentor relevant stakeholders, apply emotional intelligence to promote team performance, and more.
• Keeping the Business in Mind – Learn to manage compliance requirements, evaluate and deliver project benefits and value, evaluate and address internal and external business environment changes, support organizational change, employ continuous process improvement, and more.

These five modules also refer to concepts of PMBOK, and the Agile Practice Guide, so you also need to understand those concepts. You can download these Practice Guides FREE from PMI if you are a PMI member. If you enrolled in the iZenBridge PMP course, you don’t need to read these guides; our course is enough to understand these concepts.

4. Become a PMI member and join PMI Chapter – When you plan the PMP exam, becoming a PMI brings many benefits –

• You can download PMBOK and Agile Practise Guide for FREE; these guides help prepare for the exam.
• You get a discount on the exam fee – So if you are not planning to be a PMI member for a lifetime, becoming a member in the first year will save you money.

Also, when you join a local PMI chapter, you get ample opportunities to network with fellow professionals, which helps grow your project management skills. Many chapters also have study groups, making your exam preparation easier.

5. Create A Roadmap and study plan to pass the PMP Exam – Fulfilling the required 35 hours of training is not enough. Along with 35 hours of training, you need at least 70-80 hours of content and interaction to prepare well. And usually, the PMP exam takes 200-250 hours of preparation. It will help if you develop a roadmap or strategy to be confident to pass the exam on the first attempt. So, creating a plan to understand and master the PMP exam content is a must. Your PMP study plan should include –

• Your Study Goal: this should include when you plan to pass the exam. If you don’t have a clear goal, you may procrastinate the exam, and a lack of rhythm will make the exam more difficult.
• Your study schedule and weekly goals: You must create a study schedule considering your work and life obligations. Instead of chasing each day’s goal, weekly goals are easy to plan and follow. Also, an ideal plan is divided into phases – first to understand or get familiarity with the content, master the content, and practice a lot of mock questions to test readiness for the exam

It is proven that finding a good ATP for PMP exam preparation is a recipe for success. They help you create a roadmap and not just deliver 35 hours of training but give additional required 70-80 hours of content and are committed to end-to-end support until you certify.

iZenBridge PMP course is an association for success in the PMP exam; if you follow the course as per the roadmap and study plan suggested by iZenBridge Lead Trainer, Saket Bansal, your success is assured.

6. Apply for the PMP exam – After the 35 contact hours of training, you are eligible to apply for the PMP exam. You must fill out the PMP exam application now. PMI asks for details about your project management experience and education (academic and 35 hours of professional education) in this application. For more information on filling PMP exam application, please visit- How To Fill The Work Experience Details In PMP®️Application Form? (PMP Sample Application Included)

7. Envision and Book the PMP Exam – Preparing for the PMP exam requires commitment. Once your application gets approved by PMI, do not procrastinate in booking the PMP exam. Based on your roadmap and study plan, you should envision the finish line to pass the PMP exam. It will stay motivated throughout the exam preparation process.

8. Study Hard – You have the roadmap and study plan; now it is time to follow it. When you execute your PMP exam preparation plan, you may find many challenges and learnings to adjust to the plan. Doing weekly retrospectives is an excellent idea to fine-tune the PMP exam preparation strategy.

9. Engage and Seek support – PMP experts never recommended the PMP exam preparation in silos. Discussion and participation are proven ways to maintain rhythm in exam preparation. Engaging in PMP exam preparation forums to discuss your doubts and queries is a good idea. If you enrolled in the iZenBridge PMP course, our PMP experts are one message or email away from supporting you. iZenBridge PMP Discussion forum helps to resolve your concerns and doubts quickly; the maximum turnaround time is one Business Day. Our Lead Trainer, Saket Bansal, also conducts weekly clubhouse sessions to clarify doubts LIVE.

10. Take and pass the PMP Exam – Finally, once your exam date reaches, you are ready to pass the exam. So, yes, it is time to pass and celebrate.

PMP® certification offers many benefits to the holder of this credential. A dedicated approach is needed to become a PMP® certified professional.

I hope this blog helped to understand the steps required to begin and complete the PMP certification journey. Still, if you have more questions in mind? Contact us; Our iZenBridge PMP experts will be happy to assist you!!

Get The Upcoming PMP Course Live Virtual Training Details

iZenBridge PMP certification course provides well-structured learning to pass the PMP exam on the first attempt. Also, our PMP experts assist you in designing the study plan to pass the exam within two months. We offer virtual Live sessions across the globe – View the Schedule

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