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Ciel Consulting PMP

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Exam Success Course

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Obalim Esedebe PMP

 Table of Contents
1.0 Forward...................................................................................................................................................1
2.0 Eligibility Requirement .............................................................................................................................2
3.0 PMP Application Process ........................................................................................................................2
3.1 Filling the online application ..........................................................................................................3
3.2 The fee payment ...........................................................................................................................4
3.3 The PMP audit process .................................................................................................................4
3.4 Scheduling the PMP exam .............................................................................................................5
3.4.1 Rescheduling your exam: ..................................................................................................6
4.0 Professional Development Units (PDU) ...................................................................................................7
5.0 PMP Examination Structure .....................................................................................................................9
6.0 Exam results..........................................................................................................................................10
7.0 Certificate Package ...............................................................................................................................10
8.0 People's experiences ............................................................................................................................10
9.0 References............................................................................................................................................11

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 A Step by Step Guide to PMP Certifcation.

1.0 Forward

It's a fast changing world, with alot of responsibilities and deadlines to meet . In all of this it
may be very difficault to study a heavy book.

If your wish was ever to find a simpler guide to enable you get the key points of PMP, then
you may have just struck gold mine.

I had a similar feeling while I was preparing for my PMP exam. When I took up the over
600 page PMBOK Guide to study, I knew it was really a herculean task.

Subsequently I started looking for ways to prepare a short guide to help sieve through PMP
Books and provide readers only with key points that they need to pass the exam.

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The result of all my years of research and study is what I have packed in this 11 day
course.
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The fact that you have decided to read thus far clearly indicates to me that you possibly fall
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into any of these categories.
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1. You are a Project Manager seeking for how to better your project performance.
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2. You are preparing or looking at doing the PMP exam in the nearest future
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3. You are simply curious and wants to find out what project management is all about.
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I assure you that you will not be disappointed. I have the reputation of helping people
pass the PMP exam. Yours will not be an exception.

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2.0 Eligibility Requirement

To be eligible for the PMP examination you need to meet any of the below requirements:
1. A four-year degree (bachelor's or the global equivalent) and at least three years of
project management experience. Of those three years of project management
experience, 4,500 hours should have been spent leading and directing projects. 35
hours of project management education are also required.
2. A secondary diploma and at least five years of project management experience. Of
those five years of project management experience, 7,500 hours should have been spent
leading and direcing projects. 35 hours of project management education are also
required.

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3.0 PMP Application Process

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If you have decided to take up the PMP certification exam and have met the eligibility
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criteria, you begin with the application process.

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There are four steps to applying for the PMP credential

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1. Filling the online application

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2. The fee payment

3. The PMP audit process

4. Scheduling the PMP exam

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 A Step by Step Guide to PMP Certifcation.

3.1 Filling the online application

When applying for any of their credentials, PMI encourages every candidate to utilize the
online certification system. Printable application forms are available on the site.
Before beginning make sure you meet the requirements. The necessary information can
then be recorded in the application. Once the application process has begun, it cannot be
cancelled. An unfinished document can be saved and completed later.
The application form will be open for 90 days, during which PMI will send constant
reminders to complete the application process. You need to include a valid email id since
this will be the only mode of communication between you and PMI.

Though the organization sends constant reminders, the responsibility lies on you to

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schedule and appear for the exam within the given 1 year eligibility period.

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Before submitting the application form, you will need to read and agree to the PMI Code
of Ethics, the Professional Conduct, and the Certification Agreement/ Renewal
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Agreement. All of this information can be found in the PMP handbook given by PMI.
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Application Processing:
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The timeline of processing an application is dependent on how the application is submitted

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– using the online certification system or on paper through post. The table below shows the
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details of the processing period.

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3.2 The fee payment

The payment is dependent on PMI membership status and the examination delivery type
for specific geographic locations. The membership rate will apply only if you are a
member of the PMI during the payment. If you apply for membership just before the
payment period, you will need to first verify being a member. If the membership is not
processed completely, you will be charged as per non-member rates.

Submission of the payment:

Once the online application is processed and complete, the organization will send an
electronic notification requesting the payment. To do this, you will need to return to the

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online certification system and follow the given steps:

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1. Select your examination delivery method.
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2. Request a language aid for your examination at no extra cost, if appropriate.
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3. Request special accommodations for your examination at no extra cost, if necessary.

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4. Submit payment.
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3.3 The PMP audit process

Applications are selected for Audit on random basis. Audit will need the following
information from the applicant-
1. Copies of education certification
2. Signatures from supervisors or managers of project mentioned on the application
3. Certificate of 35 hours of project management education
4. Degree certificate or its global equivalent

PMI provides 90days to provide these certifications. Once provided it takes about 5-7
business days to complete the audit.

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3.4 Scheduling the PMP exam

Scheduling the PMP exam

IF you are doing the Paper based Test PBT, in the course of your payment for the exam,
select "Yes I will be doing this exam with a group". PMI usually publishes group testing
numbers for PBT exams in specific locations. You can get these numbers from the
Prometric Site. Alternatively you can search for the number, in the course of the
application.

The URL to the Prometric website can be found under PMI’s exam scheduling instructions.

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Given below are instructions to scheduling an appointment on the Prometric website.

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Step 1: Select a geographic location
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Step 2: Select the option "Schedule an Appointment"
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Step 3: Read through the exam information that pops up

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Step 4: Agree to the "Policies" and the "Data Privacy Notice"

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Step 5: Enter the "PMI Eligibility ID" and the first four letters of your last name
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Step 6: Select a preferred test center

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Step 7: Select an exam date and time

Step 8: Confirm the contact details

Step 9: Review the appointment details

Step 10: Examination confirmation details and the unique 16 digit confirmation number
will be displayed.

Keep this information safely. The information will also be sent through an email
notification.

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3.4.1 Rescheduling your exam:

If you have already scheduled the exam but need to shift dates, you are allowed to
rescheduled your dates upto two days prior to the exam. However, the administration
fee may apply according to the following fee agreement:

- Beyond 30 days – no fee

- Within 30 days and 2 days before the exam – UDS 70

- Within 2 days – no fees, all fees forfeited

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Filling out the PMP application form is a tedious process by itself. PMP experts
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recommend that you gather all the relevant information regarding the application
process before filling it up.
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This could help in avoiding a lot of errors and increasing your chances of receiving an
application approval.
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4.0 Professional Development Units (PDU)

Here, I will giving you a detailed perspective on how to earn sixty PDUs and maintain your
PMP® certification. After every three years, a certified PMP® professional needs to renew
their credentials. A PMP® professional is required to have earned sixty PDUs during
these three years.
I often get several queries related to PDUs, how do we earn sixty PDUs? and is it an
expensive affair and so on.
After Dec 2015 CCR changes, the ways of earning PDUs became more easy and flexible.
And you can choose them as per your interest and needs of your profession.
Before getting into the details of simple ways of earning PDUs, I would like to highlight
some of the key points in earning PDUs.

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According to the PMI’s CCR, you are required to earn at-least 35 PDUs under Education
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The good news is that you can choose to earn all of your sixty PDUs from any one of the
Education categories.
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Here key point to remember that PDUs earned under education category are mapped
with the three dimensions of the Talent Triangle. These are the skills which are important
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to be successful in the project management. If your learnings activities for the PDUs
belongs to the Team Development helps in achieving the project goal. You need to map
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them in “Leadership” category.

If these are related to the process, tools & techniques assist in the aligning project with the
strategic goal, you need to map them in “Strategic” category.

In case, your learning activities belong to the areas of project management according to
the “content outline of PMP® certification”, map them in “Technical” category of Talent
Triangle.

You can earn 1 PDU for each hour you spend in learnings related to PDUs earnings
Now come to the easy and popular ways to earn your sixty PDUs:

Read Books: For me, books are my good friends. And Read is my favourite category. I
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earned all of my sixty PDUs by reading books. If you like reading to take your skills to the
next level, you can make a reading list in the areas of project management, leadership,
and strategic business management. My blogs on earning Technical , Strategic , and
Leadership PDUs will help you to get few ideas of books assist in earning PDUs.

Watch Videos: The next option is to watch videos in the areas of Talent Triangle. I have
listed my playlist in Technical Strategic , and Leadership categories in their respective
blogs.

Courses from REPs REPs: You can earn PDUs also by attending programs organised by REPs.
It is preferred most of the time when you are planning your next certificate. After PMP®
certification, if you are planning PMI-ACP® or PMI-PBA® these could be the right

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opportunities to earn PDUs as well. There are also have some Free programs which can

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help you in earning PDUs; these programs are listed at official website of PMI.
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5.0 PMP Examination Structure

PMP® exam will be of 4 hour duration, and will contain 200 questions. Out of these,
PMI® will include 25 pretest questions which do not carry marks. Pretest questions are
those that PMI® wants to test the validity for, and further decide to include them in
future examinations.

These are randomly included in the exam so the applicant does not have a way of
identifying such questions. Before the exam begins, there will be an optional tutorial and
survey offered. If you opt for it, it will take about 15 minutes to complete. This time is
outside of the 4 hours given for the examination.

The questions fall into process areas as below, and are based on PMP® examination

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content outline (link given in the References section below) -

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% of Questions
Initiating 13%
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Planning 24%
Executing 30%
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Monitoring and Controlling 25%

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Closing 8%
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Total 100%
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PBT stands for Paper Based Test, and CBT for Computer Based Test.

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6.0 Exam results

For computer based test, the results are given the same day at the examination center. It
can also be viewed in PMI's online certification system in about 10days after you take
the exam. For paper based test, results are available on online certification system after
about 2-8 weeks from date of examination. Exam results are given on two counts -

1. Pass/Fail outcome score. This is based on overall performance on the test. ·

2. Expertise level against each process group - Proficient, Moderately proficient,
Below proficient. This is a good way to assess strength and weakness in the

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process groups and focus learning more of that.

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7.0 Certificate Package
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PMI®'s Online certification registry will list your name once it receives the information
from Prometric center. You will receive your certificate package from PMI® in about 6-
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8 weeks after you pass the exam.

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This will contain the congratulatory letter, information on how to maintain the credential
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and of course, the credential certificate.

Now you can flaunt those three magic letters against your name! And may be even
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negotiate for a salary increase with your manager.

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8.0 People's experiences

Some of those who have succesfully written and passed the PMP exams in the past share
their experiences with me.
You can read them here. They share their tips, techniques, resources, brain-dumps and
lessons learned that can help you pass your PMP exam.

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9.0 References

PMP Examination content outline - http://www.pmi.org/en/Certification/Project-

Management-ProfessionalPMP/~/media/PDF/Certifications/PMP%20Examination%
20Content%20Outline_2010.ashx
PMP handbook - http://www.pmi.org/en/Certification/~/media/PDF/Certifications/
pdc_pmphandbook.ashx
PMexamsmartnotes - http://www.pmexamsmartnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/PMP-
beginners-guide-bp1.pdf
Simplilearn - http://www.simplilearn.com/pmp-application-process-information-article
Izenbridge - http://www.izenbridge.com/blog/how-to-earn-60-pdus-and-maintain-your-
pmp-certifications/

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