The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is awarded by PMI and it is renowned in its field. If you are interested in this certification, eligible to apply for it, and fulfill all the conditions, you should do so.
The PMP exam application process is easy but quite tedious and time consuming. It asks for a lot of information about many things. So, if you are going to apply for the PMP exam and about to fill the application form, this blog post will help you understand the process.
I hope after reading this blog post you will be able to fill out the form with ease.
Firstly, make sure that you are eligible to apply. Please do not waste your time and effort if you know you are not qualified. Make sure that you fulfill the eligibility requirements before applying for the exam.
If you are interested in the PMP certification but don’t qualify for it, you can make yourself eligible with a little effort.
For instance, if you have yet to attend the PMP training, do so before applying. If you are lacking project management experience, you can wait for a few more days/month to complete that requirement.
The worst case is lacking educational qualifications. If you do not have this qualification, you will have to dedicate even extra time and effort. It would benefit you all around to pursue more education.
When you meet the qualifications, fill out the form. The PMP exam application filling process is very straightforward, although collecting some of the required information may take some time.
You can fill out the form online or in print. With the offline version, you will send the form via courier after completing it. However, the online version is instant.
For the sake of simplicity, I am going to explain the process for the online version. The steps to fill out the PMP exam application form are as follows:
Fill Out the Application Form
The application form has three sections: The first section asks for general information, the second asks for project management experience, and the third requires you to give details on your 35 contact hours training program.
The PMI understands that this form requires a lot of information. Therefore, they provide the option to fill out the application in multiple sittings. However, note that once you have started filling it out, you must complete and submit it within 90 days. Although the PMI will send you a few reminders during this period, it is your responsibility to complete the process.
Make sure that you submit accurate and correct information because it’s difficult to change it later. Take your time to review all the information at least twice to ensure it is correct and then submit it.
Recently I received an email from a visitor to my blog who said that he submitted the application in a hurry, made some mistakes, and he was selected for an audit that he failed. I don’t know if it is related to the audit or any mistake in filling out the form, but to be on the safe side, check all information twice before you submit the form.
Before submitting the application form, you will have to read and agree with the PMI Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct and the Certification Agreement/Renewal Agreement.
Application Completeness Review
It will take the PMI 5 to 7 working days to complete the review of your application once you submit it. I submitted the PMI exam application form twice; the first time for the PMP exam and the second time for the PMI-RMP exam, and I received their email within two or three days in both cases.
The PMI will contact you through email if you miss something or your application requires any further clarification.
Fee Payment
After your application is reviewed and accepted, the PMI will send you a confirmation email and will ask you to make payment.
If you are a PMI member you will have to pay 405 USD, otherwise, you will pay 555 USD.
PMP Audit
Every PMP aspirant has a fear of being selected for an audit, wondering what may happen.
The selection for the audit process comes after you submit your application. You will know immediately whether or not you have been selected. If you are not audited, you can move on to the next section. However, if you are selected for an audit, there is no cause for alarm.
The PMI will ask you to provide them with some documents, like copies of your experience certificates, contact hours training program information, education certificates, and more. Just send them by mail, and it will take them approximately one week to review.
If they are not satisfied with your documentation or need more information, they will notify you. Just follow the instructions provided by the PMI, and you should have no issues.
Keep in mind that PMI may contact your previous boss or employer to verify the accuracy of your work experience. Therefore, it is best to inform them in advance that you are applying for the PMP exam.
After reviewing your documents, the PMI will approve your application if they are satisfied. After that, you can make the payment.
Note that if you are selected for an audit, you will have 90 days to submit the documents to the PMI to complete the process. Your eligibility period for the exam will start from the day your audit is cleared.
Schedule the Exam
After receiving payment, the PMI will send you an email with a unique eligibility code. This email will also provide you with directions to schedule your exam appointment. You can use this unique code to schedule your PMP exam through the Pearson VUE site.
From the date you receive the code, you will have one year to pass the exam. The maximum number of attempts is three.
A Few Precautions While Filling out Your PMP Application Form
- Make sure you have completed your 35 contact hours certificate before applying for the exam.
- Before you give contact details for any of your previous bosses, make sure they are aware you will be doing so.
- Don’t provide overlapping experience.
- Keep photocopies of all educational certificates, experience certificates, and 35 contact hours certificates.
- Double check everything before hitting the submit button.
Summary
Although the PMP exam application process may look a little complicated, it is very straightforward. Make sure you have the correct information about your education, experience, and training programs. Keep the duplicates of all documents with you while filling out the form, and if you are selected for an audit, send these documents to the PMI.
Good luck on your PMP exam.
This is the third part of a series of five posts.
The other blog posts are as follows:
- What is the PMP Certification Exam?
- What are the PMP Eligibility Criteria?
- What is the PMP Exam Application Process? (You are here)
- How Expensive is the PMP Certification?
- What is the PMP Examination Structure?
Hello Sir..!! Can undergrad engineering students pursue this training? Will thy be allowed to take the examination without work experience?
Hello Swaminathan,
The PMP exam is experienced professionals. You can go for the CAPM.
Hello Mr.Fahad..
I got 35 pdu’s in the year 2015.
Can you use them now?
Hello Swarup,
Yes, you can use it. Contact hours never expires.
Hi,
My application bhasha been selected for audit. The process has changed now. The moment I completed my experience form, and hit submit I was asked to submit rhe documents via post. I did not require to pay the exam fee upfront. I have sent it today via post
Thanks Kushal for letting us know about this change.
SIR PLEASE GUIDE ME,
I HAVE DONE MY CIVIL ENGINEERING FROM SGSITS INDORE . NOW I WISH TO BE A PROJECT MANAGER AND WANT TO PURSUE PMP. SO DO I HAVE TO DO A CERTIFIED COURSE FOR APPEARING IN THIS EXAM OR I JUST HAVE TO FILL THE PMP FORM DIRECTLY.
SHOULD I HAVE TO DO ANY PROJECT MANAGEMENT DEGREE AFTER BE , SO THAT I AM ELLIGIBLE FOR THIS PMP EXAM?
How many years of experience you have in project management?
My supervisor under whom i had worked had left the organization where i was there. So can i mention the external email Id like a gmail for the supervisor or does it need to the earlier organizational email ID( That id must have been deactivated by now i think)?
Kindly help
In this case I believe you can give his superior’s email ID. Anyway I suggest you contact PMI customer care for the solution.
Hi Krishna,
Have you tried contacting PMI for this query? I have a similar problem and looking for solution. Please share if you have any info.
Thanks!
Hi..
I applied for PMP in last June and it got approved with an eligibility period until 2015 June. I havent made the payment yet and not planning to attend the exam prior to June. I was in an assumption that I need to reapply after june in order to attend the exam, but I see a comment here that
“Scheduling the Examination Date: After completing everything as described above, PMI will send you an email with a code to fill in on the Prometric site while scheduling the exam date. From this date (the day you receive the code from PMI), you have one year to pass the exam.
That means if I make the payment now, I’ll get another 1 year?
Thanks in advance.
Your eligibility will be expired on June 2015. After that you will have to apply again for the approval.
Hi Fahad,
I submitted my application last Monday, 5 business days are over, still application status is under processing. Not sure why they are taking long, any idea on this situation or to your knowledge, did this happened before?
If you have not received it till now, contact PMI customer care. These days they are little late because of long queue. So, no worries.
Thank you for the information. Submitted the application and not sure what’s next. This has cleared my doubts. So after submitting the application pmi will revert back in 5 days about the application and if approved we get a link for payment. Once payment is one we will know whether we are selected for audit or not. If not selected for audit then we are ready to schedule for exam. If selected for audit send out the needed details, docs to PMI again and wait for approval.
Once you make the payment and you are not selected for the audit, you can schedule your exam immediately.
Hi Fahad,
The audit process happens before we make the payment right? 5 working days means only during weekdays they replies?
Thanks
Asha
No.
You will come to know that whether you have selected for an audit or not, only after making the payment.
May i know how to distribute experience hours among five PM processes while filling the application? Is there any fixed/recommended %age of hours required in each process
Calculate all your experience in hours and distribute it accordingly. As a rule of thumb, you should not have more than 2,000 hours per year.
There is no recommended or fixed percentage of hours for any process group.