After passing the PMP exam, a thought may come to mind. Should you go for the PMI-RMP certification? And does it have any value?
Often I receive this query from professionals who have recently passed PMPs. This is a natural question because the PMI-RMP is the next sought after certification from the PMI; they want to achieve it.
There may be another reason.
You have been preparing for the PMP exam. You pass it, the pressure is released, and you are not comfortable with it. Passing the PMP exam was a project for you. Now you are free and looking for another project, so you are thinking about applying for the PMI-RMP exam.
I wouldn’t suggest you go for this certification just for the sake of attaining it.
There is another category of aspirants who did not pass the PMP exam and are only interested in the PMI-RMP certification because of their job requirements.
Should I go for the PMI-RMP certification exam?
You should go for this certification if you are involved in risk management and have a genuine interest. This certification will improve your performance and increase your career prospects.
You can also gain this certification if you are involved in project management and are interested in following a career in risk management.
Is this certification valued in the industry?
Yes, this is a valued certification in the industry, and I have witnessed it. I received many more interview calls when I updated my CV with the PMI-RMP credential.
A search on any job portal for a risk management position will show you that many employers have recommended this credential and some have made it mandatory. This shows the value of this certification.
A few years back, PMP certification holders were rare and organizations were happy just to have them. These days, organizations are becoming more cautious. Project failure is a very costly affair, and they want to avoid it at all costs. Therefore, they prefer PMI-RMP certification holders over non-PMI-RMP certification holders to manage risks in their projects.
I hope I have answered your queries and now you are in a better position to decide whether you should get the PMI-RMP certification or not.
The following information will help you understand the process if you are interested in the PMI-RMP certification.
Eligibility
You should have 4,500 hours of project risk management experience if you hold a secondary degree (high school diploma or equivalent), and you must attend 40 hours of formal project risk management training.
You should have 3,000 hours of project risk management experience if you hold a four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or equivalent), and you must attend 30 hours of formal project risk management training.
Exam Fee
The exam fee for PMI members is 520 USD and 670 USD for non-members.
The PMI membership fee is 139 USD, so if you become a member of PMI and apply for the PMI-RMP exam, you will save 11 USD. Therefore, I suggest you get a PMI membership before applying for the exam and make use of the many benefits it provides.
Exam
The PMI-RMP exam consists of 170 multiple-choice questions, including 20 pretest questions. These pretest questions are not added to your result but are instead used to check the validity of future exam questions. Since you cannot distinguish these questions, you should be ready to answer all 170 questions.
The time allotted for the exam is 3.5 hours, and there is no scheduled break. You can take a break but the time is included in your exam duration.
CCR Cycle
The PMI-RMP certificate is valid for three years. You will have to earn 30 PDUs in risk management topics to renew it for another three years.
Benefits of a PMI-RMP Certification
According to the PMI’s Pulse of the Profession edition 2015 findings:
83% percent of organizations that are high performers in project management practice risk management frequently while just 49% of low performers do so. The practice contributes to a handsome payoff: high performers meet their goals 2.5 times more often and waste 13 times less money than low performers.
Source: PMI
This certification helps organizations perform better. It makes them proactive in managing risks, improves the control of projects, minimizes surprises and losses, and improves organizational resilience. It improves stakeholders’ confidence and trust in you and your organization.
Summary
The PMI-RMP certification is the most renowned certification in risk management, and possessing it validates your experience and knowledge. This certification enhances your skills and makes you more employable. I recommend you apply for the PMI-RMP certification if you are involved with risk management.
P.S. Please refer to the PMI-RMP Handbook for the latest information. In case of any conflict, assume the information given in the PMI-RMP Handbook to be correct.
Are you involved in risk management and thinking about the PMI-RMP certification? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.
Hi Fahad,
What is the new pattern of PMI-RMP Exam
Hi I just want to know that I should i read entire PMBOK to pass PMI RMP Exam Or only RMP Guide by PMI is sufficient ? I mean in exam is there question related to other knowledge areas except Risk ?
You should read the complete PMBOK Guide with more focus on Risk related topics.
Are you a PMP?
How much time you invested in preparing for the exam? Do you find job openings for Risk Management inmarket?Did it benefits you? How is it difference from PMP?
It is different from the PMP as the focus is on risk management. It is highly valued, after passing the exam, I updated my resume on some job portals and started getting many calls and so I had deactivated my account.
Hi …. the blog is really informative. The PMI-RMP question bank was last updated in Jan 2017; also its based on the PMBOK 5. Can you please let me know when would the latest version be available which I assume would be based on PMBOK 6?
When the exam will shift to the new version, I will also update my PMI-RMP Question Bank.
To date, there is no news from the PMI that when they will change the exam.
This is so helpful! I see there are some differences of opinion as to which exam is harder, PMP or RMP. If you’ve recently taken the PMP shouldn’t the learning curve and thus study time for RMP be less? Is RMP more quantitatively based, more situational/scenario based than PMP, or about the same?
Thank you for this website, Fahad. It helped me so much with PMP and I’m very excited to get into RMP next!
RMP is comparatively tougher than the PMP. Prepare well for the exam.
Good luck.
Dear Fahad,
I’m PMP certified and I passed my RMP exam yesterday, I would really thank you for two points :
1-your simple and direct way to explain the cloudy points of management.
2-I did practice many questions on RMP and I found that yours are the nearest to the exam topic and you’ll be featured if you add more questions related to the “Critical Succes Factors of the Practice Standard for Risk Management”
My question is:
By passing my RMP exam Can I claim for PMP PDU’s? and for how many PDU’s?
Thanks Ahmad for your comment and I will surely implement your suggestions in the next update.
Yes you can claim to full PDUs.
Exam Strategy which I prepared:-
First I Studied the PMBOK 5th Edition (More stretched on Stake Holder Management, Communication, Quality and Procurement Management)
Second I studied the Rita Mulcahy Second Edition Book of Risk Management
Third I practised the Mock Tests from U certify website and PDF RMP Sample tests by Fahad
How I Crack the Exam:
First I attempted the questions which will took less time & which I can answer correctly(I skipped mostly the length scenarios and Problematic questions)
Second I attempted the Skipped lengthy and Problematic questions which I may answer 100% correctly.
Third I attempted the remaining questions which I am not sure and I may answer 50% or 0 %probability correctly.
Fourth I took a break for 10 min and reviewed/double checked the questions which I answered correctly.
Be honest I skipped around 5 to 6 questions related to problematic which I felt difficult for me(related to probability distribution/latin hyercube).
I attempted remaining problematic questions like related to PERT Technique, quantitative analysis(EMV), Cost and Schedule performance Index.
Congratulations Muneswara on passing the PMI-RMP exam and thanks for sharing your lessons learned
Thank you so much Mr. Fahad.
God bless you.. All your notes have really helped for the last quick revision.
I cleared my PMP Exam yesterday . 30.March.2016.
4MP 1P.
Congratulations Kazeem on passing the PMP exam.
Dear Fahad;
Greetings;
Since I already finished a course in RMP few month ago, could you please advise me how to make a refresh?
Any study plan to prepare for the exam?
Really I congratulate you for this blog because of its simple language which I understand it all.
Thank you.
First of all go through all PMP exam preparation materials. Once you are done with it, go to amazon and buy some good PMI-RMP exam preparation books. These days many good books are available on amazon.
After that, you can start practicing questions from any good simulator. You can buy uCertify exam simulator program for the PMI-RMP.
Read the PMBOK Guide with more foucs on risk, procurement knowledge areas.
Thank You very much!
Dear Friends,
I passed PMI – RMP Exam Yesterday, not an easy one from PMI
Some of my Lessons learned
– 70% of the questions were lenghty and most of them look logical
– 10 to 15 questions on Latin hyercube and MC (both problems as well as theory)
– Few questions on probalility distributions
– Please concentrate on Communications,stakeholder,procurement and quality mgmt also
– Questions on Risk Governance(5 questions)
– Ofcourse Management and contingency reserves…
– ITTo’s Risk mgmt as well as stakeholder mgmt
Recommendations – please go thru
– PMBOK 5th edition
– Rita Mulcahy’s risk management
– Kim heldman’s risk management
Last but not least, I sincerely thank Fahad for this wonderful blog which really helped me a lot in achieving this
Congratulations Deevan on passing the PMI-RMP exam.
Hi Deevan,
I took the PMI-RMP a few days ago and didn’t pass. I took the prep course with a company who utilized obselete materials which didn’t cover a lot of the questions on the exam which involver Latin Hypercube, Risk Manager responsibilities, Probability distribution etc. I am in the process of purchasing the two books you suggested and need to confirm that these topics are covered before I purchase them. Can you please confirm?? Also the books I found say they were written in 2005. Is this the same book you purchased? Awaiting you response. Thanks in advance.
Hi Fellows ,,, I passed the PMP exam and I wish to take the risk management exam too but I have a question ,,, I never had dedicated 3000 hrs of risk management ,, what should I do? just wait till I can have these hours? Thanks and all the best
You cannot apply for the PMI-RMP exam until you have required experience. Get the experience then apply for it.
Hello Fahad;
Could you please explain how to report PDU on reading a book with the new CCR program released on December 2015?
Thank you.
I did not report it in new CCR Cycle, but I believe that the procedure will be the same. Note down the time invested and identify the side of triangle and you will be good to go.