How to Upgrade to a Managerial Role With PMP Certification

Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally accepted credential provided by the Project Management Institute (PMI) based in the USA. PMI is globally recognized as a non-profit membership association specifically meant for the project management profession. One of the the most important advantages of a PMI credential is that it enables companies to assemble highly-qualified project teams comprising credential holders, thus improving the organizational processes and resulting in employee retention. Individuals who obtain PMI credentials not only achieve recognition for their talents, capabilities and knowledge but also get immense opportunities towards professional development. The PMP credential could be achieved by presenting a documentation of an individual's 3 or 5 years work experience in project management, undertaking 35 hours of project management related training, and scoring a certain percentage in a written, multiple choice examination.

To enrol for PMP certification, candidates are required to have a high school diploma or an Associates degree with 60 months of project manager experience, or a Bachelor's degree with 36 months of project manager experience.

In both cases, candidates are required to complete 35 contact hours of project management education. The PMP exam is based on certain specifications which discusses in detail the vital tasks involved in six performance domains.
This includes Initiating a Project, Planning a Project, Executing or implementing a Project, Monitoring/Tracking and Controlling a Project, Closing/Completing a Project and finally, Professional and Social Responsibility. PMP is a 4-hour exam that basically comprises 200 multiple choice questions. The pass marks for the exam is 141 out of 175, which is around 81%! The PMP exam is an online or computer-based test provided through the world-wide network of Prometric testing centers. Paper-based option is also available for locations where there are no Prometric testing centers nearby.
Candidates who take the online test obtain their results soon after the completion of the test.

PMI also critically evaluates the level of proficiency in each project management process group, ranging from high proficiency to low proficiency.

This is available in a score report which the candidates receive immediately after the examination.