Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification - anyone have it?

[Emergo]

The requirements seem daunting. I have to show 4,500 hours of project management experience. I can go through our database at work and look at all what I've done but it's going to take forever. Any tips? Has anyone gone through this process? Thanks.

[Unique User]

I just filled out my application and have more tweaking to do.  Agree it is daunting to put it all down, but since they can audit it, I wanted to be very thorough. 

[scantee]

I have the requisite hours and completed the classes, my test is scheduled for March. My employer has paid for it all, so it's was easy decision for me to go ahead and invest the time, but I'm interested to hear from others whether they feel like it has been helpful with their careers. I plan to look for new jobs within the next six months and I hope that having the credential is a benefit in landing interviews.

[scantee]

Also, completing the application wasn't too time-consuming. It took me, maybe, 45 minutes in total. Honestly, I wasn't too concerned about reporting the exact number of hours I spent managing each phase of each project I listed: I just looked back at my total time for each project and then roughly estimated how much of it was spent on the types of tasks in each phase. My organization doesn't track time spent on each phase anyway, so there would be no way for them to find that out in an audit.

They require you to provide a description of your responsibilities for each project, but those are limited to 500 characters so you really don't have much space for detail. For each, I provided a one sentence overview of the project and then bullet points of my primary, PM-related responsibilities, but since those are mostly the same from project to project I was able to copy and paste a lot.

[Emergo]

How could you do 4,500 hours in 45 minutes. Your company's order processing software must be nice. Ours is LIMS. Btw, there are so many projects i worked on simultaneously and im pissed that i cant stack those.

[scantee]

How could you do 4,500 hours in 45 minutes. Your company's order processing software must be nice. Ours is LIMS. Btw, there are so many projects i worked on simultaneously and im pissed that i cant stack those.

I manage research projects, which must be structured quite differently from projects in the field you're in. I got to my 4500 hours by listing just seven projects.

Not sure what you mean by not being allowed to stack? I listed projects that happened concurrently and they didn't seem to have a problem with that.

[Emergo]

what i mean is they cant count as separate hours.

[Fudge102]

Following...

I'm basically a project manager for the US Navy and so naturally I don't have any of the civilian paperwork to do many things.  Since I'm getting out, I'm curious if this is something worth pursuing.  Or maybe later on down the line as I keep trying for more project management positions...

[ChpBstrd]

I earned my PMP right at the threshold. Luckily I was not audited, because I had to piece together from memory the history of my last employer.

[markum9]

I've had my PMP for a few years now.  On the hours requirements, mine was relatively easy since I was working as a PM and didn't have too many concurrent projects.  They may have tweaked the application since then, but to me I would ballpark the hours and then err on the conservative side.  Something you would feel comfortable being able to substantiate in the unlikely case of an audit, but I wouldn't over complicate your audit trail right now.

Was my PMP worthwhile?  it didn't do much at my previous company but I believe it allowed me to get my foot in the door while I was changing industries.  It's not as powerful a designation as a CPA, for example, but it is well known and respected.  The studying and test didn't prove all that worthwhile, but a lot of it just didn't directly apply to the type of projects I work on (internal development projects vs client/government facing where the financial accounting and tracking is more important).  PMI also offers a lot of good online training and networking opportunities which can be valuable.

So long story short, if you want to stay on the PM side for the foreseeable future, I would go for it.

[Plugging Along]

What do you want to know?   I have my PMP, I design and teach a PMP exam prep course at a college in my spare time,  and consulted in Project Management, worked a PMO, in my real job.
Some random thoughts for this thread.

My PMP has helped me, but more in the way credibility, and with employers, they know I can hit the ground running.   Also, I wouldn't be able to teach the PMP or project management without it, but that's not why I got it.

In terms of experience hours, document it as if you will be audited.   They have been targeting 10+ % for audits.  Keep it focused on the Project management speak.   

It's a tough exam, it will get tougher at the end of their end year when the exam changes for the new PMBOK6.    If you are planning to write it this year, you should make up your mind now, or decide to wait u till the new changes have settled.   

[deborah]

Yes, I got it. It was easy to fill in the paperwork because I had to book hours to projects at work, so I just got the figures out of the system. Not of any use, as I FIREd soon after.

[slb59]

I got mine six years ago at the encouragement of my company. It hasn't made a huge difference to my career and I don't use many of the tools, but I did get in some decent networking and interesting presentations at PMI dinners and it earned me brownie points at work that contributed in part to a promotion (and maybe 1-2 tasks I wouldn't have gotten otherwise).

I was hoping to leverage it to help me land a new job after I moved, but almost all of the jobs looking for PMPs where I live now are either in construction or IT. In those fields, the PMP is probably a lot more valuable than other fields (currently in federal management consulting where letters after your name are primarily useful to let your company charge more for your time, though mine doesn't with me).

As for the application, I approached it as a study exercise - you're taking your past experience and reframing it using their terminology. It's a huge pain, and whatever I think the value of my PMP is, I'll be keeping up with it so it doesn't lapse and I don't have to go through all that again.

Good luck :)

[Plugging Along]

Following...

I'm basically a project manager for the US Navy and so naturally I don't have any of the civilian paperwork to do many things.  Since I'm getting out, I'm curious if this is something worth pursuing.  Or maybe later on down the line as I keep trying for more project management positions...

I would say if you meet the qualifications within the navy, then it would be better to have The PMP before you leave and look for other jobs.

The documentation may be a tad tricky, but the paper work required for the audit is getting your sponsor to sign the sheet confirming you did what you documented.   This is often easier to do while you are in the organization.

[Schaefer Light]

I'm wondering how an audit would actually play out in my situation.  I've never kept track of the hours I spend doing anything.  And no one else has, either.  How do you audit that?

[Plugging Along]

I'm wondering how an audit would actually play out in my situation.  I've never kept track of the hours I spend doing anything.  And no one else has, either.  How do you audit that?

You will need to break out you hours on project by the five process groups.  Class 3 estimate is probably okay.    If you don't have clear tracking, I advise my students to take how long they worked on the project, and break it down by the number of weeks they spent in each process group and prorate the hours.    In the event of an audit, you would need the person you listed as the sponsor, or person who oversaw you work to physically sign the sheet indicating your hours are right. 

[Plugging Along]

How could you do 4,500 hours in 45 minutes. Your company's order processing software must be nice. Ours is LIMS. Btw, there are so many projects i worked on simultaneously and im pissed that i cant stack those.

I manage research projects, which must be structured quite differently from projects in the field you're in. I got to my 4500 hours by listing just seven projects.

Not sure what you mean by not being allowed to stack? I listed projects that happened concurrently and they didn't seem to have a problem with that.

Stacking means you cannot use projects that over lap on their months for the 36 months none overlapping experience.   You must only allocated one project even if you are working on multiple projects that month.   Depending on the types of projects, I will often get my students to roll up the projects or break some out in separate projects.


Also, someone on a very large project lasting a few years can list one or two project that meets the requirements.   This making the application easier.   Most students spend a a few days up to two weeks pulling everything together. 

[Schaefer Light]

I'm wondering how an audit would actually play out in my situation.  I've never kept track of the hours I spend doing anything.  And no one else has, either.  How do you audit that?

You will need to break out you hours on project by the five process groups.  Class 3 estimate is probably okay.    If you don't have clear tracking, I advise my students to take how long they worked on the project, and break it down by the number of weeks they spent in each process group and prorate the hours.    In the event of an audit, you would need the person you listed as the sponsor, or person who oversaw you work to physically sign the sheet indicating your hours are right.

Thanks for the feedback.

[BlueHouse]

federal management consulting where letters after your name are primarily useful to let your company charge more for your time

Yep. This also makes you much more attractive in the hiring phase. You'll be eligible for many more jobs with the PMP if you're in the federal sector.