The Project Management Institute (PMI) has been moving quickly to update and refresh its offerings, driven by both a desire to re-tool for the future, and the realities of a global pandemic. What follows are some of the important PMI certification updates, in no particular order.
It’s now easier to apply for PMP certification
Historically, one of the PMP certification requirements was 4500 hours of project management experience (or 7500 without a degree.) This has now been changed to 36 months of project management experience (or 60 months without a degree), which will make it easier for many people to qualify. The application form itself has also been revised – making it a less painful process.
The CAPM certification is now renewable
The CAPM certification has had a limited shelf-life in the past. There was no real renewal option – it automatically went away after five years and you had to take the exam again if you wanted to stay a CAPM. On October 1st, 2020 this will be changing, and there will be an option to maintain your CAPM certification by acquiring 15 professional development units (PDUs) every three years. As long as your do that, you will be able to retain your CAPM indefinitely.
Both the CAPM and PMP exams are now available online
The CAPM exam has been available online for a while now, but the online option for the PMP exam was only recently made available. For a whole variety of reasons however, we don’t recommend people use the online option – use the in-person testing centers if at all possible.
A sample PMP exam is now available from PMI
Although examples of PMP (and CAPM) questions have been available from numerous sources (high quality and otherwise) for a long time, PMI themselves have never made anything available. That changed a few months ago when they made a sample exam available for free. Contact us or comment below and we can send you the details.
Big changes are coming to the PMP exam
Starting 2nd January 2021, the PMP exam will be updated so that about half of the exam will cover traditional predictive project management approaches, and the other half will cover agile or hybrid approaches. This means PMP candidates will need to study a broader range of materials to prepare for the new exam. (We’re therefore encouraging people to get certified before the change if possible.)
PMBOK 7 is here
The 7th edition PMBOK has been completed and will likely be released electronically in the next few months, and then in hard-copy in Q1 2021. PMI is saying that the PMP exam will not be directly impacted by the arrival of the new version, although this seems hard to believe. The CAPM exam will certainly be impacted, and so we can expect a new version of that exam, focused on PMBOK 7, to arrive in the first half of 2021.
Ready to get certified now?
Check out one of our project management certification courses.