What is PMP?

PMP stands for Project Management Professional and is considered the golden standard for project management. The certification, provided by PMI (Project management institute) is recognized worldwide.

The certification requests a real commitment and proven experience within the world of project management. Once certified, professionals have more possibilities in the workforce and to take the next step in their career. The organisation will also benefit from an employee that is PMP certified, as it brings lots of knowledge and experience.

PMP is based on the PMBOK guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge), which is a guide created and updated by PMI every 4-5 years. The purpose of the PMBOK Guide is to recognize and explain generally accepted knowledge and systems that can be applied to projects. It is a summary of what is generally recognized as ‘good practice’.

The benefits of PMP

The certification process of the PMP certification requests a time-investment and covers a lot of topics. The certification process requires dedication. However, also the benefits speak for themselves, both for the individual and the organisation. We listed the 5 main benefits:

1. New skills

The PMP certification scheme includes many new learnings. It covers both technical skills as soft skills and prepares the participant to be all round Project Manager.

2. Global recognition

PMP is universally recognised. PMP is global and the learned techniques and skills can be applied to all sorts of projects. PMP is industry independent.

3. Commitment to your profession:

To be able to write ‘PMP’ behind your name, will show your colleagues, managers and recruiters that you take your profession very seriously. It shows that you are up to date regarding the latest project management developments and that you are eager to learn and constantly develop yourself.

4. Join the club

Globally there are about a million PMP certified professionals. PMI regularly organises events for these professionals to increase networking possibilities. But there are also many other online and offline communities where PM related topics are being discussed.

5. Professional growth

The PMP certification increases your chances of career growth and salary increase.

The 8 Performance Domains

With the launch of the 7th edition of the PMBOK in 2021, major changes were introduced. These changes included the replacement of the 10 knowledge areas with the 8 project performance domains.

The 8 performance domains summarize which elements are essential to the success of a project:

• Stakeholders
• Team
• Development approach and Life cycle
• Planning
• Project work
• Delivery
• Performance
• Uncertainty and ambiguity

The new PMBOK performance domains focus on delivering value to the organisation and its stakeholders through the project delivery.

Besides the 8 performance domains, previously there were 5 Process Groups. Now the PMBOK also defines 12 Project Management Principles, which are:

• Stewardship
• Team
• Stakeholders
• Value
• System Thinking
• Leadership
• Tailoring
• Quality
• Complexity
• Risk
• Adaptability and Resilience
• Change

With these 12 principles, the PMBOK wants to specify how processes and behaviour in project delivery play their roles. These principles can be guiding for project managers and act like the rules for the entire project management process.

Getting PMP certified

There are many methods and certifications in the world of project management, PMP® and PRINCE2® being the best known. We often get questions about the difference between the two certifications, if that’s also a question you’re wondering, we’ve compared the two methods in this article.

To be able to take the PMP certification exam, there are some basic requirements you must meet. PMI wants to keep the level high and therefore requires that the candidate must have worked as a PM for 4.500 or 7.500 hours (depending on previous education). It is also a must that the candidate has followed 35 hours of project management education.

The PMP certification also requires lots of self study, it is generally assumed that 300 to 400 hours should suffice to be fully prepared. If you study 2-3 hours a day, this means that you can plan the exam about three months after you start studying. The exam itself takes 4 hours and is made up by 200 multiple choice questions.

Once you have passed the exam and are an official Project Management Professional, you will have to maintain your certification. This means that you have to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDU) every three years. There are two types of professional PDU’s, ‘education’ and ‘giving back to the profession’.

Interested to learn more about PMP? Watch the recording of our webinar with Xavier Heusdens and find out why it is worth it to invest in the PMP certification.

See everything explained in our quick PMP YouTube Video!