A PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification is a worldwide recognized project management certification that assesses a candidate's skills to control a professional project's, people, procedures, and business goals. As per PMI®, there are over one million PMP® certification holders worldwide. In almost every field, project managers are required, including health care, information technology (IT), construction, business, etc.

The demand for Project Management Professionals is in terms of skill requirements, which range between sectors and locations. As businesses hire personnel from many cultural backgrounds, the demand for project managers with a standardized set of abilities grows. These project managers would be required to take on system restructuring initiatives, translate strategic vision into practical goals, and assure effective and agreed-upon outcomes while managing numerous project restrictions.

You must first complete the experience criteria and then pass a certification test to obtain the certification.

A project manager's key responsibility is to work diligently toward the success of assigned initiatives. These projects have specified schedules, timeframes, and budgets that a project manager must meet. A project manager plays an active part in the following steps to ensure the success of a project:

• A project's planning and detailing
• Project execution and management
• Keeping track of and concluding a project

Aside from these major roles, a project manager is also required to:

• Make a detailed work plan.
• Manage and oversee the team's work.
• Prepare project budgets.
• Prioritize tasks to reach the project deadline.
• Troubleshoot operational and functional issues
• Arrange the resources, tools, and software needed to increase the project's efficiency.
• Communicate, solicit assistance, and allocate supportive work to other teams.
• Meet stakeholders' expectations
• Anticipate, assess, and minimize the project's core and secondary hazards.
• Complete the project within the pre-assigned time frame.

Project management professional certification can be taken up by:

1. Managers, supervisors, and individuals interested in learning how to manage projects and teams successfully.
2. Professionals who wish to accomplish complicated project objectives while still managing their everyday responsibilities
3. Those who want to develop fundamental communication skills for effective project management

Professionals with a PMP® certification have access to many outstanding job prospects. Furthermore, it enhances your project management abilities and demonstrates your capacity to manage difficult tasks. The following are the top benefits of PMP® certification:

Globally Recognized

Professionals can keep their Project Management skills and job prospects sharp with an online PMP® training course. They will be able to communicate in the global language of project management if they get a Project management certification. GoldStandard Certifications offers a PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification which is widely recognized and approved. Your abilities will be useful all around the world.

Salary is higher than that of non-certified project managers.

When you look at the many career prospects on the market, you will see that many of them demand the PMP® or offer priority to a certified expert. A PMP® certification provides value to your profession in career advancement, and PayScale raises. Compared to non-certified project managers, you are more likely to receive a raise in your present wage if you have a PMP® certification.

Assists You to Become a Better Project Manager

After intensive training and a challenging assessment, you will have better knowledge and ability to handle projects. Project management credentials can assist you in learning and using all of the most recent project management technology. A solid understanding of project management tools, concepts, and tactics can help you become a more effective project manager. It may also give off the impression that you are knowledgeable about the industry's best practices and have hands-on expertise with project implementation.

Get Recognized For Handling Top Project Management Projects

A PMP® certification will mark you an expert in standardized processes and sharpen your project management abilities. With a better grasp of project management, you will be more effective in completing projects efficiently and on time, earning the respect of your superiors. You could also get the promotion you've been waiting for.

It looks fantastic on the CV.

Apart from looking great on a CV, certifications emphasize your eagerness to learn and the skills you gained. The same is true for PMP® certification. Further, a PMP® certification may boost your CV and make you more visible to potential employers worldwide.

Enhances Professional Network

With a PMP® certification, you can connect with other PMP® certified professionals. You will have the ability to network with others who have comparable qualifications, hobbies, or histories. This professional network might be beneficial while looking for a new career.

1. PMP® certifications are becoming increasingly important for businesses.

The contemporary business environment is not entirely dependent on a Project management certification, but the harsh truth is that many entities and corporations require it when awarding contracts. For example, in the United States, PMP® and other allied project management certifications are in high demand; and certified project managers are required to be part of bid proposals for government agencies. Highly regulated industries such as defense, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and aerospace look for aspirants who have PMP® certification. Overall, more and more firms worldwide are looking to hire more PMP®-certified managers.

2. Employers want their staff to speak a unified language

Communication—whether verbal or written—is an inevitable part of a project manager's job. Therefore, though the levels of communication between all team members may vary across different projects, organizations stand to gain by having a common business language for all interactions. Therefore, PMP® certified professionals who speak a common language and know how to conduct themselves while discussing projects are a great fit here. For example, they understand the distinctions between a Procurement Performance Review and a Procurement Audit. Or they are on the same page when it comes to total floats, qualitative/quantitative risk analysis, and other performance measures. This unified understanding of approved project management frameworks facilitates easy communication between customers and providers while providing a fair playing field. As a result, the number of initiatives that fail due to communication breakdowns is dramatically decreased.

3. Companies are looking for in-house teams who are goal-oriented and motivated

Those who hold a PMP® Certification demonstrate their ambition in more ways than one. Recruiters and HR professionals feel that such individuals are highly driven and willing to go above and beyond to achieve their objectives. Companies are searching for goal-oriented, hard-working individuals eager to fuel their professional growth even further in today's competitive environment. Earning this credential necessitates a significant investment of work, time, and effort. As a result, whether directly or indirectly, it may be one of the greatest methods to express this message to potential employers wanting to add value to their human resources.

4. The PMP® certification demonstrates candidates can handle various projects more systematically

Project managers typically deal in an ever-changing environment that is fraught with unknowns. They must also follow defined, repeatable practices advocated by project management specialists worldwide. They can only achieve this economic partnership via shared procedures and standardized approaches. This is why businesses prefer specialists armed with the appropriate tools, skills, and risk identification abilities. This act ensures that newly employed (or current) PMP® professionals, partner companies, and team members are constantly on the same page in all methodologies.

5. PMP® certification provides solid abilities and a well-researched knowledge foundation.

Last but not least, qualified project managers have all of the necessary abilities for flourishing at their jobs. Such experts are surely more sought after than their rivals since they are more productive and serve as valuable contributions to their company. Furthermore, PMP®-certified project managers offer their firms a wealth of project management knowledge, and this solid foundation will be essential for all future and current initiatives.

Before sitting for the PMP® exam, you must satisfy several preliminary prerequisites:

• A high school diploma, an associate degree, or a global equivalent is required.
• A minimum of 60 months of distinct, non-overlapping professional project management experience is required.
• 35 hours of formal project management instruction

-OR-

• Bachelor's Degree (Four-year Degree) or Global Equivalent
• A minimum of 36 months of distinct, non-overlapping professional project management experience is required.
• Formal project management education of 35 contact hours

-OR-

• A Bachelor's or Post-Graduate Degree from a GAC-accredited institution (Bachelor's, Master's, or Global Equivalent)
• A minimum of 24 months of distinct, non-overlapping professional project management experience and 35 contact hours of formal project management education are required for the PMP® exam.

1. Your project management knowledge is similar to professional project work.

Personal initiatives such as personal planning, academic research for a degree-granting program, newsletter creation, or home repair projects are not permitted.

2. Your project experience is not proactive.

A project is a short-term endeavor that results in one or more distinct outputs. In other words, you should not include mundane, operational, or administrative duties or responsibilities in projects.

3. Your project experience is distinct.

This implies that for each month spent working on overlapping projects, you may only use that time spent on only one of those projects to meet your qualifying standards.

PMP® exam fees for computer-based testing (CBT) are as follows:

• $405 for PMI members
• Non-PMI members pay $555.

Fee Structure for Re-Examination:

• $275 for PMI members
• Non-PMI members pay $375.

The Project Management Professional certification is valid for only three years. However, it may be renewed or maintained by accumulating 60 professional development units (defined as hours spent on approved professional development activities) during that period.

• 180 multiple-choice questions (175 scored 5 unscored/pre-test).
• Time duration 230 minutes.
• You have the option of taking Computer-Based Testing (CBT) at Pearson VUE testing centers (paper-based testing is offered in some cases) or an Online Proctored Test (OPT) from the comfort of your own home or workplace while being supervised by a camera and microphone.
• There will be two 10-minute pauses for computer-based exams. There will be no scheduled pauses for paper-based assessments.
• The exam is administered in English.
• Exam content weighted by the three domains:

    I. People (42%)

    II. Process (50%)

    III. Business Environment (8%)

The questions fall into three domains:

People: 42 percent of the exam

The people part, which accounts for slightly less than half of the test, contains questions on leading and establishing teams, handling conflicts, managing virtual teams, mentoring, and other relevant themes.

Process: 50 percent of the exam

The process part assesses your understanding of project management methods. You may be questioned about managing finances and other resources, scheduling, dealing with project changes, and identifying the appropriate approaches for the project.

Business: 8 percent of the exam

The business environment section of the test covers the more business-oriented aspects of project management that you'll have to deal with as a project manager, such as compliance, creating value, and supporting organizational transformation.

Approximately half of the content is dedicated to predictive project management techniques, while the other half is dedicated to Agile or hybrid approaches.

• The exam eligibility period lasts one year from when your exam application was approved, and you can test three times in a calendar year.
• After finishing your CBT exam, you will get a printed copy of your exam results. This will provide a pass/fail grade and a category proficiency level (Proficient, Moderately Proficient, Below Proficient).

The PMP® exam will include 50% of questions based on the agile or hybrid approach to project management and 50% of questions based on the predictive approach to project management. The PMP® exam format includes the following features:

Number of Questions

180 out of which 175 are scored

Exam Type

Closed Book

Questions Type

Multiple choice, multiple responses, hotspot, matching, fill in the blanks, etc.

Time Duration

230 Minutes

Globally recognized and demanded, the PMP® certification demonstrates to employers, clients, and colleagues that a project manager possesses project management knowledge, experience, and skills to bring projects to successful completion. 

• As the demand for skilled project managers is at a critically urgent level, the PMP® certification empowers you with the professional skills necessary to lead project teams and achieve successful project results. The PMP® certification course online enables you to:
• Gain knowledge about Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI)® best practices and standards of Project Management
• Obtain 35 contact hours upon completion of this PMP Online Training, which is required to take the PMP exam
• Prepare further to succeed in the Project Management Professional certification exam
• Understand where projects fit within an organization and its strategy
• Focus on project benefits in addition to the traditional focus on project outputs
• Recognize and recall formal Project Management terms and practices used in the industry globally
• Apply formal tools and techniques to initiate, plan, execute, monitor, control & close a project
• Apply knowledge management techniques in a project
• Understand the internal and external factors that influence the projects such as organization structures, process assets and enterprise environmental factors
• Understand Project Manager’s skills and competencies
• Analyse and integrate various areas of project management like scope, schedule, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, procurement & stakeholders
• Apply the concepts and processes of Project Integration Management
• Gain the ability to apply Agile considerations in real projects, in all the project knowledge areas

The workshop is aimed at project managers, aspiring project managers and anyone who manages projects. It is also relevant to other key staff involved in the design, development, and delivery of projects, including:

•  Mid-Level and Senior Project Managers
•  Project Coordinators
•  Project Analyst
•  Project Leaders
•  Product Managers
•  Program Managers
•  Project Sponsors
•  Team Leaders
•  Anyone who wishes to build-up knowledge in agile and hybrid approaches 

Earning 60 PDUs over three years is doable, especially if you plan out when and how to obtain them. There are several methods to obtain these crucial PDUs, ranging from attending an e-learning course to participating in PMI chapters and community events. Typically, one PDU is awarded every hour (60 minutes) spent on recognized professional development activities. The Project Management Institute offers the following tips and tricks for keeping your PMP® credential:

1. Make a plan for obtaining your PDUs before your cycle begins.
2. Keep all of your PMP® PDU claims paperwork in a personal folder.
3. Report on actions as soon as they are completed. PDUs can also be submitted online using the Continuing Certification Requirement System (CCRS)
4. Utilize the chance to move PDUs from one cycle to the next. If you possess the PMP® certificate, you can transfer up to 20 PDUs earned in the previous year of your current cycle.
5. Check that you have a registered program number for REP classes, as the Continuing Certification Requirement System needs this.

Given its prominent recognition in the business, a PMP® Certification is unquestionably worthwhile if you're a Project Manager.

Pursuing a PMP® certification as a professional Project Manager can enhance your basic project management abilities while providing a formal framework for effectively steering projects. Everyone in the project management field is aware of the PMP®'s high reputation, and therefore, you will have significant professional power among your colleagues. You will also be eligible for career prospects that need PMP® certification as an employment condition.

Another reason why it's worthwhile? While you must evaluate the time and money you would invest in obtaining a PMP®, there is no doubting that it increases your chances of receiving a raise or promotion. According to PMI's Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey, 82% of polled project managers had a PMP® certification. PMP®-certified survey respondents earn 22% higher median incomes on average than those who do not have a PMP® certification. Furthermore, the survey discovered that the median wage continuously rises as you have a PMP® certification for a longer period of time.

According to the research, Project Managers with a PMP® certification earned a median compensation of $111,000 in the United States, while Project Managers without the certification received a median pay of $91,000.

And, because it is in a uniform format, a PMP® certification assures that you are following the finest project management techniques regardless of where you start or where you move ahead.

You must acquire 60 PDUs (Professional development units) every three years to keep your certification valid. It is not difficult to keep such as you have previously committed more than 60 hours to the certification the first time.

The PMP® certification has the potential to grow your career as a project management professional. If you're ready to get started, explore GoldStandard Project management certification. In this program, you will learn in-demand skills, how to start, plan and run both standard and Agile projects, acquire job-ready skills, build confidence & earn a valuable career credential in less than six months.