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So, you have been hearing of the advantages of being a PMP and have finally decided to appear in the exam!

Great! Before you get set to prepare for this exam, you need to spend a moment verifying whether you are eligible to appear in it. Through this article, I will help you do exactly this.

So, what is it that you need to be eligible?

(1) You should be able to show a minimum of 4500 hours of project management experience, if you possess a Bachelor’s degree (or a global equivalent), or a minimum of 7500 hours of experience otherwise. Also, this experience should span across all the 5 process groups. So, you should specify your experience in Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, as well as Closing process groups. However, relax! You do not need to have experience in every process group in every project that you have worked on. You might have joined some project in the middle of the execution phase and thus, might not have been involved in Initiating and Planning phases for the same. Or, you might have moved out of some project midway after initiating and planning for it. In this case, you would not have participated in any ‘Closing’ activity for this project. All this is fine, and perfectly acceptable, provided you have experience on all of these process groups in at least one of your projects.

(2) You must have completed at least 35 hours of Project Management education. You will be required to put in the start date, end date, name of the course provider as well as the name of the training course when filling in the application form. You can go in for training classes conducted by your employer or you may want to attend some online courses. You may also attend some classroom based sessions organized by different training institutes. Only, you should make sure that the course deals with Project Management topics only.? Another option to earn your 35 contact hours with this audio training course.

Remember, you do not need to submit any proofs of your experience or educational qualifications at the time of submitting your application for the exam. In fact, you might not have to submit these documents at all. The only time you will have to produce documentary proof of your education and experience is if your application gets selected for an audit. But it is always advisable to have documentary proof of your experience and educational qualifications in place, just in case they are needed.

Another important thing to remember is that you should fill in your examination form only after you have attained PMI membership. This makes sense not only because you get access to additional study materials but also financially. If you apply for the exam without becoming a PMI member, you need to pay USD 555. However, if you become a PMI member and then apply for the exam, you pay $129 for the membership, in addition to the USD 405 examination fees. The latter amounts to a total of USD 534. So, which option would you go in for? I would prefer becoming a PMP member first, any day. However, make sure that you apply for your exam within one year of becoming a PMI member, otherwise your membership would lapse and you would again have to pay the whole amount of USD 555 for apearing in the exam.

So, get set and be ready to appear in your PMP exam!