The Project Management Institute® (PMI®) was found by six people in 1969. In its first ten years, the concentration was on engineering, defence and construction industry. With the help of IT industry, its expansion rate increased rapidly in 1980s. Today, it has 250 offices and 225,000 members world wide.
Its main mission and vision are giving support for the profession of project management. Since 1984, it has been offering Project Management Professional® (PMP®) certification. In 1996, it published the PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge®) Guide. In 2000, its second edition was published. In 2004, its third edition was published. In December 2008, its fourth edition was published.
Since August 2000, PMP® examination is given on-line. It is a four hour test which consist of 200 questions. There is no penalty for wrong answers. Out of the 200 questions, 25 questions not be included in the pass/fail determination. To pass the examination, candidates must answer a minimum of 106 of the 175 scored questions (61%) correctly. The result of the exam is seen right after the exam on the computer screen and a printout of the result is given to the person who took the exam. The report shows the proficiency level of the candidate for each area.
At least a high school diploma and 35 hours of training related to Project Management is required. In addition, a person holding a high school diploma must have a 7500 hours / 60 months of project experience within the last 8 years. A person holding a university diploma must have a 4500 hours / 36 months of project experience within the last 8 years. For more information, refer to "PMP® Certification Handbook" at PMI®’s web site.
Istanbul Kurumsal Gelisim offers trainings suitable for the 35 hour training requirement.
PMI® membership is not a prerequisite for PMP® certification. Yearly annual fee for PMI® membership is $119 ($30 for students). When applying for membership the first time, there is an extra charge of $10. The application fee is $405 for PMI® members and $555 for non-members.
After the application, PMI® gives an exam registration number to the applicant. With the help of the company Prometric, an exam date and place is scheduled. At this point, there is no additional fee.
About one month after passing the exam, the certificant receives a hard-copy certificate, a PMP® badge and a hard-copy code of professional responsibility by mail. PMP®s are expected to work in an ethical and responsible manner. The exam questions are confidential. The participants are expected to obey this code of ethics.
A person who fails the exam can re-take it at any time.
It is expected that all the people who took the exam (whether they pass or fail) will not tell the questions to other people. Otherwise, their PMP® degree or their priviledge to take the exam will be revoked.
The PMP® certificate is valid for three years. 60 PDUs (Professional Development Units) must be collected in order to renew it otherwise one has to re-take the exam. PDUs can be collected by various ways including but not limited to: taking or teaching courses, workshops, seminars, managing projects; publishing papers, articles, books, etc.
Istanbul Kurumsal Gelisim offers the course “Preparation for PMP® Examination” in English and in Turkish. When it is offered in Turkish, all English translations are also given. It is recommended that the participants take the exam 45-60 days after the course.
According to a survey of Fortune magazine in 1998, project management is the premier profession and its importance is increasing continuously. PMP® certification is an important step in this NEW profession.
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What is PMI? What is PMP?
