How To Maintain Your PMP® Certification in 3 Easy Steps
Congratulations! You are a Project Management Professional (PMP)® as soon as you pass the exam. There is no waiting period. As soon as you see "Passed" on the screen you hold the PMP certification. Go home and send an email to all your friends and colleagues and tell them that you are now a PMP. Celebrate!
Spoiler Alert: You are not a PMP® for life without a little extra effort.
In accordance with Project Management Institute (PMI)® rules, every three years you will need to collect and claim Professional Development Units (PDUs) to keep the certification active. You will need 60 PDUs every three years to keep your certification active.
In this article, you will learn the 3 easy steps to maintaining your PMP certification.
Step 1: Adhere to THE PMI's CONTINUING CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
The PMI® writes on their website about this:
"In order to satisfy the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program and maintain an active credential status individuals who have attained the PMP and/or Program Management Professional credential(s) must accrue and report a minimum of 60 professional development units (PDUs) during each CCR cycle, which is typically 3 years, complete an Application for Certification Renewal and payment of the renewal fee, and reaffirm PMI’s Code of Professional Conduct."
More information about PMI's Continuing Certification Program here: http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/MaintainYourCredential.aspx
Other helpful PMI links that will surely come in handy:
Check your PMP status in the online registry: https://certification.pmi.org/registry.aspx
Claim PDUs online at http://tel.occe.ou.edu/pmi/PMI_Member/PDUlogin.php3
Step 2: Attend events by PMI and/or PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.)
Please note that the information on this page may be outdated.
For the most up-to-date information about how to maintain your PMP® Certification:
You can earn PDUs by attending your local PMI chapter dinner meeting, by volunteering for the PMI, or by attending seminars offered by PMI's Registered Education Providers.
One of the best ways to proactively plan your PDUs is to get creative and leverage one PDU opportunity upon another. For example, if you attend a PMI Chapter Meeting you will earn 1 PDU in Category A. Why not piggy-back on that PDU opportunity by taking an active role as a volunteer at the registration desk? This will give you credit towards Category E PDUs as it counts towards volunteer service. You’ll be at the Chapter Meeting anyway, so it is a great opportunity to use your time wisely and get the most out of the evening.
There are more than 1,100 PMI R.E.P.s worldwide who offer courses that are pre-approved for PDUs. You can visit the PDU Insider calendar to check out some of these events.
Attend a congress or regional event and learn, network and get inspired with fellow PMPs. Learn more about it here: http://www.pmi.org/events.aspx
Step 3: Earn PDUs online
The good news is that starting November 2006 the PMI has given the OK for you to listen to podcasts and claim Category C PDUs.
Here is a list of podcasts you can listen to and earn PDUs:
The Project Management Podcast™ - http://www.project-management-podcast.com/
PM Lessons Learned Podcast - http://www.pmlessonslearned.com/
The PMO Podcast - http://www.botinternational.com/thepmopodcast.htm
Are you ready to begin claiming PDUs for listening to podcasts?
Here are some basic rules to remember:
In order for podcast episodes to qualify for PDUs, they must be relevant to project management, meet a specified purpose, and use knowledgeable resources. The links above cover all three requirements.
- You can submit a maximum of 30 Category C PDUs for each certification cycle (= every 3 years).
- You have to claim a minimum of 1 PDU
- If a podcast is not 60 minutes in duration, then you have to listen to several podcasts that discuss the same topic and add them up. For instance: 2 x 30 minutes on risk management = 1 Cat C PDU.
Please note that every PMP is subject to audit during the PDU submission process and that you may have to show in exactly what way you have earned all of your PDUs. The PMI reserves the right to reject some or all of the PDUs that you submit.
To know more about how to claim your PDUs right go to www.pm-podcast.com/pdu.
There are actually more creative ways in earning PDUs and maintaining your PMP certification, so we've prepared a short video here that will discuss these:
