TOPIC: Tips for the PMP application

Hey everyone, I could really use some guidance here. I’ve been meaning to take the PMP exam but the whole process feels overwhelming, and I don’t even know how to continue forward.
For context, I meet the basic requirements as a bachelor’s degree-holder with 3 years of project management experience and a 35-hour PM education.
I’ve also created my PMI account but still have questions about the application process and exam in general. Hoping for someone to answer my questions:

> How do I properly document my experience to avoid an audit?
> What’s the best way to break this down without getting lost in PMBOK overload?
> How much is the exam fee usually for new test takers?

First of all... congratulations on taking action toward your PMP certification. It’s not unusual to feel overwhelmed at first, but breaking the process down into manageable steps can really help. (That's called decomposition - a concept you need to know for the exam, BTW...

1. About the Audit Process
All audits are random and no matter what you write you cannot "avoid" it. You either will or will not get audited. What you can control is making sure that what you documented asproject management experience is honest, consistent, and clearly stated. If you are audited, you want to be able to support what you claimed.

2. Documenting Your Experience
A common question is how to structure your project management experience to fit the application. A practical approach is to:

• Write concise project descriptions showing your role, responsibilities, and deliverables.
• Focus on highlighting the project management tasks you performed (initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, closing).
• Be transparent about roles, durations, and key outcomes.

If you need a more detailed guide, have you seen our article on filling in the PMP application? It walks you through the process step by step.

3. Avoiding “PMBOK Overload”
There’s a lot of information in the PMBOK Guide, but you don’t have to memorize every detail. Instead:

• Understand major concepts. Learn about processes and knowledge areas (from the separate Process Guide).
• Use a good exam prep course or study guide that condenses and explains the material in simpler terms.

Practice exams and self-quizzing are excellent ways to reinforce this knowledge without getting lost in theory.

4. Exam Fee & PMI Membership
The PMP exam fee is USD 425 for PMI members and USD 675 for non-members. And it makes total sense to first becoming a PMI member simply because the cost of membership is less than the difference in exam fees. You also don’t have to renew the membership after the first year if you don’t want to. You're just becoming a member to save on the application fee.

Final Thought
Take this one step at a time, and trust your PM skills. Let me know if you have any other questions? You’ve got this!

About the Audit Process
When documenting my project management experience for the PMP exam, I reached out to the supervisors and colleagues listed in my application. I gave them a heads-up about my PMP application and shared relevant details about our work together. This not only helped maintain professional connections but also allowed me to get feedback on my application and ensure they were comfortable verifying my experience in case of an audit.

Yazmine Darcy, MBA, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM
Director of Operations, OSP International LLC

Looks like you've had some good experiences in the bag! From my case, just be sure to have detailed records of all project activities, decisions, and changes. This includes project plans, meeting minutes, progress reports, and any correspondence related to the project. Plus, you may want to have your former manager in your corner to back up these claims IF you're audited. (Just good to be prepared)

+1 on ensuring your project descriptions (and your role in it) are reviewed with your manager(s) and former managers to ensure they are comfortable before you submit this. This will protect you in the event of any audit.
Also +1 on the detailed guide shared by Cornelius - personally this same link was very helpful when I was planning out my application process.

The only specific thing I would add to this is:
Document everything in an excel spreadsheet and in a word document.
- Excel spreadsheet will help you estimate the to/ from dates of each project and you can determine whether you fulfil the exact time-requirements.
- Word document will help you track word/ character count and ensure you are on track with the descriptions.

Have all of this ready before you open up the application. It would be very painful to try and draft this from scratch directly on the application.
It is much easier to copy paste