TOPIC: PMP Exam Update 2019

UPDATE: This discussion here is outdated because the date for the exam change has been moved to 1 July 2020. Please click on the following link for the new discussion thread: PMP Exam Update 2020

The Project Management Institute (PMI)® announced that a change is coming to The Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam later this year. To summarize the announcement: They will publish a new PMP® Examination Content outline in June of 2019, which will then be used as the basis for updating the PMP exam. The last day you can take the "old" PMP exam is 15 December 2019. Anyone taking their exam on or after 16 December 2019 will take the "new" exam.

For all the details on this change please read the following article:

The PMP Exam is Changing on 16 December 2019

If you have any questions that are not addressed in the article, please ask them here. I will give you an answer and update the article accordingly.

The new exam content outline is released by PMI. Instead of 5 domains which are based on PGs, 3 domains are applicable . 50% questions will be based on predictive LC & other 50% will based on agile & hybrid LC. based on the same, I guess 3rd party study guides need to be changed in accordance with new exam content outline & so does the training for acquiring the contact hours. Also, more practice questions for agile & hybrid LC.

So no more 5 Process Groups? But instead 3? What about Knowledge Areas?

Martin,

This is an update to the PMP Exam Content Outline (ECO) and not an update to the PMBOK Guide:

- PMBOK Guide (valid until about 2022): 5 Process Groups and 10 Knowledge Areas
- Current ECO (valid until Dec 15): 5 Domains
- New ECO (valid starting Dec 16): 3 Domains

The ECO and the PMBOK Guide are two different PMI publications. They are not 'in sync" in regards to how they are structured and outlined, even though the current 5 Domains are "sort of" matching the 5 Process Groups.

Will the exam still be 4 hours and 200 multiple choice questions?

So basically the exam will be more focused on the 3 new domains. For instance way more questions on agile etc....?

Andra: Yes. The exam will still be 4 hours and 200 questions.

Martin: Correct. And as PMI states in the new outline: "About half of the examination will represent predictive project management approaches and the other half will represent agile or hybrid approaches. Predictive, agile, and hybrid approaches will be found throughout the three domain areas listed above and are not isolated to any particular domain or task."

Good move by PMI. Now what will happen to PMI-ACP? Will it change or even go away?

Now after changes in PMP outline , which exam is better/feasible to appear for among current one and Changes after December 15

Chitra,

That's easy: Take the CURRENT exam before December 16.

Do you think that the new content outline can be found primarily in the PMBOK 6th and Agile Practice Guide. I read on the PMI site that the Alpine Group was not bound by PMBOK6. Most of the new questions come from the Business Environment domain. Do you know what PMI resource reference is for that area?

@Anonymous... PMI has not provided any guidance about where to find the content yet.

Hi! I hav not started preparing for PMP exam yet, but i surely want to hav this credential... for 35 contact hours , classes r in August.... what do u suggest, should i be appearing for before 15dec? I was thinking, what if Organizations will start preferring those persons who hav cleared exam after 15Dec2019?..or PMI will launch new policy to upgrade old PMPs Certificates because pattern has changed....Im just Confuse, please guide..thanku

Farook,

I took my PMP in 2004. Nobody has ever asked me "so when did you take it?" when I applied for a job. So from my experience, a PMP is a PMP is a PMP no matter when she/he took the exam.

Therefore: Take the exam before December 15.

Got it, thanku

Hi Cornelius,

I have watched all the lessons and about to start with the exam simulation questions. I have also just watched the video regarding the changes. In the video you mention that there has been a column added
outlining which lessons are; optional/recommended/required. Where can I find this? I do not currently see this column in my contents list.

Thankyou,
Michelle

Michelle,

Please see Lesson L00.10 in the LMS where we link to the spreadsheet.

Or click here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Dt6PnIwh...aIM/edit?usp=sharing

How do you envision that 3rd party study materials may be structured, since the major structure today is devoted to a chapter by chapter review of each Knowledge Area. With 3 domains (People, Process, and Business Environment), would a High Level structure of the 5 Process Groups and then sub-structure of the 3 new domains (People, Process, and Business Environment) make sense in covering training materials? So a coverage of Process Groups instead of Knowledge Areas and incorporating the 3 new domains. Your thoughts?

William,

Frankly... your guess is as good as mine in regards to what other training providers will do. There is no way for me to know at this point if - for example - the authors of PMP prep books will update (and reprint) their books immediately, or if they perform a gap analysis and determine that they cover the topics (albeit following the PMBOK Guide structure) and don't need to update, or if they are simply going to wait for PMBOK 7 (2-3 years from now) and update things then.

We ourselves are in the middle of the gap analysis and will determine what to do once we have a clear picture of what is covered by our training and simulator and what is missing.

Please see here for more details on what we are doing www.project-management-prepcast.com/free...pmp-exam-update-2019 near the bottom of the page.

A few personal observation after reviewing the current and new Exam Content Outline (ECO) for the PMP Exam.
- The new exam will not only test the PMP aspirant's knowledge of project management processes but also how to be an effective team leader and able to adapt to the changing business environment.
- The new exam will very likely be harder for quite a number of reasons such as broader coverage, the difference between new exam and PMBOK Ed 6., and confusion due to the change.
- Due to lack of proper exam coverage with PMBOK Ed 6, the Registered Education Provider (REP) will likely play a bigger role in helping PMP aspirants passing the new exam.
- Practice using good exam simulator will be even more important with the new exam.

I've published a blog post that discusses the upcoming PMP Exam change in more detail based on the current and new Exam Content Outlines. Have a read if you are interested.
pm.wisdomdepot.com/pmp-exam-change-2019/
Hope it helps.

(Disclaimer: I am an affiliate with Registered Education Providers, including PM-Prepcast.)

I plan to take my exams in Jan 2020. Should I wait to buy my prepcast for whn it is available with the exam changes or do I buy it now to receive an upgrade later. Please advise.

Sam,

Please review this info about our upgrade plans for The PM PrepCast: www.project-management-prepcast.com/free...date-the-pm-prepcast

In essence, my analysis shows is that the current PM PrepCast already covers almost everything that you will need for the "new" PMP exam. Those topics that are not yet covered (i.e. compliance) will be ADDED to what we already have today and nothing will be removed. So you can buy the current version, start studying and review the updates as they are published later in the year.

Please note that this is not the case for our exam simulator. Here, a new version will have to be developed and published. Students who have an active subscription to the 'old" simulator on the day of the exam change will automatically receive a 90-day subscription to the 'new' simulator.

So your best option right now: Start studying with The PM PrepCast but hold off on buying the simulator until the new one is published. (And yes, that can potentially cost you more, since you cannot take advantage of buying the discounted PrepCast/Simulator bundle -- but at least you can start your studies).

Does that answer it?

>>>Students who have an active subscription to the 'old" simulator on the day of the exam change will automatically receive a 90-day subscription to the 'new' simulator.

I was planning on buying the Prepcast Elite bundle. Since my exam date of Jan 2020 falls within the 90 day window (of your extension), can I take advantage of buying the discounted PrepCast/Simulator bundle NOW?

@Anonymous

That depends... WHEN are you planning on buying it, and WHEN exactly are you planning on taking exams in the simulator? (Remember that you will not receive an automatic update to the new simulator version, if your subscription has expired when the new exam comes into effect).

I plan to buy the Elite version today. I understand this comes with a 90-Day Access to The PM Exam Simulator. Does access to the simulator start the day i buy the Elite product or the first day I use the simulator?
It would have been great if I could buy the product today and be able to use the training starting today and the exam simulator closer my Jan 2020 date (maybe late November to early december). I want to be able to use the discount of buy the the training Simulator for $299.

Any help making this decision is appreciated.

In that case... not a problem. Go ahead and purchase the Elite today:
- You can immediately access The PM PrepCast and will receive any updates we publish (Currently, those will be relatively minor)
- The 90-day countdown to the simulator does not start until you actually take your first exam. So just wait to activate the simulator until about 89 days before the exam changeover (I'm saying 89 and not 90 just to be safe...

If I purchase PM Formulas now and don't take an exam before the upgrade on 15th Dec'19, will I receive a free upgraded version of PM formulas or do I need to purchase the upgraded ones again?

Hi,

I am about to start preparing for the PMP exam and I plan to give the PMP exam around Feb 2020.

I need to know when should I buy the PMP prepcast considering that the PMP exam is changing in Dec 2019.

Should I buy the PM PrepCast Basic or PM PrepCast Elite now?

Please advice

@Anonymous,

In a nutshell: The formulas for the PMP exam are NOT changing. So no update is necessary.

Please take a look at this article here where we explain the details: www.project-management-prepcast.com/free...pmp-exam-update-2019

Thiru,

We cross-referenced the current PrepCast training with the new exam content outline and found that we are already covering at least 95% of what is needed on the new exam. So there will only be small additions to what we already have. (The biggest change will be that we will be adding more Agile topics). So you can start your PrepCast training already.

If you want to buy the PrepCast Elite then we recommend that you do NOT activate it. So do NOT take a single exam yet. We will publish Simulator 6.1 later this year you'll automatically get a free upgrade. But please note that we will at first only have TWO full exams available in the new simulator and additional exams will only be added AFTER the exam has changed.

Please review this article for more details: www.project-management-prepcast.com/free...pmp-exam-update-2019

@ Cornelius Fichtner,

Many thanks for your response.

Regards,

UPDATE:

PMI announced today that the date for the PMP exam update will be moved to 01 July 2020 in order to give everyone more time to prepare for the change. Please visit the new discussion thread by visiting the following link::

PMP Exam Update 2020

I am therefore closing this discussion here for future comments.