Claiming PDUs under Category F

Under PMI‘s new PDU category structure, introduced in March of 2011, PMP and other PMI certification holders can “earn PDUs for working as a project manager (project risk management professional, project scheduling professional or program manager)” (quoted from PMI’s web site). How many PDUs you can claim in one three-year credential renewal cycle depends on which certification you possess:

• PMP (Project Management Professional) and PgMP (Program Management Professional) credential holders may claim 15 PDUs per cycle
• PMI-SP (Scheduling Professional) and/or PMI-RMP (Risk Management Professional) credential holders may claim 7.5 PDUs per cycle.

Meanwhile, there is a restriction on how many PDUs you can claim per year within the three year cycle:

• PMP and PgMP credential holders can claim 5 PDUs per 12-month period
• PMI-SP and PMI-RMP credential holders can claim 2.5 PDUs per 12-month period.

You can earn these PDUs only if you work in your respective field for a minimum of six months during the twelve month period. So for example, when I claimed my own PDUs, I claimed 5 PDUs (as a PMP) for the entire 2010 calendar year (January through to December), and also claimed 5 PDUs for half of the 2011 calendar year (January through to June), for a total of 10 PDUs claimed under Category F. I will also be claiming 5 PDUs for my work as a project manager from July of 2011 up until the end of the first half of 2012.

The maximum PDUs allowed in Categories D, E and F

The PDUs you earn for working in the field of project management count toward Category F, which is one of three Giving Back to the Profession categories that also include Categories D and E. In one three-year cycle you are only allowed to claim:

• 45 PDUs total for PMP and PgMP credential holder
• 20 PDUs total for PMI-SP and PMI-RMP credential holders.

This clause means that you will need to earn at least 15 PDUs of your required PDUs per three-year cycle within Categories A, B and C: undergoing continuing education, participating in self-directed learning, or taking courses from third party providers (for example, from PMI REPs).

So go manage some projects!

The moral of this story is: if you hold one of PMI’s credentials, and if you are working in the field of project, program, risk or scheduling management, you would be daft not to claim the maximum allowed PDUs for your efforts to put toward achieving your total 60 PDUs for the cycle. So go out and manage some projects – and claim those PDUs!

In this post I’ll walk you through some of the pros and cons of PMP certification. Please note that these pros and cons are only my opinions (though most are based on facts); many other project managers have their own recommendations on whether or not PMP certification is worth attaining, and they may be different from my own. I welcome any input that other project managers reading this post might have.

PMP certification pros and cons

The pros of PMP certification

PMP certification looks great on a resume

PMP certification can beef up a resume, and can make the difference between getting a job as a project manager and being passed over in favor of someone else (likely someone who is PMP certified). What’s more, many employers require PMP certification of their project managers, and will not hire non-certified project managers. Having the credential will certainly make it easier to find a job as a project or program manager.

During the application process for one particular job I was chastised by a professional recruiter, someone who goes through hundreds of resumes each week, for not having “PMP” beside my name at the very top of my resume (I had it listed further down, under “Professional Certifications”). She felt it crucial to indicate up front that I was PMP certified. And by the way, I did end up getting the job.

PMP certification proves that you have experience as a project manager

In order to apply to take the PMP exam you are required to have attained a certain amount of project experience: 60 months (7,500 hours) of experience if you have an associate’s degree, and 36 months (4,500 hours) of experience if you have a bachelor’s degree. PMI (the Project Management Institute) has an audit process to help ensure that potential PMPs are being truthful about their project history (though admittedly it is not a watertight process).

As I personally deal with clients on a daily basis, I include “PMP” after my name in my email signature. This gives me some initial credibility when meeting new contacts (though only those who already know what PMP stands for).

PMP project managers make more money than non-PMP project managers

Having PMP certification can score you a higher salary compared to those project managers who are not certified. What’s more, one survey indicates that the PMP is the highest paid IT certification (at least as of 2008). More good news: a second survey indicates that PMP salaries are continuing to increase.

Online you’ll find plenty of sources indicating that PMPs make $6,000 to 10,000 USD per year more than non PMPs; others will boast that PMPs make 10-15% more money than those who are not certified. According to the 2010 PMI Salary Survey PMP-certified project managers in six major countries reported a $10,000 USD salary advantage over non-PMP-certified project managers.

Being a PMP can lead to networking opportunities and potential job opportunities

Being a PMP links you to all of the other PMPs in the world, and there are plenty of those. According to the August 2011 issue of PMI’s publication PMI Today there are 357,770 PMI members across the globe – and this number is growing. PMI stages frequent PMI meetings in most major metropolitan centers, where PMI members (many, but not all of whom are PMPs) get together to network and learn about project management theory. These meetings can also earn PMPs valuable Professional Development Units (PDUs) that are needed to renew their certification every three years.

During PMI meetings you can often find out about fresh career opportunities from members who appreciate the importance of PMP certification; these meetings often have time alloted for people to stand up and share any job opportunities that are available at their organizations. And there are plenty of other communities, both online and off, where PMPs can interact with other project managers, build their professional networks and investigate potential career opportunities.

PMP certification indicates that you have a commitment to the profession of project management

PMP project managers have spent time and effort leading up to and attaining PMP certification, which means that they are at least to some extent committed to project management as a profession. Even if they don’t plan to serve as project managers for their entire lives, they do understand the importance of PMP certification as a step forward in their careers, and that in itself tells an important story. As a project management professional I am a champion of project management as a profession, and want to ensure that it is recognized as a valid doctrine, and that co-workers working on the projects I manage understand and respect its importance.

The cons of PMP certification

PMP certification is expensive

In order to become PMP certified you need to throw down some cash… it costs money to take project management courses (in order to apply for the PMP exam you need to have taken 35 hours of formal project management education) and it currently costs several hundred dollars ($405 for PMI members and $555 for non-PMI members) to apply to sit the PMP exam at a formal testing center.

I should note here that most project managers join PMI before applying to take the exam, which costs $129 USD to join, and $119 USD to renew each year. PMI membership offers certain benefits, such as access to various PMI resources that can help you prepare for the exam and free copies of all of the PMI standards; in particular, the PMBOK.

The good news is that if you’re already working as a project manager there’s a good chance that your company will pay for you to attend project management classes and take the PMP exam. Many organizations are starting to see the value of certifying their project managers as Project Management Professionals. It can’t hurt to ask!

Preparing for the PMP examination is time consuming

More off-putting (at least in my opinion) than the cost of getting PMP certified is the time it takes to apply and study for the PMP exam itself. PMI requires applicants to document all of the project management education and experience that they have attained; experience must be documented down to the process level – for example, on a particular project, how many hours did you spend creating a work breakdown structure? How many hours did you spend executing project tasks?

I spent several hours using an Excel spreadsheet of my own design to try to recall and then indicate what tasks I did for what project and approximately how long it took me to do them. It was tedious work. When I was done I passed the hours by my former managers and asked them, if I were to get audited by PMI, would they indicate that the hours that I had put down in my spreadsheet were approximately correct? They agreed, and so I submitted those hours with my application. This is an important step – make sure to prepare for the event that your application is audited by PMI (PMI randomly selects a percentage of applications for a thorough audit).

Another important part of preparing for the PMP examination is the study time it takes to learn the PMI processes. The Product Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is the most important resource of information that will be on the PMP exam, but it is not the only resource – it is well known that there are certain topics (ethics is one) that will be featured on the PMP exam that are only glossed over in the PMBOK. There are plenty of study guides, some better than others, that you will also need in order to prepare for the PMP exam. The best known of these guides is likely PMP Exam Prep by the late Rita Mulcahy. It features detailed information about the various PMP processes and difficult questions that are representative of those found on the actual exam.

Some people take PMP preparation courses (that do cost money) in order to prepare for the PMP exam. I personally did not take such a course – I found that the PMBOK and other PMP study guides were sufficient to give me the knowledge I needed to pass the exam.

PMP certification is time consuming (and potentially costly) to keep active

To keep your PMP certification active, you need to amass 60 PDUs over a period of three years. These can be earned in a variety of different categories. It can be cheap to earn these PDUs (there are also ways to earn them for free, such as volunteering or self-study) but for the most part it will take time and money to amass the necessary PDUs to maintain your credential.

PMI’s methodology is a one methodology among many

Passing the PMP exam doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an expert in all facets of project management – it means that you have passed a test about one single methodology: PMI’s own project management methodology. This methodology is based on a single publication, the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). Other popular methodologies of today – for example, Agile, Prince2, and ITIL – are not covered by PMI’s methodology.

In fact, it is my opinion that PMI’s methodology is a bit dated. PMI’s processes seem to align best with projects using the waterfall method of development, which is not as popular these days at it has been in the past. Iterative development is catching on quickly, and I find that Agile development using Scrum is a sound methodology that helps to keep projects on track. With some tweaking you can align PMI’s processes with Agile processes, but they haven’t really been designed with iterative development in mind.

Just because PMPs have project experience, it doesn’t mean that they are good project managers

Passing the PMP exam means that you’ve indicated that you have a certain amount of project management experience and education, and that you’ve passed a difficult test based on PMI’s project management methodology – that’s all. It doesn’t mean that you’re a good project manager, or that the projects that you’ve managed have been successful. In fact, you could be the worst project manager in the country with not a single successful project to your credit, and you can still get PMP certified.

That being said, I tend to think that PMP certified project managers are better project managers than non-certified project managers on the whole due to the fact that PMP certified project managers understand the importance of the credential and have spent time and effort to attain the credential. I liken it to someone who has attained a university degree – the very fact that the person has gone through the trouble of attaining the degree says something about their character.

Is PMP certification worth getting?

So now that I’ve outlined the pros and cons of getting PMP certified, the question remains… do I personally feel that it is worth getting the credential?

I do believe it is worth it. Getting PMP certified has certainly helped me to get hired for project management jobs, and will continue to do so throughout my career, whether or not I choose to continue to work as a project manager. I’ve met many great people interested in the field of project management by involving myself with PMI activities and events, and have enjoyed learning more about the doctrine of project management. Putting PMP after my name in my email signature has given me some extra credibility when dealing with clients, and has also sparked discussions about project management with my peers. And looking back, I am proud of the time and effort that I spent preparing for and passing the PMP examination.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about the PMP examination or about whether or not it would be right for you. I’d be glad to help out!

The new structure is not so different from the old, but as with a lot of PMI’s overhauled systems the new version does seem to be more streamlined than before, and makes it easier for project managers to earn and report PDUs. PMI overhauled the system based on feedback from a formal study conducted with PMI credential holders, PMI Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) and project management community leaders and, according to the Customer Care FAQ, the changes have so far been positively received (in the survey, 82% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the new categories).

Here are some of the highlights of the new system.

What’s changed?

• The new category structure has been simplified; the number of categories has been reduced from 18 to 6. In addition, categories are now indicated by letters rather than numbers; for example, the category for Enhancing the Project Management Profession is now Category E instead of Category 5.
• All categories now use the rule that one hour of activity is now worth one PDU (in-class sessions, volunteering, or attending PMI meetings, for example).
• Categories have been expanded to include Web 2.0 learning opportunities (opportunities that include information sharing and collaboration over the Internet).
• Certain categories have limits that require all credential holders to pursue some project management continuing education as part of their credential maintenance (so you can’t earn all of your PDUs by volunteering; for example – you will need to earn at least some with continuing education.

What hasn’t changed?

• The three-year renewal cycle and number of PDUs required to maintain the credential remains at 60 PDUs for PMP certification holders.
• The re-certification fee structure for PMI credentials has not changed.

What does the new structure look like?

The new structure is comprised of the following six categories.

Education Categories:

For the following categories project managers can earn one PDU per one hour of class or study.

• Category A: Courses offered by PMI’s R.E.P.s or Chapters and Communities
• Category B: Continuing education
• Category C: Self-directed learning

Giving Back to the Profession Categories:

Certification holders can earn a total of 45 PDUs in the combined Giving Back to the Profession categories.

• Category D: Creating new project management knowledge (one PDU per one hour spent creating or delivering project management knowledge)
• Category E: Volunteer service (one PDU per one hour of service)
• Category F: Working as a professional in project management (PMPs can earn five PDUs for working six out of twelve months as a project manager).

How does the new structure compare to the old?

With the release of the new PDU category structure PMI issued a helpful comparison chart showing the difference between the new category structure and the old (it’s on page six of this document).

So far I really like the new PDU category structure. In a previous post about volunteering for PDUs I mentioned that the amount of PDUs you can earn for volunteering (at your local PMI chapter or at your favorite nonprofit or charity organization, for example) has been increased from 20 to 45 total PDUs. That’s great news for those of us who enjoy being active in our communities!

If you’re a PMP certification holder (or PgMP, CAPM or otherwise), good luck with the new structure! And please let me know in a comment if you have any questions or opinions about the new system.

There are lots of different ways to earn PDUs; for the most part, PMP certified project managers will earn PDUs by taking courses, online or offline, for which each hour of study will translate into one PDU. There are plenty of great courses to take, many of which are interesting and well worth your time above and beyond the fact that you’re gathering those precious PDUs while taking them. But of all of the methods of earning PDUs that exist, perhaps the most satisfying of them all is to volunteer your time and your skills as a project manager.

Giving back to the profession

As of March 1, 2011, PMI has reorganized its PDU category structure. Category E (formerly Category 5) of PMI’s New PDU Category Structure and Policies document is part of a section of categories called Giving Back to the Profession. Within this category are those activities that a project manager can undertake to earn PDUs while also supporting the project manager’s community and project management as a discipline.

Four ways to volunteer as a project manager

There are four different ways that a project manager can volunteer to earn PDUs:

• Serve as an elected volunteer officer for a project management organization including PMI chapters and communities of practice.
• Serve as a volunteer/appointed committee member for a project management
  organization (including PMI chapters and communities of practice).
• Providing project management related volunteer services to PMI or another
  (legally recognized) professional project management association.
• Provide volunteer project management-related services:
• to a community or charitable group
• to a group of college students for educational purposes, or
• as a coach or mentor on project management topics.

How many hours can a project manager volunteer?

Of course, a project manager can volunteer as many hours of service as he or she chooses to volunteer; I am sure that the nonprofit and philanthropic community, for example, would appreciate as much help with their project management as they can receive! However, for the purposes of claiming PDUs, a PMP certified project manager (or a PgMP certified program manager) can claim 45 PDUs in the combined Giving Back to the Profession categories (Categories D, E and F). It was once the case that project managers could only earn 20 PDUs in the former Category 5, so the increase is a welcome change for those of us who enjoy giving back to our communities.

Helping out your local nonprofit

If you’re looking for a way to earn some PDUs outside of coursework, why not considering helping a local nonprofit or charity organization in your city or town? Even just a few hours spent volunteering for a charity or nonprofit organization that needs help with its project management can have a huge impact. You might spend those few hours helping your favorite local nonprofit organization understand project management and perhaps set up some helpful Excel (or Microsoft Project, if they have it) templates for them to use to track their schedules or to keep track of their deliverables in their fundraising projects. The hours you spend helping out will be setting your nonprofit up for success in project management well after you’ve completed your term as a volunteer. And by helping your nonprofit organization stick to its schedules, control scope creep, manage its resources and work on its communication, you could be saving it hundreds or even thousands of dollars that might otherwise have been wasted without your professional help. It’s like a thousand dollar donation to your favorite charity, for only a few hours’ worth of your time – and you get PDUs to boot!

Good luck earning those PDUs. I’m right there with you!

Because I’m nerdy like that I thought it would be interesting to create a chart of some of the information contained in the PMI Fact File and to figure out the growth rate of PMI membership and PMP certification internationally. I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else online (though I’m sure it exists somewhere) so it is new and interesting information to me.

Note that this information is up to date as of this month; the information in the PMI Fact File is always two months behind the publishing date of the newsletter. So, for example, the newsletter for July of 2010 contains Fact File information for the month of May, up to and including May 31, 2010. Also, for some reason July’s Fact File didn’t include the number of new PMI members for the month of May; you might think it’s the total number of PMI members for the month of May less the total number of PMI members for the month of April, but you’d be wrong – for some reason the calculation doesn’t quite work out that way!

Total PMI members and PMP certifications worldwide

The first thing that I noticed about this chart is that the numbers don’t quite work. In October of 2009 it appears that PMI suddenly lost 14,092 PMPs (nearly 4% of the total number of PMPs at the time). As this figure takes into account PMP certified project managers and not necessarily members of PMI (which is taken into account in the total number of PMI members figure), something is likely amiss with PMI’s calculations.

New PMI members and new PMPs

What I immediately noticed about this chart is that in June of 2009 PMI gained 13,920 new PMPs, while during the next month, July of 2009, PMI only gained 689 new PMPs! This appears to be a huge miscalculation on PMI’s part, but I do not believe that this is the case; I remember that, in light of the introduction of the 4th edition PMBOK, the deadline for testing on the 3rd edition of the PMBOK was set as June 30th of 2009. This means that a massive group of PMP hopefuls took their certification examinations during the months of May and June while they were still eligible to test on 3rd edition materials. In July of 2009 there was a lack of information – and confidence – about the new test and testing materials (it is perceived as risky to test on brand new material, and certification exams aren’t cheap), and therefore many fewer people took the certification and/or passed the new test during that month.

Analysis

Where PMP certification is concerned, from May of 2009 to May of 2010 there has been a growth rate of over than 11% as the total number of certified PMPs rose from 346,053 to 385,096. As such, there are more than 11% (but not quite 12%) more PMP certified individuals managing projects this year than there were in 2009. For a single year’s growth that is a pretty impressive figure and certainly does indicate that project management is a profession that is growing in popularity and importance.

PMI membership grew from 307,180 in May of 2009 to 317,989 in 2010; this is a 3.5% increase. This takes into account the fact that project managers are both joining and leaving the PMI organization. This figure also takes into account many individuals who are not PMP certified; they may be CAPM certified, in the process of being certified, or not certified at all with no plans to become so. In comparison with the PMP certification statistic, this PMI membership statistic illustrates that while project managers are being certified at a high rate (11%), the addition of new project managers is somewhat offset by people leaving the organization, or passing away.

If you look at the chart comparing new PMI members against new PMP certification holders you’ll see that neither of these seem to be growing – the trends are stable. This shows that membership in PMI, and attainment of PMP certification, is growing, but at a constant rate; there is neither a marked increase in the number of PMI members worldwide, nor a dropoff – the number of new members of the organization and the number of people attaining its most popular certification are growing at a relatively constant rate. Overall these trends indicate good news, but not great news, for the Project Management Institute – steady but not explosive growth, and predictable behavior around the introduction of the new 4th edition PMBOK study materials.

I appreciate any comments or feedback about this analysis!

As per PMI‘s Project Management Body of Knowledge, a project has the following dimensions:

1. A project is an endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result.
2. A project is temporary; it has a beginning and an end.

Project managers should be careful to distinguish projects from business operations. The classic example used by most educators to distinguish projects from business operations is the traditional help desk. If you’re working at an IT help desk receiving service calls, when you respond to those calls, you’re probably not undertaking projects. When you respond to a call to fix a hard drive, it’s likely that you’re following a routine that you’ve followed many times before… there is nothing unique about the work you’re doing. Even if you’re repairing a new problem with the hard drive, or fixing it in a new and interesting way, it is unlikely that by doing so you’re creating a unique product, service or result.

Another common mistake project managers make is to combine multiple projects into one. If you have to estimate how long it will take you and what methods you will use to create a piece of software before you can start planning how to tackle the development of the software, that’s probably its own project. If you can’t break down a project into manageable tasks – in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), for example – there is likely work to do before the project can even begin. I’ve had developers tell me during scheduling they have no idea how long it will take to develop a piece of software because they don’t know what needs to be done in order to create it. In response I might ask: How long do you think it might take you to research the software that needs to be made, so that afterward we can estimate how long it will take to code? I’ve created an estimable, albeit small, project for the developer to undertake so that we can eventually start the actual software development project.

In my own position as Enterprise Program Manager I manage a series of projects – unique, individual releases of a software application. Although the releases are point releases of a single software product (2.1, 2.2, etc) each one has a definite beginning and end and results in a unique product. I manage the projects, and the program that envelops them. As such, the software application persists – I have no idea how long the life cycle of our software application will be, nor can I definitively say what functionality will be in the product three releases from now – that’s part of the program. But the point release we’re working on right now I have a very good view of, know exactly when it started and when it will end, and, barring changes, what it will contain. That’s the project.

Becoming a PMI Registered Education Provider (REP)

Project management trainers can apply to become a PMI Registered Education Provider in order to give PMI-approved training courses to PMI credential holders. This is an expensive process (costing thousands of dollars, plus there is a renewal charge) during which PMI will go over the courses that you are interested in providing and verify their quality. In order to become a REP, a trainer or training organization must:

• Be a legal and mature entity that offers project management training
• Provide evidence of quality product design, delivery and content
• Demonstrate that course content is consistent with PMI standards or offers differing or new concepts that are clearly indicated as such in marketing and instructional materials
• Properly award PDUs for course completion
• Offer proper REP marketing representation.

Becoming a REP will demonstrate to potential students interested in taking courses covering PMI material that the courses have been given the PMI stamp of approval. Another plus side to becoming a REP is that you will appear on a list of Registered Education Providers on PMI’s website. You also earn the right to advertise yourself or your company as a REP, and to use the REP logo on your course materials. This can be helpful, as people have a tendency to believe that if you go through the process to become a REP you must be a quality provider.

On the other hand, PMI has certain restrictions on what PMI-based material REPs can present; for example, they minimize the number of PMI artifacts you can use as slides (I believe three is the maximum, but I could be wrong). So PMI can exert some control over your PMI REP-certified presentations. Furthermore, the process is very expensive, which isn’t a big deal to large training organizations, but prohibitive to smaller companies or individual trainers.

You don’t need to take courses from a REP to earn PDUs

It is not necessary to take classes solely from PMI REPs in order to earn PDUs. If you look up the various categories where you claim your PDUs, you will notice that you can claim PDUs under Category 4 – “Other Provider”. You will need your registration form, a certificate or letter of attendance, and a brochure or course materials outlining the subject matter covered and the qualifications of your instructor so that PMI can perform an audit of that course if they so desire; this is to make sure that these other providers are in fact providing quality project management education outside of the Registered Education Provider boundaries. In order to claim PDUs from a REP, all you will need is their PMI REP code.

Likewise, if you are a training provider, you do not need to be a PMI REP in order to conduct training. If you are a training provider that offers legitimate project or program management training, one hour of training that you perform can be used toward the earning of one PDU. Make sure the project managers that you train have the documentation listed above, should your course be audited by PMI.

I’ve taken courses from PMI REPs and from non-REPs, and I have found the courses from both sources to be of good quality. Courses from PMI REPs are likely to be somewhat more institutionalized; as becoming a PMI REP is an expensive process, it is the larger training organizations that tend to become registered.

If you’re taking a course from a non-REP, you will want to make sure that the training provider is legitimate, that the course is relevant and of good quality, and that you collect the required information from that provider should your PDUs be audited. Otherwise, I would use whatever providers are cheapest and most effective in order to earn your PDUs. And don’t forget that there are other ways to earn PDUs – for example, by attending PMI meetings, by volunteering or by training others.

This is good news for project managers, though I don’t think it is great news – after all, salaries were predicted to rise worldwide during 2010, with global base salary increases projected to rise from 1.90 percent in 2009 to 2.88 percent in 2010. These figures may have been optimistic, but the realization that only half of the project managers who responded to this survey received salary increases isn’t exceptional.

Regardless, the article was interesting and filled with juicy facts, which of course I’m way into. Here are some of the highlights (all dollar figures are in USD):

• In six major countries, PMP-certified project managers reported a $10,000 salary advantage over non-PMP-certified project managers
• The number of years of experience in project management has a huge impact on salary. In Singapore, beginning project managers see a median salary of $36,116, with those in the business for 20 years seeing a salary of $144,280 – a 300% spread
• The size of the projects managed also contributes toward salary size. In the United States, project managers managing budgets of over $10 million earned 40% more money than those with projects under $100,000
• In Australia, the country where project management professionals reported the highest median income world-wide, project managers report a median salary of $116,625, program managers a median salary of $128,993, and project portfolio managers a median salary of $146,493.

The salaries of project management professionals varied widely per country, with Australia at the top of the list and China at the bottom. The annualized salary per country (in USD) looked like this:

If you receive PMI’s monthly PM Network magazine, the PMI Today newsletter featuring this information should be a part of the package that you have probably already received for April. If not, and you’re a member of PMI, you can access a digital version of PMI Today on PMI’s web site.

In order to maintain your PMI credential you will need to amass a certain number of PDUs within a three year period. The three year period used to start the beginning of the calendar year after the year that you earned your certification (so if you passed your certification in March of 2008, your three year period would start in January of 2009, meaning you’d get an extra nine months to earn PDUs tacked on for free), but this is no longer the case. PMI now states: “Your certification/CCR cycle begins the day you pass the exam and/or multi-rater assessment (for PgMP credential holders) and ends on the same date three years later.”

The number of PDUs credential holders need to earn depends on the certification:

• PMP (Project Management Professional): 60 PDUs needed
• PgMP (Program Management Professional): 60 PDUs needed
• PMI-SP (Scheduling Professional): 30 PDUs needed in the specialized area of project scheduling
• PMI-RMP (Risk Management Professional): 30 PDUs needed in the specialized area of project risk management
• CAPM (Certified Associate Project Manager): No PDUs necessary, but the CAPM must be renewed by the retaking of the CAPM examination at the end of a five-year cycle.

If you earn more than the required amount of PDUs within your three-year cycle, you can transfer up to 20 PDUs from the last year of your current cycle into the next cycle. If you do not earn the required amount of PDUs within the three year cycle, your credential will expire. According to the PMP Handbook, if this happens your PMI credential will be suspended, during which time you are not permitted to refer to yourself as a holder of the credential in question until the overdue requirements are earned, for up to one year after your three-year expiration date. If you fail to make up those PDUs during this one year suspension you will have to apply to retake your examination, and we all know how expensive and time-consuming that process can be.

PMPs may maintain their credentials when they retire without having to earn PDUs by applying for “retired status”. In order to do so they must be PMP credential holders in good standing for over ten years, and no longer be practicing professional project management.

PMI offers PDUs through its Registered Education Provider (REP) program, which project management trainers can apply to become members of. It has some benefits, but it is very expensive, and not necessary to become a trainer of courses that project managers can take in order to earn PDUs. Similarly, it is not necessary to take courses solely from Registered Education Providers in order to earn PDUs.

A lot of people don’t want to become PMPs because of the cost of PDUs. In fact, there are plenty of ways to get free or inexpensive PDUs, one of which is by volunteering your time and skills as a project manager. I’ll cover other methods in future posts.

This has been a pretty basic overview of PDUs. If you want an even more basic overview of PDUs, you can watch this video from PMI, which I believe may have actually been delivered by a robot.

The Project Management Institute was founded in 1969 by working project managers; today, there exist over half a million PMI members. PMI is also a certificate-granting organization, the most famous of which is the PMP (Project Management Professional) credential. The full list of credentials offered by PMI include:

• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Program Management Professional (PgMP)
• PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
• PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)

In addition to issuing credentials, PMI also publishes a variety of standards. The most widely recognized of these is the PMBOK (Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge), a comprehensive book of project management norms, methods, processes and practices. It is this guide that PMP certification candidates must study in order to pass the PMP examination. The full list of standards include:

• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
• Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide
• Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide
• Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)
• Practice Standard for Earned Value Management
• Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management
• Practice Standard for Scheduling
• Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures
• Project Manager Competency Development Framework
• The Standard for Portfolio Management
• The Standard for Program Management

PMI features a research department that has sponsored projects since 1997. To date over US $15 million has been invested in the project management profession.

PMI is a dynamic organization. Throughout the world, a great number of PMI chapters host PMI chapter meetings where project management practices are discussed and presented by a variety of project management experts. While PMI-based material is of course frequently presented at these meetings, topics may also include non-PMI-based project management materials.