Project Management Institute (PMI) offers professional certifications for practitioners in the project management industry. As on today, PMI offers eight different project management certifications.

PMI’s project management certifications shows that you are ready to plan, execute, monitor and control complex projects and meet the demands of employers across the globe.

PMI’s project management certifications are developed for practitioners by practitioners in the project management industry. It gets updated regularly through ongoing research to meet the real-world needs of organizations.

With a PMI project management certification, you are qualified to work in projects across any industry, anywhere in the world by applying project management methodology.

Project Management Certifications offered by PMI

The following are the eight project management certifications offered by PMI:

We will see each project management certification, in a little bit more detail.

1. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®

The CAPM certification Is the entry-level certification offered by PMI. It offers recognition to practitioners who are interested in or are just starting a career in project management. This certification is also suitable to project team members who wish to demonstrate their project management knowledge.

To pursue the CAPM certification, at minimum, you need a high school diploma or global equivalent. You should have 1500 hours of professional experience on a project team. However, professional experience is not mandatory. If you do not have adequate experience, you can compensate it by attending 23 hours of formal education/ training in project management.

2. Project Management Professional (PMP)®

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the most popular certification offered by PMI. If you are an experienced project manager responsible for all aspects of project delivery, leading and directing cross-functional teams, then the PMP is the right choice for you.

To be eligible for the PMP certification, you should have a secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent) and professional experience of 7,500 hours leading and directing projects. If you have a four-year degree, the professional experience required is only 4,500 hours leading and directing projects.

3. Program Management Professional (PgMP)®

Portfolio managers implement strategic initiatives that bridges the gap between an organization’s strategy and implementation.

The PgMP certification is suitable for program managers. A program manager is a senior-level practitioner on the forefront of advancing an organization’s strategic goals. Program managers manage multiple, related projects in a coordinated way, achieving benefits that could not occur if the projects were handled separately.

If you have the proven ability to manage multiple, related projects and navigate complex activities that span functions, organizations, regions or cultures and to align results with organizational goals, then you can apply for the PgMP certification.

To qualify, you should have a secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent), 6,000 hours of project management experience and 10,500 hours of program management experience. Alternately, if you hold a four-year degree, you should have 6,000 hours of project management experience and 6,000 hours of program management experience

4. Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)®

If you are an executive or senior-level practitioner managing a portfolio of projects and programs aligned with organizational strategy and focused on doing the right work, then you can apply for the PfMP certification.

Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent) holders should have a minimum of 10,500 hours of portfolio management experience to qualify for the PfMP certification exam. If you are a four-year degree holder, 6,000 hours of portfolio management experience is adequate. In addition to the above, all applicants must possess a minimum of eight years of professional business experience.

5. PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®

The PMI-ACP certification was introduced by PMI only recently. The credential was launched with a pilot program at the end of 2011 and then a formal launch in 2012.  However, the PMI-ACP is the PMI’s fastest growing certification.

The PMI-ACP certification formally recognizes your knowledge of agile principles and your skill with agile techniques. The PMI-ACP spans many approaches to agile such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP) and test-driven development (TDD).

If you work on agile teams or if your organization is adopting agile practices, you can consider the PMI-ACP certification.

To apply for the PMI-ACP certification, you should have 2,000 hours of general project experience working on teams, 1,500 hours working on agile project teams or with agile methodologies and 21 contact hours of training in agile practices.

6. PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®

The PMI-RMP certification highlights your ability to identify risks, analyze the risks (qualitatively/ quantitatively), plan risk responses, monitor and control the risks. With the project environment getting more complex and dynamically changing, a risk management professional enhances and protects the needs of an organization.

A survey shows that eighty-three percent of organizations that are high performers in project management practice risk management.

If you have advanced knowledge and experience in risk management, or if you are a project manager focused on project risk management, including for large projects and/or complex environments, then the PMI-RMP certificaiton is an excellent choice for you.

To qualify, you should have a secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent), 4,500 hours of project risk management experience and 40 hours of project risk management education. If you hold a four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent), then you should have 3,000 hours of project risk management experience and 30 hours of project risk management education.

7. PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)®

Project schedules are key to managing activities, resources, dependencies and ultimately, project outcomes. The PMI-SP certification highlights your ability to plan, develop, control and effectively manage project schedules.

If you have advanced knowledge and experience developing, managing and maintaining project schedules then the PMI-SP certification is the right choice for you.

To qualify for the PMI-SP certification exam, you should have a secondary degree, 5,000 hours of project scheduling experience and 40 hours of project scheduling education. If you are a four-year degree holder, you should have 3,500 hours project scheduling experience and 30 hours project scheduling education.

8. PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)®

Business analysis is a topic of growing importance to projects and programs. Requirements gathering is an essential part of project management. Several projects have failed due to inaccurate requirements and led to severe time and cost overruns.

If you work with project stakeholders in defining requirements, shaping project outputs and driving intended business outcomes, the PMI-PBA certification is an excellent choice for you. Inaccurate requirements gathering consistently ranks in the top three causes of project failure.

To qualify, you should have a secondary degree, 7,500 hours of business analysis experience, 2,000 hours working on project teams and 35 contact hours of education in business analysis. If you are a four-year degree holder, you should have 4,500 hours of business analysis experience, 2,000 hours working on project teams and 35 contact hours of education in business analysis. Your project experience can include your business analysis experience.

Wherever you are in your career, PMI has a certification for you. Choose the one that suits you.

“PMI”, “CAPM”, “PMP”, “PgMP”, “PfMP”, “PMI-ACP”, “PMI-RMP”, “PMI-SP” and “PMI-PBA” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

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Manickavel Arumugam

Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)®
Certified Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®
An enthusiastic project management practitioner and trainer.

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