FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification issued by the Project Management Institute (PMI)® is the most important certification level for project managers. The figures speak for themselves:

• over 900,000 certified PMP® worldwide
• over 15,000 PMP® in Germany

To take the exam at one of the four PMI® locations in Germany, you need 35 hours of seminar time. More and more nationally and internationally operating companies qualify their employees for the PMP® and when awarding contracts to external companies and entrepreneurs this qualification becomes obligatory. For further information on PMP® certification, please contact the PMI® homepage www.pmi.org, write us an e-mail at info@nullifp-duesseldorf.de or call us at +49 211 30187938.

The Project Management Institute (PMI)® is the world’s largest professional association for project management. The Institute is based in Pennsylvania, USA, and was founded in 1969. It now has over 600,000 members and is represented in 185 countries.

The PMI® stands for worldwide recognized standards in the field of project management certification and also offers a comprehensive research area further professional development opportunities. The PMI® is to be seen as an association of experts in which only individuals can become members and which is fully financed by contributions and other levies from its members.

A Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) is a training provider who officially offers training on behalf of PMI® and works according to the PMI® standard. The R.E.P. program was developed by the Project Management Institute (PMI)® to ensure the professional development of project managers and is a kind of seal of approval.

On the PMI® website you will find us in the CCRS register, R.E.P. ID: 3786.

The Project Management Institute (PMI)® has defined two ways to be certified in terms of educational level and experience:

1 – The candidate has a university degree (or higher) at the time of application. The candidate has gained experience in projects over a period of 8 years from the date of application. Activities in projects: at least 36 months, at least 4,500 hours.

OR

2 – At the time of the application, the candidate has a (Fach-)Abitur or a completed apprenticeship. The candidate has gained experience in projects over a period of 8 years from the date of the application. Activities in projects: at least 60 months, at least 7,500 hours.

At the time of application, each candidate must be able to demonstrate at least 35 contact hours of project management training or theoretical training in all process groups and knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide.

The Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certificate is not a prerequisite for the PMP® exam.

The CAPM® certificate of the PMI® is aimed at project managers who still have little practical experience. The basis of CAPM® and PMP® is identical and is also the PMBOK® Guide. In contrast to the PMP®, the exam lasts only 3 (instead of 4) hours and comprises 150 (instead of 200) exam questions. The required “Contact Hours” for the CAPM® certificate are completely covered by the PMP® preparation course.

The entire registration process at the PMI® is not part of the training. Nevertheless, we would like to give you a brief overview of the procedure here: Certification schedule

The examination itself is conducted by PMI® authorized examination centers. Pearson VUE offers a variety of test centers in Germany. You can find a test center near you here.

Exam fees are currently approximately US$550.00 for non-PMI® members and are payable directly to the PMI®. Please find the current conditions on the PMI® website: www.pmi.org

The seminar language is German or English. The seminar documents are partly in English. This gives you the best prerequisites for the English-language examination. There is also a German translation of the exam questions. In order to avoid misunderstandings, we recommend the English exam.

The exam is conducted online as a multiple choice test and lasts 4 hours.
The test consists of 200 questions and 25 pre-test questions that are not scored. The result of the test will be announced to the participants immediately.

No, you don’t. However, membership has advantages, such as the reduction of PMP® exam fees or the collection of ➚PDU’s (Professional Development Units).
As a member of the PMI® you will receive a digital version of the PMBOK® Guide.

The certificate is valid for 3 years. An extension for another 3 years is possible with 60 PDU’s (further education units), which you can obtain from us.

Further information on certification can be found in the PMP® Handbook. Careful study of this document is recommended for every participant.

ATTENTION: From 01 December 2015, the requirements for recertification will be changed. An overview of the changes can be found here.

The PMI® stipulates that PMP® must recertify after three years. Recertification will take place with the attainment of 60 Personal Development Units (PDU).

PDUs are awarded by the PMI® for certain activities:

• PDU courses
• E-learning: includes the eSeminarsWorld® and Publication Quizzes of the PMI
• PMI® Community Offerings: Chapters and communities of the PMI® organize events, meetings, web conferences and training sessions. PMI® members receive PDUs for participation.
• Participation in PMI® Global Congresses and regional events
• PDU Advantage Program: PMI® members have the opportunity to receive PDUs quickly and free of charge. Use the PDU Advantage System
• PMI SeminarsWorld®
• Self-Directed Learning: the PMI® recognizes activities that serve personal development. This includes research, studies, discussions and coaching. The activities should be based on information materials such as CD-ROMs, articles, books, etc.
• Continuing education programs from external providers
• Publication of articles and books in the field of project management
• Volunteer Service: You get PDUs when you share your knowledge and skills with other organizations away from your employer. In addition, the PMI® itself offers many possibilities for the provision of voluntary services
• for the provision of voluntary services
  Do your job: If project management is part of your work, you can get credited by the PMI®PDUs.

It should be noted that all activities must be directly related to the project management and knowledge areas of the PMBOK® Guide.

Further information can be found on the homepage of the PMI^®.

New guidelines for PDU allocation

The new guidelines apply to all certification obtained after 01 December 2015. The number of PDUs remains the same (holders of a PMP® certificate still need 60 PDUs for recertification), but the distribution of PDUs will change.

• Giving back
  You will receive a maximum of 25 PDUs through your work in project management.
• Education
  Min. 35 PDUs must be collected in this area. The training measures must be aligned with the PMI® Talent Triangle from Technical Project Management, Strategic and Business Management and Leadership. At least 8 PDUs must be attained in each continuing education category.

For more information on the amended recertification program, click here.

Your recertification with SSCD Six Sigma College Düsseldorf

Further training in the field of project management forms an essential part of your PMP® recertification. Let your Certified Green Belt and Certified Black Belt training be recognized as part of your recertification.

Visit the Six Sigma College Düsseldorf at www.six-sigma-college.de

The proof must be certified in written form. You and your colleagues define the certifier. It can be one or more people who can confirm your project details. You do not have to specify projects at management level. Project collaboration is sufficient here.

We recommend: Less is more! A maximum of 2 projects should be specified optimally with a contact person, whom you should inform in advance about a possible certification. Then you will get through the audit process as quickly as possible.

Entirely sufficient! The role itself only plays a subordinate role. It is more important that you have taken on management tasks within the framework of the project.

It is very difficult to give a general answer to this question. We recommend to be able to answer 80% of all our exam questions in the self-test. This requires 7 days à 10 hours of additional in-depth work.

Official failure rates of the PMI® are unfortunately not known.

For optimal preparation, we recommend the following secondary literature in addition to our preparation course:

Project Management Institute, Inc.: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), Sixth Edition. PMI®, Newtown Square PA (USA) 2017 ISBN 978-1628251845

Rita Mulcahy: PMP® Exam Prep, Ninth Edition (Aligned with the PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition). Rmc Pubns Inc, 2013 ISBN 978-1932735659.

Jennifer Greene, Andrew Stellman: Head First PMP – A Learner’s Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam, 4th Edition. O’Reilly Media, 2013.

Detailed directions to the Institute for Project Management (IfP) in Düsseldorf can be found here.

We will also be happy to help you find a hotel.

Customers can use the contact form on our homepage, the e-mail address info@ifp-duesseldorf, the phone number +49 211 30187938 or in direct exchange with the lecturer to ask questions about the courses and to inform us about problems concerning our courses. With regard to the recorded customer complaints, possible immediate measures are initiated after receipt and with the help of selected methods the causes of the problem are analyzed and sustainable problem solutions are developed by the IfP team. The derived measures and solutions are implemented and communicated to the customer by e-mail or phone. Every process is aimed at being completed with 100% customer satisfaction.