PMP Certification

Project Management Professional (PMP) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI).As of 31 July 2020, there are 1,036,368 active PMP-certified individuals and 314 chartered chapters across 214 countries and territories worldwide.

The exam is one of eight credentials offered by PMI and is based on the ECO PMP Examination Content Outline. Most of the questions reference the Exam Content Outline PMP Examination Content Outline (also known as the E.C.O).

Exam syllabus

The PMP exam is based on Exam Content Outline (ECO). The ECO is revised every 4-5 years by PMI. Since January 2021, the exam is tested on three different domains:

People (42%)

Process (50%)

Business Environment (8%)

Prior to January 2021, the exam was based on tasks from five performance domains or process groups, encompassing a total of 49 processes. The PMP Examination Specification weighted these groups as follows:

Initiating the project (13%)

Planning the project (24%)

Executing the project (31%)

Monitoring and controlling the project (25%)

Closing the project (7%)

The exam consists of 180 multiple-choice questions written against the PMBOK specification and the PMP Code of Ethics. The exam is closed-book; no reference materials are allowed. Five of the 180 questions on the exam are "sample" questions used to fine-tune the degree of difficulty and precision of the exam and as such are not counted for or against a test taker. These questions are placed randomly throughout the exam. The test taker is only graded on their proficiency on 175 questions. The numbers in parentheses describe the percentage of questions for each domain.

Mapped to these five process groups are ten project management Knowledge Areas:

Project Integration Management

Project Scope Management

Project Schedule Management

Project Cost Management

Project Quality Management

Project Resource Management

Project Communications Management

Project Risk Management

Project Procurement Management

Project Stakeholder Management[6]

The processes of these knowledge areas are described by their inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs. The PMBOK also emphasizes the interaction and interdependence between different process groups. For example, the outputs from one process may be used by one or more other processes as inputs.

Announced in June 2019, the PMP Examination Content Outline will undergo significant re-categorization, effective January 2021, which prescribe three all-new performance domains:

People (42%)

Process (50%)

Business Environment (8%)

Project Management Professional