The Project Management Program is a certification that is widely recognized by the world. It is accepted and identified all over the globe as a gold standard in project management. It is known everywhere, regardless of the geographical scope of operation. The syllabus of the exam includes initiating the project, planning, executing, closing, monitoring, and controlling the project. The pattern of the exam consists of up to 200 questions of multiple choices that are written against the PMP code of ethics. The exam is said to be closed, and there is no reference used whatsoever.
What is the requirement to take the PMP exam?
The PMP Exam consists of 20 areas of skills that are showcased. It consists of five parts of the domain. The exam overall tests a person’s understanding, knowledge of the skills that are extremely necessary, for the industry standard project managers. The project management professional exam is continuously revised and updated; therefore, it stays very relevant to the actual project management. The exam contains 175 scored questions and 25 unscored.
The requirements you need to meet to take this exam are, you will need a primary, secondary degree or a diploma degree with the right training and from a recognized institution. Your secondary degree includes global equivalent 35 hours of accredited and certified project management education and experience, further, 75000 hours of exposure. The first degree consists of a Bachelor’s degree or higher, with three years of experience in the field with a minimum of 4500 hours of directing and leading projects. 35 hours of certified and accredited project management education. These are the main thing that is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the PMP Exam.
How is the exam?
The project management professional exam is considered to be quite hard, with an estimation of 40-50% passing for the first time takers. The exam does not need any specific number of questions that need to be answered properly in order to pass the exam. There is some relativity in the questions that follow through, there are slightly easy questions and hard questions, therefore if you answer all the easy questions but not all the hard one, you are still more likely to fail the exam. There is no way of analyzing the questions that are scored and the questions that are not scored; it is always recommended to do your best and try-scoring all the answers. You can prepare for this exam using all the materials and take up mock tests and questions that are more likely to appear in the exam, and take more practice sheets exam, etc. there is also a PMP training course that helps students focus on the relevant things, and help you pass the exam. Many experts say you need to score almost 80% in the practice and mock papers, so you get almost to 60% in the actual exam, which is also a minimum pass rate.
The syllabus of the PMP exam
There are 5 sections of syllabus that exists, and one needs to learn all the five areas in order to pass the exam.
Initiating the project– This includes an average of 6 tasks and a knowledge and skill area, this includes the 13% of the knowledge area. This includes developing a project charter, analyzing the documents, obtaining approval for the project, etc.
Planning project– This includes 25% of the test; it is primarily based on planning 12 tasks, which is setting up a project, creating a project plan, real-world tasks such as handling meetings and stakeholders, etc. This section also measures your technicality skills.
Executing the project- This section includes almost to 30% of the entire test. it consists of 6 tasks that need to be completed, which includes obtaining resources, making changes, following the made plans. This section allows your budgeting, scheduling, techniques and quality control, etc.
Monitoring and Controlling projects
This section takes up to 25% of the test, which includes 6 skill tasks. It covers project performance, assessing risks and actions, taking steps to make sure the task on finished on time, the ability to monitor and analyze management techniques.
Closing project- This includes up to 8% of the total exam; it includes 7 tasks that includes, transferring ownership, obtaining legal course and financial course, customer relationships, and distributing projects. This section also includes techniques, compliance and close-out procedures
| S.No | Domain Area | Percentage of Questions |
| 1 | Initiating the project | 13% |
| 2 | Planning | 24% |
| 3 | Executing | 31% |
| 4 | Monitoring | 25% |
| 5 | Closing | 7% |
History of PMP exam scores
In the year of 2005, the score was 68.5% passing, and getting 137 questions, in 200 full, after then the passing score went to 80.6, but after a few days it was reduced again to 60% as the number of people passing the exam was reduced
Therefore, we can ever tell the passing marks of the PMP exam; it can range to any fixed percentage depending on that year. Benefits of PMP-
Benefits
Benefits of Project management professional, are so many, which includes increased credibility and high market value, there are advantages of the job position and the salary that people receive. Becoming globally recognized and demanded as a PMP
Acquire knowledge and possess tools and technical skills to manage projects in the best way possible. It also opens doors to better communication and better career options by gaining more knowledge and better opportunities to grow in your career. It also adds as an advantage as you can be a valuable asset to your organization by providing the best project management skills and achieving milestones and delivering one of the best projects possible.
In terms of Salary
There are advantages of PMP in terms of the salary; there are various factors taken into consideration while proving a salary for a PMP. The salaries are highly based on the role and the experience of the person in the field. The various factors include, years of experience and the role played in different companies, secondly is the position covered the responsibility given to you, to cover the task and deliver the project, thirdly your certification status and the county of employment. According to a PMI salary survey, the amount of salary given to an individual highly depends on the experience of the person.
There is a hierarchy in the positions in PMP, first is the PMO, they are the seniors who shape the project organization, and they are the part of the organizational governance. Second is the portfolio salary manager, who are also the seniors but manage the Portfolio of the project; they are responsible for the work of the project managers and the program manager and other portfolio managers. The third is the program managers, who are responsible for managing programs and other programs of the project management, they can have experience of 5-10 years, and 3-2 years, program managers work under each position, depending on their experience and their roles. Here are the statistics of the salary distribution of PMP.
| Portfolio Manager | $130,000 |
| Program Manager | $120,000 |
| Project Manager III | $100,000 – $110,000 |
| Project Manager II | $90,000 – $100,000 |
| Project Manager I | $70,000 – $90,000 |
History of PMP exam scores
In the year of 2005, the score was 68.5% passing, and getting 137 questions, in 200 full, after then the passing score went to 80.6, but after a few days it was reduced again to 60% as the number of people passing the exam was reduced therefore, we can ever tell the passing marks of the PMP exam, it can range to any fixed percentage depending on that year.
