PMI Exam Transition Period

The world best known standard for project management – PMBOK – will be renewed. PMI has  announced the official release date and has also clarified some frequently asked questions.

What & When ?

PMI published 3 new standards in January 2013 :

• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition
• The Standard for Program Management – Third Edition
• The Standard for Portfolio Management – Third Edition

(According to ANSI Guidelines, all these standards are at least updated every 5 years)

Brief summary of the major updates in the PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition

• The content from Section 3 “The Standard for Project Management of a Project” has been moved to Annex A1. The new Section 3 addresses project management processes and Process Groups as in previous editions.
• A new Knowledge Area has been created called “Project Stakeholder Management” that increases the focus on identifying and engaging stakeholders. This increases the number of Knowledge Areas from nine (9) to ten (10).
• Four planning processes have been added to reinforce the concept that each major Knowledge Area has a planning process focusing on how that area will be planned and executed.

Effect of updates on credential examinations

Credential exams are updated as appropriated to reflect changes in the professional reference. It is estimated that only a small percentage of the examination items/questions require updates that directly address actual changes in the standards.

Read also this article on some chnages in the PMP Exam.

Credential Exam Eligibility Criteria

PMP Eligibility requirements changed on April 17, 2012. If you want to be sure about the new criteria, you can download the eligibility guidelines from the www.pmi.org website [http://www.pmi.org/Certification.aspx].