'3-Ts' for Veterans Completing the PMP Application

A problem and an objective.

A lot of could-be PMP’s tell me a primary reason they aren’t lies in the complexity of the PMP Application Form (Form); the first step. There are many requirements to complete the Form, their relationships are inextricably linked, and the language can be a bit esoteric. This article presents some tips, tricks, and tactics (the 3-Ts), the Veteran PMP candidate can use to ‘crack the case’.

Tips.

1. Think of your application as a portfolio of projects. You don’t have to pack all of your experience into one project summary. You can spread it out over several projects. This will be useful in our thinking about some of the other tips, tricks, and tactics (yep, 3-Ts) we will discuss.

2. Pick key process statements from the PMP Downloadable Application Form and add keywords if you’d like/if necessary from Table 3-1 in the PMBOK (PMI, 2013, p. 61). They are the key processes PMI expects to see; they say so right in the instructions!

3. This tip goes hand in hand with tip # 2; ‘personalize’ your project summaries by adding qualifiable or quantifiable statements unique to you onto the root processes and keywords. For example, “I developed the procurement management plan (root process) ensuring all field testing gear was waterproof due the maritime nature of the project (unique impact/reason/outcome)”.

4. Join PMI before you submit your completed Form. Doing so will save you money. Twice! First, the PMP exam fee is $405 for members and $555 for non-PMI members, a savings of $150. Second, PMI members receive an electronic copy of the PMBOK (A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge), a savings of $65. So, in total, you pay $120 to join, and you save $215. Subtract the $120 from that and you’re still ahead $95, plus you now have access to a professional network of like-minded and like-skilled individuals.

Tricks.

1. Write to the prescribed 50-80 word summary length’s upper limit of 80 words plus or minus 20 words. This provides an effective range of 60-100 words, allowing most candidates the wiggle room to create a thorough yet brief summary.

2. If you don’t have many large, i.e. long, projects to present, list one or two of your biggest/longest projects first, and describe them. This yields a larger number of hours you can then subtract from the total number of project experience hours you need (4,500 hours if you hold a 4-year degree and 7,500 hours if you hold a 2-year degree). The reminder is the gap you need to fill with smaller projects.

Tactics.

1. Preceding trick #2 above, work first towards checking the months-of-experience block by using an 8 1/2 X 11” sheet of paper to ‘map’ your project portfolio’s chronology, or duration, in months, with either 36 or 60 being the target, depending on whether you need to document enough experience to meet the ≥ 4-year degree level (36 months of experience) or the 2-year degree level (60 months of experience).

2. Construct your project summaries inside of your favorite word program. That way you can use spell-check and word count functions to stay at ±80 words (trick #1 above) and create a summary that has more cohesion and flow. Then just cut and paste the content into the PMP Online Application.

3. Demonstrate breadth and depth of project management experience by changing up which processes you choose to present from the PMP Downloadable Application Form in each project within your portfolio. For example, if you are selecting an evidential statement to make in the Planning process group in project Delta’s write-up, don’t select Create the work breakdown structure process if you’ve already presented it in project Alpha’s write-up. Instead, you might select Developed the procurement management plan.

4. Describe projects that are similar so you can describe one and calculate its hours, then rinse and repeat using Trick # 2.

Summary.

This list is not exhaustive. I continue to pick up 3-Ts from Veterans I work with all the time. However, these are definitely some 50 and 100-meter targets; you have a good jump on completing the Form now. This article will shed some light on the finer mechanics left out here for brevity’s sake.

What tip, trick, or tactic would you add from your experience completing the Form if you already have? Which one did you find most helpful if you haven’t? In the near future, I’ll capture all of your collective input and update this article, a 3-Ts for Veterans Completing the PMP Application 2.0 if you will.