All You Wanted to Know About PMP Certification Courses
April 9th, 2011
What are the various PMP Certification Courses available?
What is PMP Certification?
Project M
anagement Professional (PMP) Certification is awarded by the Project management Institute (PMI), a globally recognised not-for-profit organization that has four chapters around the globe. This Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification is done after project management professional enrol and successfully pass an exam. The exam is four hours long and is known to be very challenging. Individuals who pass this exam are highly respected and considered to be experts in the field of project management. Most employers recognize this certification and offer higher pay packets to those who have been PMP certified. Only about 60 percent of those who appear for this exam manage to pass it and all information about this exam can be got from the PMI’s official website www.pmi.org.
PMBOK
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is the handbook published by the PMI and contains all the preparation material required for the exam. It includes articles, concepts, theories, study material, research and inputs from experts in the field of professional management. This handbook maybe bought on the internet from the PMI website or from online bookstores acls recertification online.
To be eligible for the PMP certification test all candidates have to go through a mandatory 35 hours of project management training which can cost a from less than hundred dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on where it is taken. For this purpose there are many PMP Certification Courses
PMP Online Training
On the web there are many are many Project management Courses offered with model test questions and practice exercises, which is used by nearly 40 percent of overall candidates who take the exam. PM Basics, PM Skill Development and PM Software Tool Training are popular PMP Certification Courses which are done online. The criteria for selecting the good PMP Certification Courses should be the cost, schedule demanded, convenience, quality, reputation and success rate of the courses.
PMP Certification Courses include practice exercises in all the five key areas of project management which are Initiating, Planning, Monitoring, Controlling and Closing of the Project. These key areas include all the 42 different processes that go into the creation and completion of major projects.
PMP Certification Courses ensure that all candidates are well prepared on the important knowledge areas of project management which are:
- Project Integration Management
- Project Scope Management
- Project Time Management
- Project Cost Management
- Project Quality Management
- Project Human Resource Management
- Project Communications Management
- Project Risk Management
- Project Procurement Management
Where to get the PMP Certification Courses?
The PMI in association with Registered Education Providers (REPs) offer internet based, asynchronous and real time, PMP Certification Courses for examinees to prepare and also have many on campus and online seminars, group activities and courses. Along with the PMI accredited universities and educational institutes, there are many online and distance learning PMP Certification Courses.
There are two major ways to get online PMP Certification Courses namely:
PMP online certification courses that have a mentor assistance
PMP online certification courses that are done individually
Whereas in the case of the former a mentor or guide helps with the coursework and study in real time, through online chats, discussions and video conferencing, in the case of the latter, there is a mentor available on-call, however, most of the course work is done only by the student.
REPs (Registered Education Providers)
e-Learning on Demand and PMI Publication Quizzes are some of the many PMP Certification Courses suggested by the PMI for exam preparation.
The PMI also certifies Keller Graduate School of Management, University of Maryland and many more colleges for getting the training in PMP.
There are many REPs from where to get project management training and some of them are:
PMI SeminarsWorld
PMI offer their own PMP Certification Courses which is available on the website www.pmi.org. The PMP Certification Courses are known as SeminarsWorld and include group discussions, research material, guidance from mentors, and offer up to 14 PDUs for the PMP examinee. The PMP Certification Courses are very comprehensive with many sections dealing with tools, methods, strategies, theories, leadership and core competencies of project management.
PMCampus
From year 2005, PMCampus has been offering PMP Certification Courses which are certified by PMI. There are online lessons, guides, hints and practice test. These PMP Certification Courses usually last for 3 months and there are a range of courses to pick from. Coursework includes group discussions, partnering modules, AV segments, project work, role playing, case study and model tests. These PMP Certification Courses give PDUs as well.
Villanova University
The Professional Education Online Program is the name of the PMP Certification Courses offered by the Villanova University. This course is the Master Certificate in Project Management and is regarded by a degree accepted for the PMP certification exam. There are general and specific tests in this training program and
PM Study
The PMstudy Plus, is the preparation course for PMP offered by the PM Study Institute. There are two hundred or more model exam questions along with tips to study, and can earn a student nearly 40 hours of training hours needed for the PMP exam.
Training Camp
There is a certified associate training in project management offered by Training Camp. The PMI lists Training Camp as one of their REPs (Registered Education Providers) and they offer lectures, review and laboratory modules for their PMP Certification Courses. This course is worth 35 hours of contact hours and teaching is done by a PMP certified trainer.
Edwel programs
This training program guarantees a high success rate and money back if the student fails the test. This is a 4 day course and is a PMI certified REP. All mentors here are PMP certified. There is a huge , 500 paged study book which houses over 700 questions to practice.
Global Knowledge Training LLC
This training course uses the PMI’s PMBOK and has two different courses which are called PMP Exam Prep Boot Camp and the Guided PMP Exam Prep which differ primarily in intensity of the approach and the duration of the study program.
How Much Does PMP Certification Courses Cost?
The PMP certification is an expensive affair, from the training cost to the exam fees, the membership fees, contact hours and the reference material everything costs a lot of money.
Most PMP Certification Courses are available 24/7 are simple to follow, accessible from internet enabled devices and are user friendly. Most PMP Certification Courses have a mentor or a guide online who can answer any doubts that the students have about the exam or the course.
The PMP Certification Courses vary in cost from institute to institute and are influenced by the kind of program, the amount of study material provided, the kind of courses i.e. online or on campus and the number of training hours they provide for the PMP exam. The audio MP3 recordings of the lessons cost between $25 and three hundred dollars based n the type of lessons. Most PMP Certification Courses offered online are priced at $1000 for one exam module and the prices go up if there are many lessons and preparation packages clubbed in the module.
The average cost for a package with 500 plus model test questions in a book is around a hundred dollars and some PMP Certification Courses include AV modules, a handbook and self test questions for the same amount of money.
Helpful Hints about PMP Certification Courses
Knowing where to do the PMP Certification Courses is half the battle won. Picking the PMP Certification Courses that suits your needs makes a lot of difference in the quality and quantity of preparation. To prepare for the exam, which is rather difficult to pass, is an onerous task for anyone, no matter the expertise and experience in project management.
Given below are a few helpful hints to bear in mind before enrolling in PMP Certification Courses:
Before joining any PMP Certification Courses it is necessary to compare all the credibility and the success rates of the different courses available both online and in campus. While firsthand accounts of the PMP Certification Courses are best, sometimes online reviews from past students can be useful.
Find out about the cost and duration of the various PMP Certification Courses. It is recommended to find out what the materials, duration and factors are influencing the cost of the PMP Certification Courses. Don’t be fooled by extremely cheap rates or free offers and ask your employer if they will sponsor full or part cost.
Find out if the project management certification Courses offer any money back guarantee in case you fail the test.
The schedule, course requirements and the duration would vary so pick the PMP Certification Courses that suit your work schedule.
Presently there are innumerable PMP Certification Courses that are advertised on the internet so be wary of the fraudulent ones and do enough background research before choosing the right PMP Certification Courses.
Merits of PMP Certification Courses
There are many merits of Project management certification Courses but probably the most important one is that these courses give direction and focus to the preparation process by highlighting the key areas of study and emphasising the core topics. In order to get the 35 hours of mandatory project work training these PMI accredited and approved PMP Certification Courses are useful. Most of the coursework of the PMP Certification Courses pertain to project planning, initiation, operations, execution and closure of large scale commercial, financial, IT and civil projects.
The late Guru of PMP Rita Mulchay, herself suggested that with practice from the PMP Certification Courses a PMP certification aspirant will be more comfortable and much faster at answering the exam questions. With over thousand model question papers on the internet, there will be nothing left to chance.
After doing the PMP Certification Courses you will know what your level of preparation is and what you need to brush up on. With the money back guarantee, some of the pmp certification courses online give a refund if you fail in the PMP exam.
Infact in the model papers if you are able to answer 75% of the dummy questions correctly then consider yourself well prepared for the final exam. If nothing, then atleast the examinee will be more confident and less intimidated by the PMP exam. The PMP Certification Courses do not have to be month long in duration even a simple refresher course will help a great deal. One can do these PMP Certification Courses from residence or office, so they are very convenient.
PMP Certification Courses done online are more personal and easy to complete than live, classroom training sessions.
Mentors and online guides are usually a mouse click away and can be approached with questions at anytime.
Any handheld mobile device with the internet access to it is enough to take part and study in PMP Certification Courses.
Finally, PMP Certification Courses are cheap, effective, comprehensive and if they are certified by the PMI then can be very useful for all examinees.