Maintaining your PMP® certification
A lot has been written but I would like to bring my two cents and share my experiences on how to maintain your certification. You can find some detailed information on maintaining the certification on the PMI website via the following link: https://www.pmi.org/certifications/maintain.
1 60 PDUs in a 3-year cycle
Professional Development Units (PDUs) are one-hour blocks of time that you spend learning, teaching others, or volunteering, and one hour = 1 PDU.
As a PMP® holder, you will need to earn 60 PDUs to renew your certification at the end of the 3-year cycle.
They are divided into:
35 Minimum Education PDUs
25 Maximum Giving Back PDUs
When you report the PDUs throughout the cycle, you have to report in a particular category and subcategory according to what you learned or did.
2 Minimum 35 PDUs in Education (REQUIRED)
Aligned with the PMI Talent Triangle®, this category now requires 60% of the PDUs, with a minimum of 35 PDUs, of which 24 are mandatory and divided into:
Technical Project Management: a minimum of 8 PDUs must be earned
Leadership: a minimum of 8 PDUs must be earned
Strategic and Business Management: a minimum of 8 PDUs must be earned
Remaining PDUs may be earned in the above categories or in other ways, as described below.
2.1 Course or Training
If you take part in a course or an online business school program on leadership or in any field related to project management, you can report your hours of attendance and/or working time as PDUs. Of course, you will need to attach a certificate and/or the program of the course, in which the number of hours needed is usually specified. For instance, I took part in a Coursera course on Organizational Leadership and I was able to report the number of hours’ study as PDUs. I also took part in an online course by INSEAD on leadership and I reported this in the Education section.
2.2 Organization Meetings
Some examples of organization meetings are:
Educational sessions
Keynote addresses at PMI events
2.3 Online or Digital Media
This site https://www.projectmanagement.com/default.cfm contains many webinars and you can subscribe to be notified about new forthcoming webinars.
When you attend on-demand or live webinars (which usually last one hour), PDUs are automatically recorded and you receive a notification email a few days later.
PMI UAE also offers some free webinars that you can report in the Education category.
2.4 Reading
You can read a book about project management, or leadership. Hours can be claimed as PDUs.
2.5 Informal Learning
For instance, if you are a mentor or take part in professional discussions, you can claim PDUs accordingly.
3 Maximum 25 PDUs in Giving Back (OPTIONAL)
In this category, you can claim up to 25 PDUs.
3.1 Maximum 8 PDUs in working as a professional
By working as a project manager, you can claim up to 8 PDUs per cycle.
3.2 Other activities for gaining PDUs in the Giving Back category
Additional possible activities include:
Create content: It can take various forms: articles, blogs, videos about leadership, project management, organizational behaviour.
Give a presentation: If you give a presentation at a local chapter, in your firm or at a conference, you can claim the associated PDUs.
Share knowledge: Teaching or mentoring hours can be claimed as PDUs in this category. That is why it is important to keep track of these hours
Volunteer: If you are a volunteer in a PMI chapter (and identified as such), you can claim PDUs here as one PDU per hour. It is also an enjoyable way to expand your network and learn more.
5. Questions & Answers
5.1 Where can I see my PDU status?
You can see your PDU status in my PMI/dashboard.
5.2 Can I earn PDUs in advance for the next cycle?
I put this question to PMI Customer Care, and here is their answer: “Any eligible professional development units (PDUs) will automatically apply to your next 3-year certification cycle, up to the maximum of 20 PDUs allowed for the PMP® credential.”
5.3 How can I report the PDUs that are not automatically recorded?
You have to claim the PDUs manually, enter them in the relevant category and usually provide ‘proof’, i.e. a certificate and/or a document describing the number of hours, if required.
5.4 You can find answers to more FAQs at the following website:
https://www.pmi.org/certifications/faq and you can contact PMI Customer Care (for your region) if you have any questions.
6 My personal advice based on my experience
When I got the PMP certification in 2013, I maintained it by watching online webinars at projectmanagement.com or taking part in project management meetings within my firm. Then last year, I took part in some courses and I also reported my work as a practitioner.
From 2018 I will report my volunteer work.I used dedicated notebooks to track what I do: this is a good way to remember.
Maintaining the certification should not be seen as a chore, but rather as an enjoyable way of continuous learning and being part of a worldwide community.
Good luck!
