The new PMP Exam will be available after 1 November 2015 11 January 2016.

image courtesy: http://www.thewallpapers.org/photo/47129/the-change-up-180.jpg

There seems to be some misconception or misleading news in the market about the changes announced by PMI with regard to PMP and PMI-ACP.

First, the date as published by some REPs is not 1 November 2015. Its 11 January 2016.

Second, the changes are particularly in Exam Outline. The Domain still follows the Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and controlling, Closing and the changes injected are the inclusion of tasks in these domains.

Here’s an overview of the newly added content:

Domain	Changes
Initiating the Project	3 tasks added – task 2, task 7, task 8
Planning the Project	1 task added – task 13
Executing the Project	2 tasks added – task 6, task 7
Monitoring and controlling the project	2 tasks added – task 6, task 7
Closing the project	No new tasks added

The current exam (aligned to the existing exam content outline) will remain active until 11 January 2016.

After 11 January 2016, only the new version of the PMP exam will be administered.

So the aspirants prepared to take the exam can go ahead but stand advised of  11 January 2016 activation. All other prerequisites remain the same with the only exception in the Tasks added in the Domains.

Some might wonder why this change?

Study reveals that PMI® updates the PMP Examination Content Outline every 5 years or so in order to reflect the latest changes in the project management world. The 2005 version was upgraded to 2010, and this change follows more on the heels of the changing business needs and adapting to the project management demands. 

Every 3-5 years, PMI carries out role delineation studies (RDS) for each PMI Certifications to ensure relevancy to the current environments. If you wonder what is RDS? The Role Delineation Study (RDS) examines the role of project managers to determine key competency areas (including domains, tasks, knowledge, skills, etc.)

“The RDS captures perspectives of project management practitioners from all industries, work settings, and regions. It serves as the foundation for the PMP exam and ensures its validity and relevance.” [courtesy: www.pmi.org]

The obvious question next would be ‘Why was this New Content Included’?

The acceptance and applicability is always vetted for validity and relevance and hence the new content in PMP Exam will

§  Map the business strategy with its benefits

§  Highlight the takeaway of the lessons learnt at a granular level

§  Describes clearly the accountability as captured in project charter

§  Improve stakeholder relationships

Finally, What’s expected in the RDS Update?

§  RDS Update:

• Results in new/updated PMP exam content outline
• Shifts the weighting of the PMP Exam
• Introduces 8 new topics to the PMP Exam

Well, you might want to know What’s Not Changed in the PMP Exam?

The PMP Exam eligibility requirements remain the same

·         4,500 – 7,500 hours of project management working experience; and

·         35 hours of formal project management education (i.e. 35 contact hours)

Overall structure of the PMP Exam

·         200 questions (175 questions to be scored) in 4 hours

·         All questions are multiple-choice type questions with 1 correct answer

·         Many of the questions are “scenario based questions”

 

You are strongly advised to read the FAQs prepared in this context by PMI : 

https://www.pmi.org/certification/exam-changes/faqs.aspx