PMI Certification Changes: What You Need to Know

There is no grass growing under the feet of folks at PMI.  And that’s going to have most of us hopping this summer and into fall as we work to make sense of what’s happening in the PMI certification world and the implications for each of us.

First, PMI recently completed the first Role Delineation Study (RDS) for agilists, resulting in modifications to the Examination Content Outline (ECO), which is the exam blueprint.  Most notably, six tasks have been added as well as a new domain, Agile Principles and Mindset.  Currently, the exam questions are categorized as either Tools and Techniques, or Knowledge and Skills. The new exam will be organized principally around the seven domains and related tasks.

The new exam pilot period begins July 15 (meaning the last day to take the current version of the PMI-ACP exam is July 14) and runs through October 14.  During the pilot period, test takers will not receive their exam results immediately; they will be notified on or before October 22.

Eligibility criteria are not changing and no changes are expected regarding exam scoring. For more information, read PMI’s article on the PMI-ACP certification exam change.

Second, the PMP RDS and ECO were recently updated, as well.  The PMP exam will be changing, effective November 2 of this year.  The final ECO will be available no later than June 15.  Find out more about the upcoming PMP exam changes.

Finally, the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Program, what most of us know as “the way we earn PDUs to maintain PMI certifications,” is also undergoing substantial changes.  This will impact how many PDUs you may earn in the Education and Giving Back categories. These changes will go into effect December 1 of this year.  Check out the 2015 Continuing Certification Requirements page for more information.

We will be sharing more with you over the coming weeks and months to keep you informed of impending changes to PMI certifications and how they impact you!  Stay tuned.