Course Catalog

Project Portfolio Management – (PfMP) - Exam Preparation Class

Description

Formal portfolio management is the most effective way to implement strategic initiatives because it bridges the gap between strategy and implementation. Organizations that are effective in portfolio management had 62 percent of products meet or exceed expected ROI according to our 2012 Pulse of the Profession® research. Portfolio managers align projects, programs and operations with strategic objectives, investing resources in the right work to deliver the expected value.

The Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP) signifies your advanced competency in the coordinated management of one or more portfolios to achieve strategic objectives. Organizations with mature project portfolio management practices complete 35 percent more of their programs successfully. They fail less often and waste less money according to our 2015 thought leadership report, Delivering on Strategy: The Power of Project Portfolio Management

Who Should Apply?

If you’re an executive or senior-level practitioner managing a portfolio of projects and programs aligned with organizational strategy and focused on doing the right work, then the PfMP is the right choice for you.

Gain and Maintain Your PfMP

First phase of evaluation is panel review
The certification exam has 170 multiple-choice questions and you have four hours to complete it.
To maintain your PfMP, you must earn 60 professional development units (PDUs) in portfolio management topics every three years.

Prerequisites

All applicants must possess a minimum of 96 months of professional business experience within the last 15 years AND
Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent)
84 months of portfolio management experience

All applicants must possess a minimum of 96 months of professional business experience within the last 15 years AND
Four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent)
48 months of portfolio management experience

Exam Fee

PMI Member: $800.00
PMI Non-member: $1,000.00

Evaluation 1—Panel Review

The panel review process begins once the audit is completed (if your application is selected) and the certification payment is received.

A panel of volunteer portfolio managers will assess your professional experience based on your responses to the Portfolio Management Experience Summaries on the PfMP application.

This review panel consists of individuals from around the world who, through an application process, have been identified as subject matter experts in portfolio management and have been trained and calibrated to assess your answers to the Portfolio Management Experience Summaries. To protect against any potential review bias, PMI will ensure that your identity will not be known to the panel reviewers.

The review will verify that you, under very limited supervision, have been responsible for the coordinated management of one or more portfolios that aim to align the investment in projects and programs with organizational strategy.

If you fail the panel review, a certification associate will contact you to discuss your status. It is not possible to continue on to the examination without passing this review.

Once you pass the panel review, you will be eligible to take the examination (refer to the Examination Eligibility section in this handbook for more details).

This process takes approximately 60 days to complete.

Evaluation 2—Examination Information

The PfMP examination consists of 170 multiple-choice questions. Of the 170 questions, 20 are considered pretest questions. Pretest questions do not affect the score but are used in examinations as an effective and legitimate way to test the validity of future examination questions. All questions are randomly placed throughout the examination.

No. of Scored Questions 150

No. of Pretest (Unscored) Questions 20

Total Examination Questions 170

Computer-based testing (CBT) is the standard method of administration for PMI examinations. The allotted time to complete the computer-based examination is four hours.

It may take some candidates less than the allotted four hours to complete the examination.

There are no scheduled breaks during the exam although you are allowed to take a break if needed. If you take a break during the exam, your exam clock continues to count down.

The examination is preceded by a tutorial and followed by a survey, both of which are optional and both of which can take up to 15 minutes to complete. The time used to complete the tutorial and survey is not included in the examination time of four hours.

Allotted Examination Time

240 Minutes

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