Worried about changes to the PMP Exam?

The PMP® Exam is changing in 2015. Why?

PMI® recently carried out a Role Delineation Study (RDS), and based on the findings, they have updated the description of the project management professional role. Research included a large-scale survey of global Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification holders to validate updates to domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills. The study included project management practitioners from all industries, work settings, and regions. RDS serves as the foundation for the PMP® exam and ensures its validity and relevance.

This article attempts to address concerns from aspirants who plan to take the exam in the near future.

Changes to the PMP® Exam in a nutshell

The five domains of practice for the PMP® remain the same. However, tasks within each domain have been modified, added, or removed. Total of 8 new tasks have been added.

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

Here's an overview of the newly added content:

 

For more details on the changes to the exam, refer to our article that treats this in greater depth here: https://www.simplilearn.com/pmp-exam-changing-in-2015-article

Addressing the concerns

As an experienced project manager (PMP)® and Trainer, many people approach me for various questions related to the PMP® exam. Recently, I came across some concerns and questions raised by people who are in the middle of preparation for the PMP® exam and those who are planning to start their preparation. Essentially, the concerns they raised were as follows:

• Should I wait for the changes to happen and then take the exam post 11th January, 2016?
• Will there be enough resources available like practice questions and mock tests for the new exam?
• What if I take the exam before 11th January, 2016, but fail and need to retake the exam with the new content. Will my entire preparation go for a toss?

Let me address these concerns right away.

• First, if you are already preparing for the exam, there is no need to worry about the changes; you have enough time to get ready before the 11th of January, 2016. To the best of my knowledge, there is no additional benefit in taking the exam after 11th January, 2016, since you will still get the same PMP® credential.
• If you are busy right now and plan on taking the exam after 11th January, 2016, you will need to prepare with reference to the new Exam Content Outline, as published by PMI®. As mentioned above, the five domains of practice for the PMP® remain the same. There is no change to the primary reference book, the PMBOK® Guide, 5th edition. Rest assured that the PMP® exam course providers will quickly update their training content along with practice questions and mock tests.
• If you have prepared well for the exam and have taken a PMP® course from some of the best training providers like Simplilearn, then your chances of passing the PMP® exam on the first attempt are very high. If you fail, however, your preparation would still not go to waste. You will need to study the new content added. In my view, this is not a big issue, at all.

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Conclusion

Based on the findings from the recently completed Role Delineation Study (RDS), PMI has announced changes to the PMP® Exam. The five domains of practice for the PMP® remain the same. A grand total of 8 new tasks have been added across domains. After 1 November, only the new version of the PMP® exam will be administered.

My recommendation for aspirants who plan to take the exam in the near-future would be this- please go ahead and prepare for your exam without worrying about the forthcoming changes. To those who are taking the exam before 1 November: the changes would not affect you. Those who are taking after1 November, please pay attention to the changes and prepare accordingly. Remember, if you prepare with the best quality training providers you can always pass on the first try. Wishing you all the very best!

To get more details about the PMP® Exam changes, please refer to the following links to PMI® website.

CERTIFICATION EXAM UPDATES: What You Need to Know
http://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp

Final Exam Content Outline 2015
https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/project-management-professional-exam-outline.pdf

PMP and PMBOK are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.