TOPIC: PMP Audit Failed

Hi,

I failed my PMP audit , looking for guidance on moving forward. I think it was because of the wording I used in my descriptions but was wondering if someone can confirm or speculate further. Below is the response I received.

After thorough review of your application, it has been determined that your application does not meet the minimum eligibility requirements. At this time your application has been closed.

Eligibility Not Met: Project Management Role

Perform their duties under general supervision and are responsible for all aspects of the project for the life of the project
Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources
Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables

Review Feedback:

All experience submissions - The deliverables do not show leading and directing in the role of Project Manager according to the role delineation above.

Eligibility Not Met: Experience is not a project
PMI defines a project as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product service or result. Every project creates a unique product, service or result such as:

A product that can be either a component or another item, an enhancement of an item, or an end item in itself
A service or a capability to perform a service (e.g., a business function that supports production or distribution)
An improvement in the existing product or service lines (e.g., A Six Sigma product undertaken to reduce defects)
A result, such as an outcome or document (e.g., research project that develops knowledge that can be used to determine whether a trend exists or a new process will benefit society)

Review Feedback:

All experience submissions - The deliverables appear to be job descriptions which do not qualify. They appear operational and administrative as written. Using the principles of project management in operational and administrative tasks can be very effective, but does not provide the professional project management experience required for the PMP credential.

Eligibility Not Met: Domains are not included
It is required that candidates show that they led and directed the project as identified with the tasks, knowledge, and skills specific in the PMP Exam Content Outline. The PMP candidate is not required to show experience leading and directing projects in all five project domains for each project, but must have this experience within the total number of experience hours and in their project deliverable descriptions.


Review Feedback:

All experience submissions - The content within the project management work experience descriptions did not demonstrate using skills specific within the PMP Examination Content Outline, for each project phase / domain under which experience hours have been documented.


Additional Comments:

PMI is in receipt of the documentation to validate your attained education as well as your project management training. In the event that you submit a new PMP application, it will not be necessary to resend documentation to validate your attained education, or your project management training.

If you wish to submit a new application, you may do so at any time.

Thanks,
R

Ryan,

You need balance along with beginning and ending points.
You need to lead some effort in each of the five areas.

Can you show this?

jfw

John,

Below are my descriptions. I know I need to do a better job identifying the project areas within the description as well as providing a clear objective.

Holiday Season Preparation
This project involved identifying the new marketing material, coming up with when and how to address the changes as laid out in the Visual Merchandiser. Assigning some to complete the visual transformation. This also required identifying current staffing and the staffing needed during peak season. Identifying and communicating fashion trends and hot items within the area and store to the district manager and the product managers to properly stock the store with popular merchandise. Needed to meet labor budget and sales goals. Training.

Store Manager
I was a Store Manager. As Manager I was responsible for preparing my store for Inventory. This met getting product ready to scanned, creating zones through out the store, creating a schedule within budget to be properly staffed on the day of the inventory, having meetings with my team prior to the inventory as well as holding a meeting the day of the inventory with staff of the vendor and my team. Double counted everything to ensure all items were scanned and scanned correctly. Prepared and submitted documentation to inventory control dept.

Holiday Season Preparation
I was a Store Manager. As Manager I was responsible for preparing my store for Inventory. This met getting product ready to scanned, creating zones through out the store, creating a schedule within budget to be properly staffed on the day of the inventory, having meetings with my team prior to the inventory as well as holding a meeting the day of the inventory with staff of the vendor and my team. Double counted everything to ensure all items were scanned and scanned correctly. Prepared and submitted documentation to inventory control dept.


Training Program
I researched, recommended, and oversaw the implementation of our new training program. I researched several companies that offered training platforms that could be used by a majority or our staff. The goal of this project was to help reduce training costs by teaming with a training company. I compiled information from past training courses and compared the training courses to those offered by several companies. This consisted of scheduling meetings with the vendor and HR Director to discuss delivery methods and cost.

Employee Self-Service Portal
This project was to set-up the Employee Self-Service Portal. The purpose of this project was to allow staff to access information regarding the organization, benefits offered, benefits enrollment, and established policies and procedures. It was established to allow employees to electronically change or request benefits versus submitting paper. Approval processes were established to prevent unwanted actions such as electing benefits outside of Open Enrollment. I managed the whole process as well as established chain of command.

ISO 9001:2015 Certification
I was the Management Representative for our company when working towards achieving our ISO 9001:2015 Certification. I researched the certification with regards to cost, time required to achieve certification and level of effort required by each member of the organization, as well as the benefits to the company for achieving the certification. I organized a kick-off meeting delegated the roles each person would play in the certification process. I aligned current business practices with those required by ISO.

Automate Notifications for New Employee Onboarding
For this Project I researched the capabilities of our current Talent Management System. Then held a meeting with COO and Senior Recruiter to discuss how to streamline communications using the system. Automatic email notifications where established to correlate with each stage of the onboarding process. These automatic notifications were sent to the stakeholders once a candidates status was changed in the system. Each message was tailored to the stage of the process.

Performance Management and Learning System
Implementation for the Performance Management and Learning System as well as on going monitoring of the use of the system by Managing Directors & Staff. System put in place to allow for electronic tracking and processing of the Performance Management cycle. System set-up to allow Managing Directors and Staff to be assigned & complete required training and track compliance when it came to completing assigned training. Implemented the system design and layout. Established and determined the timeline of when automatic notifications sent to users.

CAPE Program
Contract Award for Professional Excellence (CAPE) Program was established to recognize our sub-contractors for excellent performance. I was tasked with creating this program from the name, branding, requirements, and awards. I managed the overall project by delegating different tasks to team members involved with this project. Researched and recommended different awards provided to recipients.

Open Enrollment
HR Manager in charge of establishing Open Enrollment for the company to enroll/re-enroll in company sponsored benefits. This involved meetings with brokers regarding our benefits, establishing timelines for the start and end of the enrollment process. Benefits were elected electronically via our HRIS. This required for the system to be set-up with current benefit plans which included rates and parameters for enrollment/computation of benefit rates. After enrollment it required a QA check to ensure all employees wanting benefits were enrolled.

On-boarding Program
The on-boarding program was designed and implemented to hit the 4 C's of on-boarding. I managed the projects design, development and implementation. I was also responsible for continuous monitoring of the project after implementation to make sure the program was being used as it was designed for. The program included guides for Managers and New hires which provided a glimpse at what their first year as an employee would look like. The program also included a Buddy Program.


Thoughts?

Thanks!

Ryan
What PMI is looking for is clear identification of Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and Closing. You must very clearly write how you managed the projects design, development and implementation, use the terms from the PMBOK to state "I" initiated the On-boarding Program by (Your description must have a beginning, middle and an end) over number of hours. Don't use titles as "Store Manager" instead use project titles of what you did as a Store Manager. The identify which area you are taking credit for (Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling and Closing) and amount of time. Again, make sure you use the terms from the PKBOK to describe the work you did on that that project. Not easy, but worth it.
jfw

Understood. I appreciate the guidance and clarification, John.

R

I had to account for 7500 hours and go approved no problem. PM me and I'll send you samples

Hi

I'm seeking help as well for a failed audit and have rewritten my descriptions. I've been a little frustrated with the rejection so I need some suggestions before I bug my contacts again for approval after I submit the new application. Here's what I have so far (I just want to see if I'm on the right track)
Thank you for any help and suggestions

Establishment of an American Heart Association Training Center in Bahrain

Creation of an American Heart Association Training Center in Bahrain. As PM, I identified all stakeholders and their expectations, developed project charter which was approved by Hospital and AHA headquarters. Created WBS and assigned team work assignments, developed project budget based on WBS/activities, risk plan, team schedule and travel to submit to Hospital (PM plan). Managed team, communication, and TC operational procedures to develop the Center for AHA submission. Monitored TC performance, budget, provided documented feedback to AHA and Hospital. Hospital gained acceptance as a Community-based AHA Training Center.

Themeworks Relocation Project and Establishment of Showroom

Relocation project of a large event company and establishment of showroom. As the manager, I collected project requirements from owner, developed scope and WBS to develop the budget and schedule of the project to meet the milestones and constraints. Once PM Plan was approved by owner; I acquired and managed project team, organized renovation schedule and inventory management system, and handling issues and changes as needed. Once renovations were completed, we adjusted our schedule to meet project deadlines. New warehouse and showroom for potential clients were approved by the owner and our team updated lesson learned for future projects.

AED Community Lease Program

Development of an AED lease program. As Project manager, a project charter was developed after researching market need and identifying stakeholders. Created scope statement and the WBS along with the schedule, budget, and risk plan with the team I managed. I monitored training and establishing a sales program for the team while controlling the schedule and budget. A legal procurement produced a lease agreement and AED manufacturer’s agreements produced AEDs for lease which allowed transition into operations upon acceptance by business owners. The final project was the lease agreement created within the defined schedule, budget, and scope.

Home Renovation Project

Home Renovation project. As the project manager, the project charter was developed to renovate my client’s residence for increased market value. Once approved by the owner, I collected her requirements and consulted real estate agents’ expertise to develop a scope, WBS, activities list, and communication plan. Certain work was procured to licensed contractors and final budget and schedule were set with reserves for identified risks. Once PM plans were approved, contracted and other site work was managed and directed while monitoring schedule and budget. Closed contracts and project ahead of schedule and on budget after client approval.

A couple things I'd maybe suggest:
Mention phases (Initiation, planning, execution, control, close) and how you performed in each one.
I don't know if they are this picky, but "a project charter was developed " might imply someone else did it?
You want to craft this so that you can show you understand PMP terminologies and how YOU participated in each one and directed the project through it's life cycle.

Hello,
I am currently filling out the form and is hearing a lot about the mistakes made for the descriptions. Would you be kind enough to send me some samples of the descriptions so that it can help me initiate an idea for how I can word my PM experiences?

Thanks

Hi Ryan. I was curious to know if you changed your descriptions and they were accepted? I have a lot of store management experience and I’m having trouble conveying operations into the experience section also.