TOPIC: Any time restriction on Experience?

Hi. I've come back to project management after a decade break, so decided to do my PMP to get back up to speed (planning exam for mid February 2020). For my hours of experience, I easily have the numbers if those from 2005-2009 are eligible. I didnt see anything saying they weren't but I thought I'd ask.

Graham,

Unfortunately, there is a time restriction. See www.pm-prepcast.com/pmphb on page 6:

"All project management experience must have been accrued within the last eight consecutive years prior to your application submission."

This means that, unfortunately, any experience before 2011 cannot be counted, and because of that it seems that you may want to look into going for the CAPM instead of PMP while you build up your hours of PM experience again.

Per the PMP handbook, all project management experience submitted in your application needs to have occurred within the last 8 years. Therefore, 2005-2009 experience would not be eligible for your application content. Hope this helps!

Thanks Emily and Cornelius for the feedback. I wonder if I'd subliminally remembered that which is what drove me to ask!

I qualify for the CAPM by the looks of it, assuming that the Prepcast for PMP videos count, and since I'm mid study anyway, it cant hurt to give it a try given by the time I get my hours again in 2020 we'll be in another PMP exam cycle (?). If I continue on my PMP Prepcast Exam simulator and Head First /PMBOK study, is there anything CAPM might need outside of that? My impression what that CAPM was a pure subset of PMP.

Thanks again (further questions will go in the CAPM subforums!).

Let me ask you this: How soon until you think you will have 4,500 hours of "current" experience in leading and directing projects without counting any overtime? (4,500 if you have a bachelors degree, 7,500 if you don't)

Looking at things now, about 12 months.

That means you will be taking the exam AFTER July 1st, 2020, which is the date when the PMP exam will be changing over to the new Exam Content Outline. So here is what you could do:

Continue your studies of the PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition and take the CAPM exam within the next 3 months. The CAPM is 100% knowledge-based and you only need to show that you have a good understanding of the concepts presented in the Guide. You don't have to study anything else.

Once you are CAPM certified you can sit back from your studies and focus on leading and directing your projects at work until you have a sufficient number of hours. Once you get close to qualifying for the PMP again, then I'd recommend that you download the PMP Exam Content Outline to understand what you will be tested on. You will notice that the combination of CAPM theoretical knowledge and PM experience from work will cover MUCH of that. The good news is that because you are CAPM certified, PMI is NOT going to require you to get additional training to take the PMP exam. (I would, however, recommend that you consider getting a PMP exam simulator at that time and if you discover any major gaps you can read up on those).

And now that you qualify for the PMP and feel comfortable with the training and exam simulation you can go ahead and take the PMP as well.

Does that make sense?

Sounds like a solid plan. Thanks again.