Program Management Professional (PgMP®) Certification Information
The Program Management Professional (PgMP) is the Project Management Institute's flagship credential for program managers. PMOSIG member Jeff Hodgkinson, PgMP offers a wealth of information regarding the PgMP® credential in the article below. Additionally, PMOSIG members have online access to additional perspectives on the PgMP examination as well as additional PgMP-related resources.
Navigating the New PgMP® Credential
By
Jeff Hodgkinson
On October 1st, 2007, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) began offering its first credential that demonstrates skills in the ‘emerging’ discipline of program management, the Program Management Professional (PgMP®).
It is ‘emerging’ because, while program management has long been an accepted profession and practice within the U.S. government, particularly the Department of Defense, it has just recently gained more interest and acceptance in commercial applications around the world.
Program management deals with the complex interdependencies between related projects that ensure they align with an organization’s overall strategy. Primarily, program management is really about delivering business results and benefits. The PgMP® credential recognizes that a program manager, while needing expert skills in project management, needs to also have strong business skills and acumen to really be successful.
Earning Your PgMP®
We can tell you from firsthand experience that PMI® didn’t make this process easy — nor should they have. From documenting your professional experience to a challenging exam to detailed assessment by at least 12 of your colleagues, it’s as much a test of endurance as it is experience and intellect.
For the benefit of those who are seriously thinking of going after your own PgMP®, I’ve put together a rundown of everything you’ll need to do, as well as a few tips along the way to help in your being successful.
The Requirements
To even qualify to begin the process, you need to have extensive experience in the business of both project and program management. Specifically, those with a bachelor’s degree or global equivalent must have at least eight years of experience — four years managing projects and four years managing programs. Professionals without a bachelor’s degree must demonstrate these requirements plus an additional three years of program management experience (7 years total).
Three-Stage Process
Unlike the PMP® certification, there are three separate stages involved in earning your PgMP® as follows:
The Application
The process begins with an extensive, on line application that requires you to document your experience as a project and program manager. All experience needs to be verifiable as PMI® will perform an audit. Be advised, the audit process is done by actual signature and postal mail.
On the project management side you need to document four years of experience. You must list the names of the projects you’ve worked on, the start/end dates, your role on each project, the industry the projects applied to, the organizations you worked with (including their addresses and phone numbers), a contact name at each organization and descriptions of your relationships with those contacts.
The program management side requires even more detail. You must be able to provide program names, budgets, direct reports, direct project managers, start/end dates, your specific role on each program, the industries the programs fell within, a description of program strategies and objectives, your job titles, and specific organizational and contact information.
In addition to supplying this mountain of information, you’ll also be required to complete eight 200-word experience summary statements. These will cover topics such as how you:
-
Coordinated the management of specific projects
-
Spanned functions
-
Built credibility and established rapport with your stakeholders
-
Selected and assigned project managers
-
Aligned project scope with organizational objectives
-
Controlled program scope
-
Integrated multiple projects
-
Conducted cross-cultural communications and handled confrontation, among a few other topics
I strongly suggest that you research your information and write the answers to your summary statements before your begin to populate your information onto the actual application. This will allow you to do word count and spell check to ensure your answers comply with boundaries.
The Exam
Once your application has been accepted (it’s reviewed by an international panel f program managers), it’s time for the exam. This 170-multiple choice- question exam is put together based on the Program Management Professional Examination Specification and the Program Management Standard from PMI®. The questions cover six programs domains of Definition, Initiation, Planning, Execution, Controlling and Close out, with particular emphasis on planning, execution and controlling. Most questions are based on a given scenario with a multiple choice of four answers. The scoring for this exam is different than the PMP® exam. Here, each question is weighted based on its degree of difficulty. So, getting a more difficult question correct will yield a higher score.
There are now several books and study guides on the PgMP® exam that may also be helpful. A few vendors and consultants offer a PgMP® Boot Camp class. Also after August 31, 2009 the exam will be based on the PMBOK 2nd edition.
The Assessment
Once you officially pass your exam, 12 of your colleagues will automatically be sent a 360-degree assessment via e-mail to the mail IDs given in the application. These colleagues, which are pickup by default from the details of the application, must include one manager, four peers, four direct reports and three professional references. The survey is made up of 74 questions (including comments) based on six different program domains and takes about 30 minutes to complete. This evaluation period lasts for 3 weeks then the results are provided to you in a comprehensive report.
For more information you can refer to the PgMP Handbook. Hopefully I’ve been able to shed some light on this difficult process and offer you a few insights that will give you assistance on earning your PgMP®. Good luck!
There are currently about 280 PgMP’s worldwide in 32 countries. You can find details of who has obtained their PgMP® using the PMI Credential Registry. Type in the ‘%’ symbol in the last name, select the credential (PgMP) and click on the ‘Search’ button and a list of all PgMP’s will appear. On average only 12 people per month earn the PgMP credential.
About the Author
Jeff Hodgkinson is the PMO Manager in Intel Corporation IT (Information Technology) Operations Service Management Delivery and the IT Operations Principal Program Manager Career Planning Program Manager. He is a 29 year veteran with Intel and holds numerous credentials in Project and Program Management. Jeff obtained his PMP (Project Management Professional) credential in 1991 (#713) and one of the first persons to obtain the PgMP®. He is located in Chandler, Arizona and also volunteers as the Director of Special Programs for the Phoenix PMI (Project Management Institute) Chapter. Jeff has successfully coached many people in obtaining their PMP® and PgMP® credential.
"PgMP", "PMP" and "PMI" are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Print Page
