15 Best PMI Certifications in 2024 and Their Types

Certifications play an important role in the career of any professional. They are a way in which individuals or even organizations showcase their expertise in the given skill set which is governed or regulated by the respective certification authority or body.

PMI, the leading professional association for project management offers several such credentials that aspiring professionals can earn to prove their skills and knowledge in the ever-evolving areas of business. In this article today, let us look at the popular PMI certifications, how to get one, and everything you need to know to decide on which certification to pursue.

What is PMI?

As stated earlier, PMI is the world's largest and fastest-growing professional association for project management professionals and like-minded individuals who are passionate about project management in all its aspects. PMI, a not-for-profit association, was founded in 1969 and has ever since been the primary and fastest-growing community of professionals working in the project, program, and portfolio management areas.

What are PMI Certifications?

PMI has been founded with the primary goal of making professionals stay current on evolving technology trends to keep project management professionals aware of the growing needs of technology and its impact on their careers in the future. By way of its certifications, PMI aims to provide suitable credentials in the form of PMI certificates to aspiring professionals at various levels that increase their project management technical quotient (PMTQ) and advances project management ahead. 

This is one of the reasons why individuals and professionals are more inclined to compete and achieve project management institute certifications. Explore the cosmos of PMI’s project management certifications with the help of experts from KnowledgeHut - find out more about us today!

Importance of PMI Certifications in the Project Management Field

Project management institute (PMI) certifications range from entry-level to advanced, broad as well as niche, helping early career professionals to gain sound knowledge and boost their careers or even solidify the expertise of seasoned professionals. They shape the way for individuals to specialize their skill set and gear up with the demands of the ever-changing and innovative business world. 

Holding a PMI credential helps stand out from the crowd in the increasingly competitive labor market that demands project management skills. According to a survey conducted by PMI, the demand for project management professionals is seeking to keep swelling as the world may require 25 lakh new project management professionals by 2030. 

Types of PMI Certifications

As indicated above, the list of PMI certifications includes one for everyone whether you are a pass-out holding a fresh college degree, a budding professional with some basic hands-on in project management, or a seasoned professional, you can choose one from the PMI certification programs to get to newer heights in your career. The following gives a quick glimpse of the PMI certifications list which is described in detail later ahead:

1. Beginner Level (0-3 Years Experience) 

• PMI Project Management Ready
• CAPM - Certified Associate in Project Management
• PMI-ACP - PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
• DASM - Disciplined Agile Scrum Master
• DASSM - Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master

2. Skilled Practitioner (3+ Years Experience) 

• PMP - Project Management Professional
• PMI - PBA - PMI Professional in Business Analytics
• DAVSC - Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant
• DAC - Disciplined Agile Coach

To learn how you can boost your PM career prospects explore our comprehensive selection of Project Management Courses, and get certified. 

3. Specialization Level

• PMI-RMP® - PMI Risk Management Professional
• PMI-SP® - PMI Scheduling Professional
• AHPP™- Agile Hybrid Project Pro™
• AM-MC - Agile Metrics Micro-Credential
• CD-P - Citizen Developer Practitioner
• CDBA - Citizen Developer Business Architect
• BEPC - Built Environment Project Communication Pro
• BEPM - Built Environment Performance and Materials Management Pro
• BETI - Built Environment Technology and Innovation Pro
• PMI-CP™ - Construction Professional in Built Environment Projects™
• OTF - Organizational Transformation Foundation
• OTI - Organizational Transformation Implementation
• OTO - Organizational Transformation Orchestration

4. Senior Level

• PgMP® - Program Management Professional
• PfMP® - Portfolio Management Professional

15 Best PMI Certifications in 2024

Now that we have seen the PMI certifications list, let me now take you to the important part of this article where I will present the top 15 best PMI certifications for 2024 and talk about each one of them in detail.

1. Project Management Professional (PMP) 

Certification Overview:

• PMP certification from PMI is undoubtedly one of the most popular choices for the best PMI certifications owing to its acceptance as the gold standard of project management across every industry.
• Even though it is considered to be fairly overwhelming, be it experienced professionals or project managers, both look to ace this certification to get ahead in their respective career streams.

Eligibility Requirements:

To qualify for appearing on the PMP the candidate needs to fulfill 2 sets of requirements.

• Education requirements - Either a high school diploma or associate degree or a bachelor's degree or 35 hours of PM education (via a bootcamp or other method) or a CAPM certification.
• Experience requirements - 60 months of experience leading projects (with a high school diploma or associate degree), 36 months of experience leading projects (with a four-year degree), or 24 months of experience leading projects (in case of graduation with Global Accreditation Center (GAC) program).

Exam Format and Content:

The exam consists of 180 questions, some multiple choice questions - all based on the latest exam content outline published by PMI from time to time and the exam time limit is 230 minutes. 

Cost: 

• Non-PMI members - ₹42,863.00
• PMI members - ₹21,933.00

Preparation Tips: 

In my experience of taking the PMP certification exam, I have found that having a personal study plan, focusing on the exam content outline and PMBOK plus PMI recommended resources are most appropriate to crack this mammoth exam. There are a lot of tips and tricks professionals share about this exam, some of them commonly being:

• Writing as many practice tests as possible.
• Looking at augmenting study material or guides as a reference.
• Getting comfortable with writing the exam for a longer time.
• Focusing on the theoretical concepts and learnings prescribed in the PMBOK over personal scenarios/experiences.
• Joining study groups/discussion forums for understanding ways to get concepts/clarity.

Career Advantages: 

• Overall PMI certs are very popular and well regarded, in particular though, PMP is considered the gold standard for project management certifications and offers global recognition, reinforced knowledge, and an increased pay package.
• On the project management front, PMP-certified candidates are usually regarded to have hands-on experience with complex projects, and greater responsibilities to bring enhanced project success and organization profitability. 

2. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) 

Certification Overview: 

• CAPM stands among the popular PMI certification types as it is suitable for both professionals who are managing projects and those who are starting their careers in project management.
• It is a solid credential for those looking to learn and add project management skills to their resume.

Eligibility Requirements: 

• High school diploma, a secondary educational degree, or a pre-university certificate
• 23 contact hours (project management education)
• No experience requirements to qualify for the CAPM exam.

Exam Format and Content: 

• 150 questions, multiple choice to be attempted in 3 hours

Cost: 

• Non-PMI members - ₹16,218.00 
• PMI members - ₹12,202.00

Preparation Tips:

• Review PMI’s certification handbook and ECO - exam content outline to understand the content and format of the exam.
• Understand processes, terms, inputs, and outputs to build knowledge of process groups.
• Formulate a personal study plan and also participate in study groups/discussion forums to clarify doubts/questions.

Career Advantages:

• Pursuing the CAPM certification counts towards the 35 contact hours needed for the PMP exam.
• Gives an edge to differentiate from the crowd and is one of the most sought-after certifications for PMI.

3. Program Management Professional (PgMP) 

Certification Overview: 

Among the different PMI certifications available, PgMP certification is an advanced credential bestowed to professionals who have expertise and experience managing large and complex groups of projects and programs to bring transformation and strategic alignment.

Eligibility Requirements: 

Three different paths have respective educational and experience requirements:

• Path A - Secondary degree, 4+ years of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience, or PMP certification, 7+ years of unique non-overlapping professional program management experience.
• Path B - 4-year degree, 4+ years of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience, or PMP certification, 4+ years of unique non-overlapping professional program management experience.
• Path C - Bachelor or PG Degree from a global accreditation center (GAC), 3+ years of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience, or PMP certification, 3+ years of unique non-overlapping professional program management experience.

Exam Format and Content:

• The PgMP exam follows a 2-level evaluation:
• Evaluation-1 - Panel Review
  • Once applied, a panel of subject matter experts carrying vast program management experience review the candidature and assess experiences w.r.t program management which approximately takes 60 days to complete.
  • Passing this level-1 review is mandatory to qualify for attempting the examination.
• Evaluation-2 - Examination
  • 170 questions (150 scored, 20 unscored) to be attempted in 4 hours.

Cost: 

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 54,061.00
• PMI members - ₹ 43,249.00 

Preparation Tips: 

• To fulfill the 2-level evaluation it is important to seek a good mentor and a well-planned training course to get started.
• Having a personal study plan, study-group/discussion forum is essential to stay motivated and clarify doubts.
• Understanding processes, inputs outputs, patterns of evaluation, and distribution of curriculum is widely helpful for such an exam.
• Understand large-scale program delivery aligned with business strategy and overall lifecycle - explore our PgMP certification course for more details.

Career Advantages: 

• Holding a PgMP certification signifies a tremendous depth of knowledge and actionable expertise in managing large projects, programs, and verticals.
• Elite certification with only a few thousand certified professionals across the globe.

4. Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP) Certification 

Certification Overview:

• Demonstrates deep knowledge and experience along with compliance with ISO 9001 standards.
• Best suited to executives or senior-level practitioners managing a portfolio of projects and programs aligned with organizational strategy.

Eligibility Requirements:

Three different paths have respective educational and experience requirements:

• Path A: Secondary degree, 8+ years of professional business experience, 7+ years of unique non-overlapping professional portfolio management experience.
• Path B: 4-year degree, 8+ years of professional business experience, 4+ years of unique non-overlapping professional portfolio management experience.
• Path C: Bachelor or PG Degree from a global accreditation center (GAC), 8+ years of professional business experience, 3+ years of unique non-overlapping professional portfolio management experience. 

Exam Format and Content:

• Similar to the PgMP, the PfMP exam also follows a 2-level evaluation:
• Evaluation-1 - Panel Review
  • Once applied, a panel of subject matter experts carrying vast portfolio management experience review the candidature and assess experiences w.r.t portfolio management which approximately takes 60 days to complete.
  • Passing this level-1 review is mandatory to qualify for attempting the examination.
• Evaluation-2 - Examination
  • 170 questions (150 scored, 20 unscored) to be attempted in 4 hours.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 54,061.00
• PMI members - ₹ 43,249.00 

Preparation Tips: 

• To fulfill the 2-level evaluation it is important to seek a good mentor and a well-planned training course to get started.
• Having a personal study plan, study-group/discussion forum is essential to stay motivated and clarify doubts.
• Understanding processes, inputs outputs, patterns of evaluation, and distribution of curriculum is widely helpful for such an exam.

Career Advantages:

• Elite distinction with only a few thousand certified professionals across the globe.
• Helpful for professionals to advance into higher management/C-level roles by proven expertise in handling large projects and programs.
• Helps build strategic alignment and visibility of goals from top to bottom.

5. PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) Certification 

Certification Overview:

• Spotlight your valuable skills in working with stakeholders, defining project outputs, and driving business outcomes with the PMI- PBA certification.
• It is a globally recognized and accepted certification with a high level of professional credibility.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Secondary Degree (high school diploma) and 60 months of business analysis experience (in the last 8 years) and 35 contact hours of education in business analysis.
• Bachelor's degree or global equivalent and 36 months of business analysis experience (in the last 8 years) and 35 contact hours of education in business analysis.
• Bachelors or PG Degree from a GAC program and 24 months of non-overlapping business analysis experience and 35 contact hours of formal education

Exam Format and Content:

200 multiple-choice questions to be attempted in 4 hours the examination content outline from PMI defines the key assessment domains as follows:

• Needs Assessment
• Planning
• Analysis
• Traceability and Monitoring
• Evaluation

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹42,863.00
• PMI members - ₹21,933.00

Preparation Tips:

• Focus on analytic tools and techniques, frameworks and methodologies, awareness, and validations that a business analyst works with daily.
• Understanding the RDS - Role Delineation Study-based assessment will help the factors that will be assessed as part of the examination.
• Reviewing the reference list and joining discussion forums will help stay latest on the topics.

Career Advantages:

• Globally recognized credential for the business analyst role along with carrying the ISO 9001 recognition standard.
• Helps build a network beyond the examination to ace desired opportunities and advance in the career stream.

6. PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) Certification 

Certification Overview:

Designed specifically for project managers, functional managers, or C-level executives who manage risks/complex projects, one of the most sought-after PMI certifications for project management is the PMI - RMP certification due to its credential that helps certify expertise in risk identification, assessment, and management.

In its latest version, the PMI-RMP curriculum now includes the agile, hybrid environment, and even enterprise-level risks that project managers need to consider.

Eligibility Requirements:

Three different paths have respective educational and experience requirements:

• Path A: Secondary degree, 3+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 40 hours of formal education in project scheduling.
• Path B: 4-year degree, 2+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 30 hours of formal education in project scheduling.
• Path C: Bachelor or PG Degree from a global accreditation center (GAC), 1+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 30 hours of formal education in project scheduling. 

Exam Format and Content:

115 multiple choice questions need to be attempted in 2.5 hours with content focused on the exam blueprint that consists of topics such as:

• Risk Strategy and Planning 
• Risk Identification 
• Risk Analysis 
• Risk Response
• Monitor and Close Risks

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹51,744.00
• PMI members - ₹28,112.00

Preparation Tips:

• Review the examination content outline to understand the distribution of curriculum,
• Focus on tasks, and domains to build conceptual clarity and understand real-time scheduling challenges and how PMI prescribes to solve them.

Career Advantages:

• A competency-based credential that assesses an integrated set of knowledge, skills, and abilities gained through both practical and learned experience.
• Based on the psychometric analysis and real-time scheduling challenges, and scenarios.

7. PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP) Certification 

Certification Overview:

• Built around the project scheduling methods and practices, PMI-SP certification is a specialization from the available certifications for PMI to demonstrate knowledge and advanced experience in maintaining project schedules.
• Meets the ISO 9001 standard along with giving confidence in the project scheduling competencies.

Eligibility Requirements:

Three different paths have respective educational and experience requirements:

• Path A: Secondary degree, 3+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 40 hours of formal education in project scheduling.
• Path B: 4-year degree, 2+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 30 hours of formal education in project scheduling.
• Path C: Bachelor or PG Degree from a global accreditation center (GAC), 1+ years of project scheduling experience in the last 5 years, 30 hours of formal education in project scheduling. 

Exam Format and Content: 170 multiple-choice questions to be attempted in 3.5 hours

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 51,744.00
• PMI members - ₹ 28,112.00

Preparation Tips:

• Review the examination content outline to understand the distribution of curriculum,
• Focus on tasks, and domains to build conceptual clarity and understand real-time scheduling challenges and how PMI prescribes to solve them.

Career Advantage:

• Focus beyond PMI’s global standards as these course content and exams are prepared by specialized project scheduling professionals,
• Based on the psychometric analysis and real-time scheduling challenges/scenarios.

8. Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) 

Certification Overview:

• Focused on showcasing the knowledge of agile principles and skills with agile techniques.
• Spans multiple approaches covering various agile methodologies and practices.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Education requirements - Secondary degree and 21 contact hours (training in agile practices)
• Experience requirements - 12 months of general project experience within the last 5 years (excluded for PMP or PgMP holders) and 8 months of agile project experience within the last 3 years.

Exam Format and Content: 120 - multiple choice questions based on the exam content outline.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 26,799.00
• PMI members - ₹ 23,555.00

Preparation Tips:

• Understand the domains of practice and additional references mentioned to answer scenario-based agility questions.
• Focus on the technical competencies based on the role delineation study to broadly understand the evaluation methodology of the examination.

Career Advantages:

• Helps increase the versatility of professionals by focusing on multiple agile approaches such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP), and Test driven development (TDD). 

9. Construction Professional in Built Environment Projects (PMI-CP)™ 

Certification Overview: A unique certification from the PMI certifications types, - focused on construction and built environment industry professionals, this certification aims to cover the domains of project governance along with focusing on contract, stakeholder, scope, and strategy management.

Eligibility Requirements: No education requirements but 3+ years of experience in the construction/built environment field is required to qualify for the exam.

Exam Format and Content:

• Exam prerequisites include a 7-course construction curriculum, 3 of which are micro-credentials, and 1 capstone exam to get practical hands-on with the PMI-CP certification.
• Upon completion of the above, there is a 170 - multiple choice-based examination to be completed in 230 minutes. 

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - $ 499 (exam cost only)
• PMI members - $ 499 (exam cost only)

Preparation Tips:

• A mammoth series of courses and micro-credentials are involved to get certified and needs a focused preparation pattern for each of them.
• Focusing on the exam content outline's earmarked domain, tasks, and enablers approach may help grasp concepts faster.

Career Advantages:

• Helps professionals from the construction industry to bring large complex projects to life and create structure in the project governance models.
• Includes a series of 3 micro-credentials that are a great value-add to any resume.

10. PMI Project Management Ready 

Certification Overview: It is an introductory certification course aimed towards imparting project management fundamentals and core concepts, traditional as well as agile methodologies, and business analyst frameworks.

Eligibility Requirements: As it is an introductory or entry-level course, there are no education, or experience requirements to qualify for the examination.

Exam Format and Content: 50 questions - multiple choice, to be attempted in 47 minutes.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - $118 (exam only)
• PMI members - $118 (exam only)

Preparation Tips: Focusing on the foundational concepts of project management will be the key to getting certified at this entry-level certification by PMI.

Career Advantages:

• It is a great tool to differentiate oneself in the job market as it brings a lot of credibility in terms of understanding and speaking the business delivery language.
• Focuses on imparting knowledge of both traditional as well as agile fundamentals and core concepts.

11. Disciplined® Agile Scrum Master (DASM) 

Certification Overview: With Agile becoming the buzzword ahead, PMI's Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) certification is the right choice to help understand the foundational disciplined agile toolkit and determine the ways of working across agile teams. 

Eligibility Requirements: No formal education or experience requirements, however, candidates must attend the 2-day DASM™ training from a Disciplined Agile™ partner.

Exam Format and Content: Administered through Pearson VUE, it is an online non-proctored exam of 50 questions that are to be attempted in 90 minutes.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 27,030.00
• PMI members - ₹ 21,624.00

Preparation Tips:

• Get an understanding of agile basics to excel in this certification.
• Focus on understanding the Disciplined Agile toolkit and Choose your WoW (ways of working) to understand how to apply and adapt disciplined agile in its entirety.

Career Advantages:

• Acing this certification helps you get credibility as a disciplined agile professional capable of handling cross-vertical teams and challenges in the VUCA world.
• Understanding the disciplined agile toolkit provides proven practices and approaches to real-world agile scenarios and adoption.
• Good for professionals to start their career on a strong methodology driving agile transformation across projects.

12. Disciplined Agile® Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) 

Certification Overview: Attaining this certification from PMI focuses on driving agile adoption, reducing process gaps, correcting process implementations, and tailoring the ways to work to the unique needs of the team. In a nutshell, it helps champion people and process-related factors in teams to drive progress, delivery, and growth.

Eligibility Requirements:

• No formal education requirements, however, candidates must attend the 2-day DASSM™ training from a Disciplined Agile™ partner.
• In terms of experience, candidates must have at least 2 years of experience working in agile teams, preferably in a leadership role.
• Candidates must have an understanding of the disciplined agile toolkit to derive situational awareness and understanding of concepts in this area of study.

Exam Format and Content: Administered through Pearson VUE, it is an online non-proctored exam of 50 questions that are to be attempted in 90 minutes.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 48000 (Course)
• PMI members - ₹ 48000 (Course)

Preparation Tips:

• Understand the ECO and course content recommended and imparted in the learning course.
• Have a supplementary study guide, discussion forum, mind maps, and general reference material to get concepts covered.

Career Advantages:

• Aims to help professionals to specialize in driving key enterprise activities to show improvements and mitigate pain areas.
• Helps drive improvement in value delivery by empowering teams and individuals, impetus on emotional quotient, and conflict management.

13. Disciplined Agile® Coach (DAC) 

Certification Overview:

• The Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) course takes the disciplined agile knowledge to the next level to help coach teams, programs, and cross-collaborating verticals/teams through continuous improvement.
• Among the offered levels of PMI certifications, the DAC certification embarks on the foundational level for enterprise agility along with being the final level for skilled practitioners to move further ahead into the senior level.

Eligibility Requirements:

• 36 months of Agile coaching experience AND,
• Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) Certification
• Virtual 2-day DAC course offered by the Authorized Training Partner

Exam Format and Content: 60 - multiple choice questions based on the DAVSC exam blueprint.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - USD 900+ (Training fees) 
• PMI members - USD 900+ (Training fees)

Preparation Tips:

• Follow the examination blueprint to understand domains and weightage in the examination pattern.
• Understand organization agile transformations and how to coach teams towards process adoption, improvement, and excellence.

Career Advantages:

• Focused on imparting activity-based learning or practical exposure with its unique toolkit application methodology to solve common problems.
• Learning beyond theory to give candidates mastery over disciplined agile.

14. Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC™) 

Certification Overview: This is a certification for agile coaches and enterprise-level scrum masters to gain mastery using disciplined agile and use value stream management to drive transformation across enterprise agility. It is in essence the extension of the Disciplined Agile™ Senior Scrum Master (DASSM™) certification.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Education requirements - No formal education requirements but the aspirant needs to have 3-day formal training from a Disciplined Agile partner.
• Experience requirements - Must have 3 years of agile coaching experience and have cleared the Disciplined Agile™ Senior Scrum Master (DASSM™) certification.

Exam Format and Content: 40 - multiple choice questions based on the DAVSC exam blueprint.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - $ 1,299 (Training fees) 
• PMI members - $ 1,299+ (Training fees)

Preparation Tips:

• Understand concepts of flow, lean, theory of constraints, and the disciplined agile toolkit to get hands-on with concepts in this subject area.
• Important to have exposure to enterprise agility, value-stream-based methodologies, and collaborating verticals and practices.

Career Advantages:

• Completing the course provides 21 PDUs that can help fulfill renewal requirements for certifications offered by the PMI.
• Helps get good hands-on using flow, lean, theory of constraints, and organization development into disciplined agile to optimize enterprise agility.

15. Agile Hybrid Project Pro™ (AHPP™)

Certification Overview:

• The AHPP is a micro-credential yet considered one of the top PMI certifications due to its popularity in the evolving agile and hybrid ways of working.
• It is a new online course paired with a non-proctored online exam, involving education on supporting team performance, removing impediments, managing conflict, and leading a team successfully.

Eligibility Requirements: As it is an industry skill specialization, having about 1 - 5 years of project management experience is recommended but not required for qualifying.

Exam Format and Content:

• There is a prerequisite course of about 6.5 - 12 hours.
• Subsequently, 60 multiple-choice questions need to be answered in 75 minutes to get certified.

Cost:

• Non-PMI members - ₹ 10812
• PMI members - ₹ 9499

Preparation Tips: Not much preparation is required as it is a simple course to be completed and an exam attempted at your comfort to earn the micro-credential.

Career Advantages:

• Non-expiring credential that does not carry any kind of renewal requirements.
• Provides a digital badge for your resume and profile.
• Suitable for PMP professionals after passing to get 13 PDUs and have continuous learning.

How to Choose the Right PMI Certification for Your Career Path?

Choosing from the list of PMI certification types is not an easy task and requires trade-off planning between the ways of working, methodologies involved, and passion/career stream of the individual w.r.t the subject matter in each of them. As we have seen from the details above, each certification has its unique applicability depending on the professional level of the candidate i.e. whether they are someone who is looking to get started in project management, or experienced, or performing or looking for a specialized role. 

Here are a few instances/recommendations that may help:

• For junior project management practitioners, or those working as project team members - the CAPM certification is the best choice.
• For those involved in developing and maintaining project schedules a specialization of PMI SP - Scheduling professional is well suited.
• Similarly, those involved in the assessment, identification, and mitigation of risks can ace the PMI - RMP Risk Management Professional specialization.
• Those passionate about end-to-end project management and involved in project leadership roles can take up the PMP certification to then grow into program management with PgMP, and portfolio management with PfMP certifications.
• Those looking to build their career around agile methodologies can aim for the PMI-ACP certification, or DASM and DASSM certifications to catalyze career progression.

As evident as it is, PMI has no less choice for professionals looking to make their mark in the business world with its custom-suited offerings as per the interest and career stream of the professionals.

Resources and Study Materials for PMI Certifications

1. Resources and Study Materials 

In my experience of giving the PMI certifications, I have found the core exam guide to be the first-hand information available and useful to get started with understanding the basics of the exam, its content, structure, and evaluation pattern. PMI does a marvelous break up of domains, tasks, and enablers in the exam blueprint or exam content outline where applicable to exactly help understand what areas of the exam are going to be evaluated theoretically and which will fit for practical assessment in the evaluation.

2. Official PMI Study Guides and Books 

PMI provides a series of preparation and reference material specific and customized to each of its certification programs that commonly includes:

• Overview of the certification program
• Eligibility criteria (Education/Experience requirements)
• Fees and costs associated
• Procedures to apply
• Examination pattern and method of conduct
• Retake conditions, costs, and criteria
• Results publication
• Maintenance criteria
• Ethics, conditions, and terms specific to the program

All of these are either included by PMI as part of the certification handbook, certification-specific blueprint and exam content outline (ECO) or supporting guide/reference material prescribing additional resources and references. Here is a ready list of exam content outlines of popular exams to help you in need:

• PMI - PMP Exam Content Outline
• PgMP - PgMP Exam Content Outline
• PfMP - PfMP Exam Content Outline
• PMI-PBA - PMI-PBA Exam Content Outline
• PMI-ACP - PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline
• PMI-RMP - PMI-RMP Exam Content Outline
• PMI-SP - PMI-SP Exam Content Outline
• CAPM - CAPM Exam Content Outline

3. Online Courses and Training Providers 

There are several online courses and authorized training providers for PMI certifications, some of them recommended by PMI and others who have earned their reputation to help candidates make their mark with the certification program. The training courses may be live-online, self-paced, classroom-based, or corporate training/boot camps which may help aid learning and development to meet the qualifying criteria for contact hours prerequisites as well as specific certification program needs. 

I picked up the following curated list of online courses to help ace PMI's project management certifications:

• KnowledgeHut’s Project Management Courses
• Cybrary Project Management Courses
• Insite by Velociteach
• Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management - Coursera
• Introduction to Project Management by the University of Washington
• Certification program from the University of Cornell

4. Practice Exams and Mock Tests 

Practice exams, exam simulators, and mock tests help you get a feel of what the real PMP exam would be and also assess your level of preparation to attempt the full PMP exam in one go. Here are some resources to help you find the most popular ones:

• BrainSensei
• Tests.com
• PMPPracticeexam.org
• PMTraining
• PMP-TestPrep
• PM Prepcast

5. Professional Networking and Study Groups 

Professional networking groups, discussion forums, study forums, and lessons learned are all additional resources to keep the torch burning to clear the certification exams after attending the required prerequisites/training programs. Three are a lot of LinkedIn groups candidates can be a part of forums such as - PM hangout, PM QnA, Exams PM, RMC learning discussions, project smart, etc. which are very helpful to candidates, and aspirants, and for resource sharing. 

Conclusion

PMI certifications are well known to provide a lot of recognition and visibility in any field of work or industry. It is an important investment one can make in their career as the credentials not only enhance the stability of the existing job profile but also expand the earning horizon and provide the much-required competitive impetus in the labor market. Out of the so many options available, choosing the right certification may look pretty cumbersome prima-facie but once a professional can determine their interest, current skill set, and which ones they want to develop in the future - this choice becomes more clear and consistent. 

It is also important to note that one should not remain complacent after getting certified with a single certification but otherwise must keep the focus on PMI's CCR - Continuing Certification requirements areas to constantly build and harness skills while also treating these certifications as stepping stones to keep moving ahead gradually in their career.