How do I write a project description for PMP?

How do I write a project description for PMP?

Learning Mudra, Category - PMP

The confusion with PMP project description

If you are an aspiring project manager you probably know what PMP is. If not, PMP is the highest certification you can have in the field of project management and it is offered by project management institute, popularly known as PMI. If, as an aspirant, you go through PMI's website and see their eligibility criteria you get so many questions in mind. One of which is how to write PMP project description. You start questioning your experience altogether because it mentions project leading experience. Some people overestimate their experience and think they have a lot of experience. The truth comes out during your experience documentation.

Base of description problem

Before we answer the basic problem let's understand the base of it. To qualify for PMP exam you need to reach eligibility criteria. Which is 4500 hours of project leading experience for a person with 4 years bachelor's degree. It is far more difficult for high school diploma holders. They need 7500 hours of project leading experience to be eligible to take the exam. And even after fulfilling either of the two, you will need to go 35 hours minimum and mandatory training. The situation isn't pretty but the returns are worth it. On top of it applicants also have to document their experience which is the challenge we are going to talk about.

Breaking down problem

Documenting project experience may seem simple but it is rather a big and confusing task. For starters, documenting what you did in 3 years is not something you remember completely. You will first need to find the documents to find yourself how much you worked what roles you performed in each. Then starts the even tougher task of documenting. Most people scare this part and delay getting their PMP certification for a long time. We can say that documenting your experience can be a project in itself, but it is a project that does not pay right after completion but requires you to take exam first. Don’t worry yourself, we can help.

More problem

First, let me clear that your application can get rejected if you don't document it well. Be cautious there. Otherwise PMI will send you mail that your description isn't clear. You need to make sure you convey the message that you indeed are a project manager through your description. Also, the roles you mention should project- manager or leader. Remember, PMI can conduct random auditing in case they find anything fishy. They can also reject application as mentioned earlier. Generally, framing your experience well solves this problem. You could be a leader in action but not in name.

Solving the problem

The easiest way to write it down is to divide it. Dividing will make the entire task so much easier for you. If you divide you will be able to calculate easily and might even mix two different task performed in same time and calculate both. I'll tell you the outline upon which things are done:

• The opening line should tell the objective of the project you are undertaking. Every project has a desired end result or a problem solving element.
• The next line telling the result achieved from whatever you did. This needs to be crisp and should convey the end result. It generally should be same as our desired result but can be sometimes different.
• Next is dividing the task into 5 stages of a project. This is a detailed plan and summary of what the tasks were, what you did, your roles and responsibilities etc.

5 stages of project

The stage in which you can divide the project are such that it is used all over the world. And are namely:

• Initiation- this is pre planning stage. Document the hours spent on this step. Generally it is about evaluating different alternatives and choosing the best one
• Planning- This is where we choose one alternative and plan it in detail. Document the hours.
• Execution- doing the work. Document the hours.
• Monitoring and Controlling- continuously evaluating and finding scope for improvement. One should document the hours spent here too.
• Closing- The work is done then just the winding up happens. We see whether we could achieve what we planned or not.

Be crisp and concise

Document the hours in each of the step. Try to be specific to avoid rejection. But make sure you follow the guidelines by PMI. Your description of a project should be between 250-500 words. It need not be a book. Be crisp in your words and say what was the goal, your roles, how things were done and all such things. Being crisp and concise to get the message across. Detailed enough to the point that it does not get rejected. If you do it right you will have no problem in getting your application accepted.

Once you are done with this you can go ahead with your training if you haven’t taken it. Apply here .Training is mandatory and choosing the best PMP training provider is a step that will greatly help. It is suggested to choose a training provider which is affiliated with PMI. Learning Mudra is one such platform. For any info related to documentation, training or anything related to PMP, write to us at training@learningmudra.com