How to get PMP training Hours?

How to get PMP training Hours?

Learning Mudra, Category - PMP

In order to apply for Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam, you are required to have “35 contact hours of formal education”. For more information go through the PMP credential handbook provided by the Project Management Institution (PMI). The course hours may include topics like project quality, time, human resources, scope, cost, risk, integration management, communications and procurement. It is important to note that only “instructional timing” is counted as contact hours which includes both classroom and online training activities.

According to PMI, one contact hour is defined as one hour of classroom training taken by the candidates. In simpler words: each hour you spend taking a training session about project management will be counted as a contact hour. You will be surprised to know that you might already have a lot of these contact hours. This article will help you in understanding contact hours and how you can earn them.
However, there are few rules related to contact hours:

• You need 35 contact hours of Project Management Education for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam which are mandatory for everyone.
• Contact hours can be claimed only after completion of training.
• The good news is that the contact hours never expire, the training hours you completed 20 years ago will still be counted towards the total.

There are multiple ways through which you can earn PMP contact hours and be a PMP Consultant. let’s begin with, discussing them in detail:

1. Contact hours via Online Training

The biggest perk of online training is that it is convenient and fast. You can take training from anywhere you like instead of commuting to any physical center. Many project management training institutions provide both options of either watching on your desktop or downloading to your tablet.
Online PMP training is relatively less expensive than training offered in physical classroom, which is why many people prefer taking online training. However, one should be highly self-motivated and disciplined throughout the PMP exam preparation.
In order to meet PMI requirements, make sure that there is a test at the end of your training classes, before you receive the certificate.
It is also important to note that PMI does not require you to receive contact hours from PMI registered Education Provider (REP), the PMI handbook states that an applicant can receive contact hours from any training provider.

2. Contact hours via Classroom Training

There are many companies offering classroom project management training classes, along with helping you to prepare for the PMI Exam. There are many benefits of taking classroom training as well. However, physical classroom training can be expensive bounding you to the class schedule.

3.) Contact hours through attending formal PMI chapter Dinner Meeting

In case of having PMI membership of your local chapter dinner meetings. If you have attended the chapter dinner meetings where an hour was spent on formal training, Congratulations! There is high probability that you have already earned some training contact hours.

For more information on How to get PMP training hours; get in touch with us at +91-987-123-7360 or email us at info@learningmudra.com

According to PMI, during learning activity, the hours of chapter meetings spent on the activity are counted against the eligibility requirements (educational). Meaning, that if you have attended PMI dinner meeting and there was a speaker who spoke for an hour on any topic concerning project management, then you have earned yourself, an hour of PMP training contact hours.

4.) Keep a record of all project management training you received in Past

Keeping record of all past training is important because there is high probability that you might have done some sort of training in educational institutions like e.g. college, weekend seminars or evening classes. However, it is advised to go through the Project Management Body of knowledge (PMBOK) guide once before claiming your PMP training contact hours.

Make sure that you have written proof for all the courses you took and don’t stop at 35 hours. In case your application get selected for an audit, the proof for your training will be really helpful.

Inadequate contact hours

If you still have inadequate contact hours, don’t worry! There are some additional options for you to take:

• Check your local community college listings.
• Check if your employer provides project management related seminars.
• Check with the vendors, there are many vendors who offer Project management related training along with sales event.
• Local PMI chapters provides weekend seminars and workshops.
• Many commercial training companies offer PMP workshop as well.

It is important to note that self-study, reading a book or attending the PMI local chapter dinner meeting is not counted as contact hours. However, there is an exception to the last point, in case if at least an hour was spent on formal training in PMI local chapter dinner meeting, then PMI counts it as an hour of contact hour which is added towards your total. These differences are very essential to understand regarding the contact hours. Click here to know how you can prepare for PMP in 21 days?

Hopefully, the article was helpful in mapping out your way to earning PMP 35 contact hours.