You are certified. Whether it’s CAPM certification or PMP certification, you’ve done the work and passed the exam. Now, the real work begins.
However, if you have gotten this far, the work to maintain your certificate isn’t really work at all.
Think of yourself as a long term project. The first version has been released, but you’ve built updates into your project life cycle.
Professional Development Units (PDUs) are the steps to accomplish the updates.
PMI
Before you go further, you may want to go forward with PMI membership.
Default PMI membership fee is $129 and there is a one-time $10 membership application fee. If you are a retiree you will have discounted PMI membership fees.
|
Membership |
PMI Membership Fees($USD) |
Note |
|
Normal |
$129 |
Plus, one-time US$10 application fee |
|
Retiree |
$65 |
Retiree Membership is $65.00 a year to renew. It will allow you to stay involved with the PM community for a special rate if you’ve been a PMI member in good standing for five consecutive years and have retired from active employment. PMI may ask for the documents to prove your status.
Annual Renewal PMI Member fees:
If you are already a PMI member and if you want to renew it, you will be paying an annual renewal fee. The annual renewal fee is $119 for PMI-members. If your PMI membership has expired and if you want to rejoin PMI, you will be considered as a new member. You will be paying $129 membership fee plus $10 application fee as well.
Other than the discount you will have on exam fees there are a variety of other benefits to being a member:
- Download the most up to date PMBOK Guide for free
- Save money on other globally recognized certifications
- Master new skills through free webinars and events
- Stay ahead of deadlines using 1,000+ free tools and templates
- Join the community to make local and global connections
PMI also has local chapters that can help you with earning your PDUs and put you in touch with other project managers that you can mentor, or that you may want to seek advice from. The local chapters are great for networking and staying up to date in the field of project management.
That being said, let’s look at what a PDU is.
What is a PDU?
Professional Development Units (PDUs) are similar to continuing education credits required in other occupations. However, PMI requires a little bit more than just taking a class.
PDUs must be earned each three year period for CAPM and PMP certifications. Please check PMI’s website for other certifications you may hold and the requirements for their renewal.
Contact hours used to acquire your PMP can’t be used towards your PDU hours to renew your PMP. PDUs are a one and done. You submit them, they are counted, and they can’t be reused.
Professional Development Units represent one hour of time spent on learning, teaching, or volunteering your time in a project management capacity. PMI breaks down the PDUs into two categories:
- Education: PDUs earned in the course of attending professional seminars, webinars, classes (on line or in person), workshops, or self learning.
- Giving Back: PDUs earned for working with professional groups, volunteering, mentoring, and more.
PMI requires you to submit these hours in order to renew so that they can make sure that certificate holders are held to a higher standard. They want you to be constantly learning and updating your skills in order to enhance and promote the field of Project Management.
PMI is constantly updating and improving their information to keep abreast of current technologies and trends. Members are expected to do the same. If you aren’t a member of PMI, the benefits of becoming one are numerous. Not only are your fees on renewals and many seminars and certifications reduced, but you become a part of the global community that is Project Management. This provides you with the ability to stay in step and often one step ahead of those that aren’t members.
CAPM renewal:
Education PDU
CAPM renewal requires 15 PDUs every three years. Education PDUs must account for a minimum of 9 hours of the 15 PDUs required for renewal. Within this 9 hours you must complete 2 hours for each of the three categories in the PDU Talent Triangle:
- Ways of Working
- Power Skills
- Business Acumen.
The rest of your educational PDUs can be earned by:
- Attending local meetings, activities or events that relate to the field of project management.
- Informal learning such as attending a brown bag lunch for other project managers, or engaging in structured professional meetings about the profession.
- Reading relevant articles, magazines, books, or studies. PMI offers several resources to help you find these items.
- Obtaining information through online resources such as blogs, vlogs, project management courses, or podcasts. PMI recommends checking ProjectManagement.com for acceptable resource materials.
- Attending professional relevant seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings or events that are organized, either online or at location. PMI’s events calendar is a great place to start for such resources.
- Coursework, classwork, or training that is led by an instructor in a formal setting either in person or online.
Giving Back PDU
Giving Back PDUs can only count for 6 of your 15 required PDUs. A maximum of 2 hours must be in the Working as a Professional Category and the other 4 may be earned in the Volunteering and Creating Knowledge category.
- Just by being you on the job you can earn PDUs. Applying and utilizing your skills and knowledge can count towards the Giving Back category.
- Creating content, writing articles, or producing videos can all count towards Giving Back.
- Presenting at a seminar, conference, or even a structured meeting, where you present project management content can count towards PDUs.
- Mentoring and teaching team members, candidates, or fellow project managers allows you to share your knowledge.
- Volunteering at PMI in the Standards Committee, Education Foundation, or Insight Teams among other other opportunities can also fulfill the Giving Back PDU requirement.
PMP renewal:
Education PDU
Education PDUs must account for a minimum of 35 hours of the 60 PDUs required for renewal. Within this 35 hours you must complete 8 hours for each of the three categories in the PDU Talent Triangle:
- Ways of Working
- Power Skills
- Business Acumen.
The rest of your educational PDUs can be earned by:
- Attending local meetings, activities or events that relate to the field of project management.
- Informal learning such as attending a brown bag lunch for other project managers, or engaging in structured professional meetings about the profession.
- Reading relevant articles, magazines, books, or studies. PMI offers several resources to help you find these items.
- Obtaining information through online resources such as blogs, vlogs, project management courses, or podcasts. PMI recommends checking ProjectManagement.com for acceptable resource materials.
- Attending professional relevant seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings or events that are organized, either online or at location. PMI’s events calendar is a great place to start for such resources.
- Coursework, classwork, or training that is led by an instructor in a formal setting either in person or online.
Giving Back PDU
Giving Back PDUs can only count for 25 of your 60 required PDUs. A maximum of 8 hours of Giving Back PDUs must be in the Working as a Professional Category and the other 17 may be earned in the Volunteering and Creating Knowledge category.
- Just by being you on the job you can earn PDUs. Applying and utilizing your skills and knowledge can count towards the Giving Back category.
- Creating content, writing articles, or producing videos can all count towards Giving Back.
- Presenting at a seminar, conference, or even a structured meeting, where you present project management content can count towards PDUs.
- Mentoring and teaching team members, candidates, or fellow project managers allows you to share your knowledge.
- Volunteering at PMI in the Standards Committee, Education Foundation, or Insight Teams among other other opportunities can also fulfill the Giving Back PDU requirement.
Friendly Reminder:
- You must complete a total of 60 hours in 3 years for PMP renewal and 15 for CAPM.
- 35 hours minimum must be obtained through Education PDUs for PMP and 9 for CAPM.
- You can acquire the entire amount of PDUs through education.
- Each line of the PDU Talent Triangle for Education to renew your PMP must account for a minimum of 8 of your Education PDUs, a total of 24 and for your CAPM, 2 from each line of the Talent Triangle for a total of.
- For CAPM no more than 6 PDUs can be counted and no more than 25 PDUs can be for Giving Back with PMP renewal.
- A maximum of 8 PDUs for Working as a Professional in the Giving Back category for PMP and a maximum of 2 PDUs can be for Working as a Project Management Professional for CAPM renewal.
The following chart breaks down the different ways you can earn PDUs and where they fall within the Talent Triangle:
|
Ways of Working |
Power Skills |
Business Acumen |
|
Life Cycle Management |
Coaching & Mentoring |
Customer relationship & satisfaction |
|
Time, Scope, Risk Management |
Problem Solving |
Benefits realization |
|
Estimation |
Team Building |
Legal & Regulatory compliance |
|
Agile Practices |
Emotional Intelligence |
Strategic planning & analysis |
|
Governance |
Conflict Management |
Operational Functions |
PDU Online from Education Category
PMI
Whether you’re a member of PMI, one of the best places to look for PDU opportunities is through their website.
When you attend training or sign up for events and courses that are sponsored by or acknowledged by PMI, you know the PDUs will be accepted.
- Educational events conducted by the project management institute PMI
- Elearning on-demand courses
- Education Courses that are recognized by Global Accreditation Center of PMI
- Training courses by REPs and third-party providers
PMI also offers the quickest way to renew. By signing up you know that the courses meet the criteria so you don’t have to search. There are even packages that you can look up that show you all of the coursework necessary from PMI that will fulfill the requirements necessary.
PMI provides qualified trainers and has exceptional support. They allow you to update your knowledge and give you insight into the current and up and coming tools of the trade.
You may even be inspired to go forward with other certifications offered by PMI, such as:
- PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA),
- PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA),
- Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP),
- PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP),
- PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP),
- Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) Certification,
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® Certification.
Each certification provides you with more knowledge. Again, please remember that contact hours required for any certificates aren’t PDUs. But contact hours you have acquired for your current certificates may be used towards additional certifications.
The great thing about PMI is that if you have questions, you can ask. They want to make sure you are the best project management professional you can be.
Other Training or Courses
Technology has provided more opportunities for education PDUs than ever before. From Podcasts, to online classes, even teleconferences make earning PDUs more accessible for the busy working professional.
If you had more hours than certification required, you can use the additional hours towards your first renewal. However, if you had those hours for CAPM certification you may want to keep those to earn your PMP.
Online PDUs give you the ability to schedule your PDUs. If you want to complete self-paced courses or watch instructional videos, you can fit those into your schedule.
They provide you with the opportunity to earn your PDUs in the most flexible way possible and, in many cases, they are low or no cost.
PMI and other sources also provide webinars. Many professional sites conduct webinars that may be low or no cost and many of them also provide you with the ability to watch the sessions after the scheduled event.
Scheduled training, seminars, and conferences may also be a way to go. While you will be required to “attend” online in order to get the hours, you can still do so wherever you have internet capability. This is particularly helpful for individuals that are working on international projects, where travel to the actual event may not be possible.
As with the self-paced coursework, most of these are lower cost than if you actually attended, especially when you take into account that you won’t be incurring travel costs, airfare, or gas, lodging costs, or meal costs.
The most important thing about any of the online courses or training that you seek out is to make sure it counts towards your PDUs through PMI. Again, they are more than happy to help.
Unlike getting your PMP certificate the first time, you are totally in control of obtaining your PDUs. You choose:
Considerations
When: You can complete your 15 or 60 hours spaced out the three years, or go to three seminars that count for 20 each year. You are in charge of your schedule.
How: You can take a complete course that provides you with all of your PDUs at once, or attend a conference that counts towards half of the PDUs. You can choose to have 35 PMP or the 9 CAPM education PDUs from attending meetings and seminars and 25 PMP or 5 CAPM PDUS from volunteering or presenting at a seminar.
Where: Online, at the local meetings, or at a conference in India, the choice is yours. As long as it meets PMIs criteria, you are good to Go. If you want to stay home in your Zoom approved pajamas, there are online seminars that can fulfill the requirement as well.
How Much: Reading a blog, attending a local meeting, and watching a training video all count, but they don’t usually cost. Many online seminars may also be free of charge. But be aware that free may not count. Check with PMI or the provider of the training to see if they are approved by PMI.
When choosing a provider for training, just as with your original certification, there are things to consider.
The cost: PDU complete packages can range from $49 for CAPM up to over $2500 for 14 PDUs in a classroom setting for PMP. Understand the cost and the benefit before signing up. You may think you are getting the whole enchilada and only end up with a packet of sauce.
The travel: You may find conferences that are local, but many will be out of state or even out of the country.
The approval: PMI lists companies that they have vetted on their website as well as approved PDU courses. Check their site to make sure the PDU you plan to earn is valid ahead of time.
Login to report your PDUs
On the PMI website you will find the CCRS portal. Use your User ID and Password to login. Make sure you have the following information available:
Provider Name/ID
Title of the course
Start and end date of the course
Number of PDUs you are claiming under Technical, Leadership and Strategic & Business Management
You can login and submit throughout the three years and PMI recommends that you do this so that you aren’t left short at the end. You will be able to see the completed PDUs on your dashboard and know what you still need to complete.
Complete the Renewal Application
Once you have completed and submitted all of your PDU hours you can complete the renewal application. If you have any questions or require more information you can get that on the PMI website as well.
Reaffirm PMI Code of Ethics
When you obtained your PMP Certificate you agreed to the PMI Code of Conduct. Every three years you must reaffirm with PMI that you understand and will continue to abide by the professional Code of Ethics that has been put into place. You are still a Professional.
Pay the Renewal Fee
As you recall PMI Membership has its privileges. Non-members will have to pay $150 in order to renew their CAPM or PMP certificate while members can maintain their good standing for $60.
Conclusion:
Every 3 years you need to show PMI that you understand the importance that being a certificate holder shows employers, sponsors, clients, and other people in the field. You do this to keep in good standing, but also because you understand that project management is constantly evolving and changing, new projects, new industries, new technologies. PMI gives you the mandate, and the opportunity to keep up in your field, from the beginning to the end.
Want a refresher of your core project management skills and knowledge AND earn 35 PDUs? Why not take a self-directed online PMP exam prep course? If you haven’t already submitted a specific course as part of your PMP application or a past renewal, you can use that course towards earning PDUs.