ProjectManagementOER
Project Management Certification
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit professional organization for project management which develops standards, certifications and training for the project management community. PMI’s certifications are considered the gold standard in North America, and as of January 2026 include:
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM): Entry-level project management certification for those without work experience. You need to have a secondary degree, complete at least 23 hours of project management education, and pass the CAPM exam.
- Project Management Professional (PMP): Mid-level project management certification, and the most well-known PMI certificate. You need to complete 35 hours of project management education, and have a minimum of 60 months (for those with a secondary degree) or 36 months (for those with a university degree) of experience leading and managing projects within the past eight years.
PMI offers more advanced project management certifications as well.
PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a methodology and certification more common in Western Europe. The certification has 2 levels: Foundation level (test your knowledge), Practitioner level (assess your ability to apply the concepts to real-world scenarios).
Preparing for PMI Exams
Many students ask for resources that can help them prepare for PMI exams, particularly CAPM or PMP. While there are many paid solutions, I recommend the following:
- Check the official PMI pages to make sure you are aware of any recent changes to the CAPM and PMP exams (including their ChatGPT exam simulator)
- The CAPM/PMP Project Managament Certification Exam Guide book by Philips, McGrawHill publishers
- PMP Practice Exams: 180 PMP Practice questions based on PMBOK Guide 7th Ed.
- PM PrepCast: Sample exam with 120 questions
- PMP Exam For Free: Offers 700 PMP Exam Questions based on PMBOK Guide 7th Ed.
- EdWel Practice Exam: 75 sample questions
- Oliver F. Lehmann: 100 free PMP Questions
There are also a lot of inexpensive preparatory materials on Udemy (these can be hit and miss), and Coursera (usually pretty good but not a lot of sample questions).