PMP Experience Examples – PMP Application Process

Whether you are pursuing a Project Management Professional (PMP)^® certification, looking to record your Professional Development Units (PDUs), or interested in any type of project management training, knowing how to describe and document your project management experience is essential. Your PMA experts can help you break down what PMP experience examples should look like.

Breakdown of PMP work experience examples

Make sure to include any projects you have led and directed in a professional capacity. Your job title does not necessarily need to say "project manager" to count towards your requirements. However, if you were a server in the past, this experience would not be relevant to your application.

Rather than specific industries or project types, PMI is looking for experience examples demonstrating how you meet the requirements. It may help to use terminology in the PMBOK^® Guide as much as possible and avoid industry-specific acronyms and technical jargon.

Checklist of requirements for work experience

Use the following checklist to figure out if your project management work experience meets the exam requirements:

• Occurred in a professional setting, not volunteer or personal
• Meets the parameters of PMI's definition of a "project":
  • Defined beginning and end
  • Defined scope and resources
  • Undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result
• Involved project management functions from at least one of the five process groups covered in the PMBOK^® Guide (more on this below)

While PMI recommends your project management work experience involves the title “project manager,” it is not a requirement. Many analysts, engineers, business professionals, and others have successfully met application requirements for experience examples and received their PMP certifications.

Show PMP work experience examples that cover all five process groups

The PMBOK^® Guide outlines 49 processes, or tasks, organized into the following five process groups:

1. Initiating the Project (IN): Defining the project scope and obtaining approval from stakeholders.
2. Planning the Project (PL): Preparing the project plan and developing the work breakdown structure (WBS).
3. Executing the Project (EX): Performing the work necessary to achieve the stated objectives of the project.
4. Controlling and Monitoring the Project (MC): Tracking project progress, managing change and risk, and communicating status updates.
5. Closing the Project (CL): Finalizing all project activities, archiving documents, obtaining acceptance for deliverables, and communicating project closure.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) wants your application to show you have done at least one task from each of these five process groups.

How much work experience should I have?

You must meet a requirement of 60 months of leading projects if you have a secondary degree or 36 months if you have a four-year degree. These work examples must all be from within the last eight years.

Recommended content length

The project description instructions provided by PMI in the application are very specific: "Provide a high-level description that summarizes your experience and includes the project objective, outcome, your role on the project, and your responsibilities and deliverables. A typical response is between 200 to 500 words."

It can be tough to find a balance between being both detailed and concise enough to fit within this limit of 500 words. Reach out to your PMA experts at any time for our application resources and guidance.

PMP experience examples

We recommend using the following project management description outline in your application:

• Objective: the goal of the project and details, including the budget, deadline, scope, etc.
• Role: your position, or how much of the project was under your direct management
• Responsibilities/Deliverables: tasks you accomplished based on the five process groups
• Outcome: results of the project, including presentations, implementations, etc.

PMP experience example #1

• Objective: Design and launch a new product line for a retail clothing company aimed at a female consumer base between 18-25 years old. The project budget was $4 million, and the project deadline was 16 months.
• Role: I served as the Senior Project Manager and managed the full project life cycle, from initiating to closing.
• Responsibilities/Deliverables: My responsibilities included: performing stakeholder analysis (IN), conducting the kickoff meeting and managing expectations for all stakeholders involved (PL), managing task execution by leading the project team (EX), measuring project performance using appropriate tools (MC), and obtaining stakeholder feedback to evaluate their satisfaction (CL).
• Outcome: This project was completed under budget and within the stated timeline, and the product line transitioned to operations.

PMP experience example #2

• Objective: To research, design, and present training material for onboarding new employees at an internet and cable installation company. This project was scoped at $5,000 and was originally scheduled to conclude in 6 weeks.
• Role: In my role as the Project Manager, I managed the whole project from kickoff until we handed off the training material to the HR team.
• Responsibilities/Deliverables: I developed the charter and WBS and obtained approval from key stakeholders (IN). I prepared the project plan and created the work breakdown structure while considering time, cost, and quality (PL). I coordinated the execution of research and development of the material (EX). I monitored the project timeline, ensuring all milestones were being achieved on schedule (MC). Once I obtained acceptance for the project deliverables, I archived project documents and materials using generally accepted practices to comply with statutory requirements (CL).
• Outcome: Training material was presented to key stakeholders on schedule and under budget and, once approved, handed off to the HR team for use in future new employee training sessions.

How do I verify my PMP experience examples are correct?

Questions to ask yourself about your PMP application experience examples

Check through your PMP experience descriptions for verification they are correct by asking yourself the following questions:

• Are all experience examples under 500 words?
• Did I clearly show I accomplished tasks across all five process groups?
• Am I using project management terminology and acronyms while omitting industry-specific jargon?
• Does my description outline the project's objective along with my role, responsibilities and deliverables, and the eventual outcome?
• Can I provide verification for all PMP application experience examples through a director or another project manager who was heavily involved in the project?

Make sure to take advantage of the application resources at PMA to help you verify your PMP experience examples are correct.

Random audits of PMP experience examples

PMI may randomly audit your application to verify the information provided is correct and valid. During this process, PMI will review if your descriptions are broken down properly and have you provide verification for all your experience examples, in addition to reviewing all other information you submitted in your application.

Don't stress too much if you get audited – as long as you follow all our outlined steps, you should be just fine! If you're worried, you can always reach out to one of our experts at PMA and use our application resources to make sure you've done well.

Correcting your PMP application after you have already sent it

If you send your PMP application and then realize you've made a mistake, it's not a lost cause. The best thing to do is contact PMI right away and ask if you can submit corrections or updates to your application. Remember, PMI isn't trying to prevent you from getting your certification: they want you to succeed! Be honest and timely in communicating with them so they can see you're putting in the effort.

We hope this certification guide helps you achieve your PMP goals. Get in touch with us to learn more about PMP exam training.