How to Obtain the Required 35 Contact Hours for PMP®?
PMI® requires every PMP® applicants to have 35 contact hours of project management education. The term “contact hours” might be a bit confusing as “contact” would imply classroom training in normal sense. However, the good news is that PMI® does not require the 35 contact hours to be obtained through normal classroom learning. PMI® allows PMP® aspirants to obtain their 35 contact hours through other means such as online live courses, online pre-recorded courses, online podcast courses, etc. through its endorsement of Registered Education Provide (PMI® REP).
The best part is that the contents of the contact hours might include PMP® exam training, preparation and tips. In this case, PMP® aspirant can obtain the 35 contact hours and be prepared for the PMP® exam at the same time.
From a survey of 100 PMP® aspirants, it was found that the majority of them did not opt for the normal classroom training. In fact over 80% of them obtained their 35 contact hours through online means through either podcast lessons or online lessons.
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PM PrepCast™ PodCast Training
The PM PrepCast™ PodCast training is the most popular form of podcast PMP® training. There are lots of benefits by attending this podcast to traditional classroom training:
- Use any intelligent phone or tablet to study at anywhere, anytime as the entire course can be downloaded to the phones/tablets
- A great way to learn for visual learners
- The students can work at their own pace and there is no need to take day offs for studying
- For more difficult chapters or concepts, students would be able to repeat the course for that part whenever needed
- Transit time is one of the most under-utilized time for studying, PM PrepCast™ allows students to listen to the course materials while driving to and from work
- The producer of PM PrepCast™ is a PMI® Registered Education Provide which is qualified to provide students with certificates to fulfill PMI®’s requirement of 35 contact hours education
- The course is very detailed and make use of many examples of real-world examples to help illustrating the concepts and internalizing the knowledge
- To know more, you are encouraged to read reviews of students, e.g. there is an in-depth review by a recent PMP® here
Note: if you would like to opt for PMP® exam prep online courses, try to look for discount coupons to see if you can get a lower price. As an example, this webpage posts the discount coupon for PM PrepCast™ or related PMP® prep products .
Classroom PMP® Training
This is the traditional form of training in which students are required to gather at a classroom with an instructor to go over the materials. There are many benefits to this kind of training:
- Face-to-face PMP® training helps to understand the PMBOK® Guide Guide materials much deeper
- There are possibilities that one might find a study partner from the course to study together
- The bootcamp type courses offers 4 full days of PMP® exam training and learning continuously, and they would advise the students to sit for the PMP® exam on the fifth day. In this way, candidates are allowed to immerse themselves in the PMP® materials undisrupted.
- Some bootcamp students would suggest PMP® aspirants to study the PMBOK® Guide Guide and materials on their own first before the bootcamp to reap the maximum efficiency and benefits.
35 Contact Hours for PMP®: Online or Classroom
Cost consideration alone, online PMP® courses are a great choice for the 35 Contact Hours for PMP®. However, you should also take into consideration of your learning style: whether you learn best by self-directed learning or with group learning in classrooms. Or whether you can find the time for a classroom training from your hectic schedule.
After obtaining the certificate for the 35 Contact Hours for PMP®, you can then apply for the PMP® exam!
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