Similar to the PMP Eligibility Requirements, the Eligibility Requirements for Becoming a PgMP varies depending on one’s level of education:
- In case the person has a Bachelor Degree (or equivalent/greater), then that person has to have accumulated at least 6,000 hours of Project Management experience in at least a 4 year period. Additionally, the person should also have accumulated at least 6,000 hours of Program Management Experience in at least a 4 year period.
- In case the person has a High School Diploma (or equivalent), then that person has to have accumulated at least 6,000 hours of Project Management experience in at least a 4 year period. Additionally, the person should also have accumulated at least 10,500 hours of Program Management Experience in at least a 7 year period.
At first glance, the above requirements can be confusing, and the most asked question when reading the above is: Can the years of experience overlap? Meaning a person has been a Project Manager for 5 years, and in the 3rd year of being a Project Manager, the person started to manage programs as well. The short answer is that years can overlap, but the hours cannot, which means that a person can’t claim an hour for being both a Project Manager and a Program Manager, but a year can be claimed for both Project Management and Program Management experience. Having said that, the experience requirements for a year are fairly steep at 1,500 hours/year or 29 hours/week. Considering that most people work 35 hours/week, it is very hard to fulfill the PgMP requirements with less than 8 non-overlapping years of both Project Management and Program Management Experience.
Note that eligible hours of Project Management and Program Management experience should be accumulated within the last 15 years prior to your application (meaning you can’t claim hours before the last 15 years).
Also note that according to the PMI, a Program Management Experience is accrued when managing a program consisting of 2 or more projects sharing the same overall strategy and budget.
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