About Program Management Certification

About Program Management Certification: 

The Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification recognizes demonstrated experience, skill, and performance in the oversight of multiple related projects aligned with organizational objectives. The PgMP certification is for those who

  • manage programs that contain complex activities spanning functions, organizations, geographic regions, and cultures, 
  • build credibility, establish rapport and maintain communication with stakeholders at multiple levels (including those external to the organization), 
  • and possess advanced skills in finance, cross-cultural awareness, leadership, communication, influence, negotiation, and conflict resolution.

PgMP is the next logical step in the career progression of a project manager. As successful project managers tackle increasingly larger and more complex projects, they will inevitably start to manage a collection of these projects in a program. We believe the PgMP certification can help project professionals be more secure in their jobs and vocations and a step toward the formal recognition of their skills, experiences, capabilities, and importance to their organizations.

The PgMP exam is significantly more challenging than the PMP exam. Here’s why:

  • Program managers need to understand project management. For example, in the current standard for program management, the traditional project life-cycle is fully embedded.
  • Program managers need to have a more advanced understanding of business benefits, which taps into the realm of portfolio management – let´s call it „business thinking“.
  • The exam itself is much more experienced-based than the PMP exam, and this simply memorizing inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques would not suffice. Most of the questions pride from the real-life scenario.

The professionals to whom the PgMP® certification is destined must meet a series of prerequisites to take the exam. They are the following:

 If you have a university degree:

  • 6,000 hours (4 years) of experience in non-overlapping project management processes
  • 6,000 hours (4 years) of experience in non-overlapping program management processes

If you have a high school diploma:

  • 6,000 hours (4 years) of experience in non-overlapping project management processes
  • 10,500 hours (7 years) of experience in non-overlapping program management processes

If you want to join this rather exclusive club of about 3,000 professionals, then the PgMP credential is a clear choice.