When to obtain your 4,500 experience hours / 35 contact hours

 I received the following email request from Selva this morning in regards to the PMP exam.

Your informations are mind-blowing and I'm planning to take PMP by April 2010 and planning to get your podcast probably by next month / December.

I'm bit confused to start studying for the required 35 hrs and I don't know if I need to wait for completing 4500 hrs of proj. mgt. experience. I'll acheive this 4500 hrs exp only by December 2009. So, waiting for the same to become a member in PMI as well.

My interpretation of his question is that he wonders if there is a required sequence of events: like he first needs to get his 4,500 experience hours, then get the 35 contact hours and then he can become a PMI member.

In a nutshell: There is no sequence.

Here is my response to him: 

The 4,500 experience hours and your 35 contact hours are not linked. They are completely independent. This means that there is no need to first finish your 4,500 experience hours and then obtain your 35 contact hours afterward. You can do this in any order you like.

There is also no time limit during which you must obtain the 35 contact hours. For instance if you took an 8-hour long course "introduction to project management" 10 years ago then these 8 hours still count towards your 35 contact hours. 

Similarly you don't have to wait for this to become a PMI member either. Anyone at any time can sign up to be a member.They'll gladly welcome you.