The PMBOK® Guide 4th Edition - What it means for your Exam

Earlier this year the Project Management Institute (PMI) has release and Exposure Draft of the PMBOK® Guide 4th edition. Here is what the PMI writes about these exposure drafts: "All PMI global standards are established by consensus, taking into account the knowledge, opinions and experiences of the standard project teams, subject matter experts and other project management practitioners. The exposure draft public comment period is a critical component in building consensus." Since the release of the exposure draft, the PMI has been collecting feedback from project managers from around the world. This feedback will (or will not) be incorporated into the new guide.

I expect that the PMBOK® Guide 4th edition will be officially published in December 2008. As a PMP trainer this means that I am now starting to receive emails that contain two types of questions. The first type comes from my current PMP students, asking worriedly about what this means for their upcoming PMP exam. They want to know if they will now have to take their exam based on the upcoming PMBOK® Guide 4th edition. The second type of questions com from my former PMP students who have just recently passed the exam. They want to know one of two things: They ask either "Do I have to re-take the exam?" or they ask "Does this mean that I will have and "old" PMP certificate when the 4th edition is published?"

The answer to all three questions is: No. Here are the detailed answers:

Question: "Will I have to take the PMP exam based on the new PMBOK® Guide immediately after it is published?" Answer: No. Looking into the past we see that whenever the PMI releases a new PMBOK® Guide , they will grant a period during which the PMP Exam is still based on the previous version. This grace period is about 8-10 months. I would expect that the "new" PMP exam will come into play somewhere between August and September of 2009. We will know more when the PMI releases the official dates for this. And anyone who registers for the PMP exam before the official "cut off date" will be allowed to take the "old" exam.

Question: "Do I have to re-take the exam?" Answer: No. You don't have to re-take the PMP exam as long as you re-certify your credential every 3 years as is outlined in the PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements Program. Your PMP certificate continues to be valid.

Question: "Does this mean that I will have and "old" PMP certificate when the 4th edition is published?" Answer: No. The current version of the PMBOK® Guide has no influence over your PMP status. I took my PMP exam in 2004 and I am not a "PMP 2nd edition". I am simply a PMP. You can compare this to your high-school diploma. You received your high-school diploma several years back and the school curriculum has changed many times since then. Your diploma and your PMP are just as valid today as they were when you took the exam.

So in short... if you have already signed up for the PMP exam you will take it based on the current version of the PMBOK® Guide . And if you have already passed your exam there is no change in status for you, simply because a new version of the guide is published.