Write a powerful project description for the PMP application because the approval of your application depends on whether you have real project management experience or not.
There are several common mistakes a PMP® exam candidate can avoid by following the suggestions discussed below. We will use examples to explain these valuable tips.
Start the PMP exam application
Begin the PMP exam application by following the step-by-step process below.
1) Go to the pmi.org website and select ‘Certifications‘ from the top menu
Under ‘Our Certifications‘ select (Project Management Professional (PMP)®)
2) Go to the section on the right where it says ‘Apply for PMP Certification’ and continue to log in to your account. If you do not already have an account, create one to proceed to the next step.
3) Enter the education requirements and then move to the experience section.
4) Here, enter the title of the project and other information.
5) Next, write the project description of 200 to 500 words according to the PMI recommendation.
6) Write the objective of the project, your role, responsibilities, and deliverables you worked on, and the outcome of the project.
Common mistakes in the project description for PMP application
Many exam candidates make few common mistakes when writing the description of their project while filling out the PMP exam application. These deficiencies are as follows.
a) Technical Work
The biggest mistake we have observed is that the PMP exam aspirants list the technical work and do not talk about the project management work.
Look at the four examples from the description that a PMP candidate put in his application.
- Determine the flat-pack configuration
- Perform strength analysis
- Apply structural optimization to finalize the best design specifications
- Administer and maintain bug tracking system and version control system
Now, It presents a picture of hard-core technical work. The problem is that it is not project management. So, such a description is a no-no.
b) Project management methodology
They do not discuss the use of project management methodology in the description.
A methodology would say something like initiated, planned, executed, monitored and controlled, and closed the project. Even if the PMP exam aspirants write about project activities, it is all haphazard with no indication of following a methodology. It starts to appear like a few random project management activities.
c) Responsibility of all aspects of a project
The applicants may have managed the entire life cycle of a project, but the way they write the description, it appears that they were only responsible for part of the project or an aspect of the project. This gap can result in the rejection of the PMP exam application. The description must show that the applicant was responsible for all aspects of the project for the whole duration.
Check these examples.
- Conduct performance review of the completed design components
- Communicate on the design progress and test and review results
- Performed stakeholder analysis as a member of the project charter team
The first example appears to be a technical review. If that is the only performance review the applicant did, it looks like the applicant was not responsible for all aspects of the project.
Similarly, under communication, it only mentions communicating about one part of the project. That can be a problem with application review and approval. Project communication is a comprehensive activity that extends over all aspects of the project. So, if you have done so, then express it in a way, as not to highlight communicating about one facet only.
The third example shows project management work. However, the applicant does not appear to be responsible for developing the project charter but rather worked only on one piece of the work needed for the project charter. Now, that is a red flag.
d) Manage project constraints
The project description does not mention anything about managing project constraints. If the applicant did not manage constraints, then what kind of project management was done?
Managing the constraints is representative of doing project management. Many organizations have a distinctive governance model for in-house projects. The project manager manages only the schedule while the functional manager is responsible for budget and sometimes even scope.
Example: Managed the project schedule and project team.
In the above example, the applicant mentions managing the project schedule and the project team only. There is no mention of managing the project costs or budget, managing project risks, and project quality.
There is no need to list all six constraints. After reading the project description, it should be evident that the applicant managed all six constraints.
Example: Gathered requirements and list of deliverables from stakeholders
In this example, the applicant mentioned the gathering of requirements and deliverables from the stakeholders. There is no mention of defining scope, creating work breakdown structure, and controlling scope. This one is another red flag.
e) Lead & direct cross-functional team
And the last one is, there is no mention of project team management or mentioning only managing of one group. The expectation is that the candidate has lead and directed a cross-functional team.
There are several watch-outs in the following examples.
- Conduct interviews to select the best members of the design team
- Identify the roles and responsibilities of members of the business analysis team
- Attend project meetings representing the technical testing & support team
All three examples mention only one team. Interviewed, managed, or reviewed the performance of only the design team members. That is not a cross-functional team. It raises the question of whether the applicant managed one group or the whole project team.
The other two examples also identify only one group belonging to a single function and not the cross-functional project team. Like, the business analysis team, technical testing, and support team. If all three examples given above are in the same project description, it shows the applicant managed a cross-functional team.
What to write in the project description
So, at this stage, you should be wondering then what do we need to write.
One thing is you have to write whatever project management you did. we mean, be truthful.
The following are few sample activities that an applicant can write in the project description.
Initiating examples
- Define high-level project scope
- Perform key stakeholder analysis
- Identify high-level risks and
- Develop the project charter & get approval
Planning examples
- Develop work break down structure
- Estimate activities durations
- Develop project schedule and
- Determine the project budget
Executing examples
- Acquiring and managing project resources
- Ensuring project changes implementation and
- Motivating project team to improve performance
Monitoring and controlling
- Managing project changes
- Measuring project performance using appropriate tools
- Creating project performance reports and
- Performing risk audit
Closing examples
- Obtain final acceptance of project deliverables
- Hand-over deliverables to the operations team
- Conduct lessons learned exercises and
- Archive project documents.
Sample project description for PMP application
The following is a sample project description. You can refer to it as a template. However, fill in the information for your project. Add the work you performed and remove the one you did not do when you managed the project. Make the description a representation of your project and your role and responsibilities on the project.
Project objective
The objective of the example project was to develop an automated regression testing suite to reduce the testing time from 4 months to 2 weeks.
Initiating work
The description continues from there. As the project manager, the applicant identified the key stakeholders and documented their expectations through one-on-one interviews. Then proceeded and developed project charter and obtained sponsor’s approval. This is project initiating work.
The applicant mentioned the role here and then started to talk about the responsibilities and mentioned the deliverables.
Planning work
After developing a detailed project management plan, the applicant gathered the requirements, defined the scope, identified deliverables, and created the Work Breakdown Structure. Next, the PMP exam applicant estimated the duration and cost of project activities using parametric and bottom-up estimation techniques. Proceeded to develop the schedule and budget and obtained the sponsor’s approval. All of this is planning work.
Executing work
During the executing work, the candidate hired and onboarded the project team, managed the team performance, ensured that the project team followed the quality management plan, and implemented the approved change requests. In addition, collected the project progress data and conducted training.
Monitoring and controlling work
Responsibilities that fall under monitoring and controlling process group include evaluating change requests, participating in the integrated change control reviews, tracking the project costs and time, monitoring the results of quality control testing, and writing the project performance report.
Closing work
In the end, the closing work is mentioned. Created and submitted the final project performance report & documented lessons learned.
Project outcome
The project released the new system successfully to the testing department within the planned schedule and budget. This last statement of the sample project description is the project outcome.
Disclaimer
Images in this blog post are from the pmi.org website, a Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI®) resource. Information provided here is for guidance only. We are not liable directly, indirectly, or otherwise for any loss or damage. Also, We are not associated with and do not represent PMI.
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