What Counts as a Project for your PMP Application

When applying for your PMP exam, many people are unsure which work experience qualifies as a project. Here is the PMI definition to guide you.

The Definition

A project is temporary, which means it has a clear start date and an end date. This is not like operations, which is continuous normal work that happens in our organization. A Project is also undertaken to create something new and unique. That something is a product, a service or a result that did not exist before. We’re creating a change and delivering something of value.

What This Means

You have likely done more projects than you think. If the work had a defined beginning and ending, it counts. If it created new business value or delivered something tangible and unique, it counts.

What Does Not Count

Ongoing operations or “Business as Usual” do not count as projects. Routine daily work that repeats with no end date is not a project. Managing an existing process or maintaining current systems are operations, not projects, unless you can prove that you’re delivering a change within a set timeframe.

Examples That Count

Launching a new product, implementing a new system, upgrading infrastructure, building a facility, developing software, restructuring a team or improving a process and managing a merger all qualify as projects if they had defined start and end dates and created new value.

Review your work history with this definition in mind. You likely have more project hours than you initially thought.

They can’t overlap on your application (e.g. just one project for each time period), but document them as outlined above and include them in your PMP application.

– David McLachlan

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