Just Get PMP

PMI embarked on the Economic Exception Pilot Program for PMI membership about three years back. The pilot program was open to only PMI members from four countries namely Brazil, India, Mexico and Nigeria.

Under the Economic Exception Pilot Program, existing members enjoyed about 50% discount in their membership renewal fees. While the regular membership fee was US$129, PMI members enjoyed a discounted fees of US$65 under the Economic Exception Pilot Program.

I am one of those members benefited by the Economic Exception Pilot Program. I was extremely happy to renew the PMI membership in 2014 and 2015 at the discounted price. Since it was launched as a pilot program for only three years, it is about to expire by end of this year. I was eagerly awaiting to see whether PMI would further extend this benefit.

PMI ending the Economic Exception Pilot

Unfortunately, PMI has decided to discontinue this program in India after December 2015. I am not sure about the status of the program in the other three countries, Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria. PMI has sent a recent update to PMI members in India:

Thank you for joining PMI under the Economic Exception Pilot. While the pilot is being discontinued after 31 December 2015, your savings will continue.

Since you participated in the pilot, you are eligible for a special US$65 annual membership rate when you renew your membership during your next renewal period.

You can continue to enjoy another year of membership benefits and save significantly over the regular membership rate of US$129 every year you renew without interruption.

I am disappointed at PMI ending the Economic Exception Pilot Program in India. But, at the least, I am glad that PMI has allowed me to renew the membership for another year at the discounted price. Thank you, Project Management Institute!

How to renew the PMI membership using the discounted price?

Would you like to renew your membership for one last time using the discounted price? Here are the steps you should follow:

1. Log on to www.PMI.org with your username and password
2. Click on the myPMI tab
3. Click on the "Renew your membership/Print invoice" link located under your name and member information

4. Select the "Economic Exception" option and click "continue"
5. Proceed to Checkout

Good things happen when you get involved with PMI.

You may know that the Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the most important industry-recognized certification for project managers. But, do you know how many active PMP Credential holders are out there? Is the number of PMP Credential holders increasing? Let us find out.

PMI Today is a monthly publication from the Project Management Institute (PMI). It keeps the PMI members informed of the latest news, events, volunteer activities and services of PMI and its communities. PMI Today is a benefit of PMI membership and is delivered digitally to all members each month.

PMI Today contains a column called PMI fact file, which reports the total active holders of the PMI Credentials/ Certifications. It reports data on all the eight PMI Credentials. But, I just took the number of PMI Credential holders for analysis.

I took the PMP Credential holders data from Sep 2014 to Aug 2015, for a period of one year.

Data Source: PMI Fact File, PMI Today Publications

The number of PMP Credential holders was about 626K about 12 months ago. It has increased to about 670K by the end of August 2015. The popularity of PMP Credential and its value is ever increasing and so is the number of people showing interest in the PMP Certification examination. In the past 12 months, the number of PMP Credential holders has increased by about 7%.

PMI’s Salary Surveys regularly show increased earnings for Credential holders. The surveys showed that the PMP credential has a positive impact on annual salary. As such, I am sure that the number of PMP Credential holders is about to grow much faster in the next 12 months.

As you may know already, PMP Credential is valid only for three years. And you need to renew your PMP Credential after three years. To renew your PMP Credential, you should have accumulated 60 PDUs in the three years cycle.

I reported some time back that I have completed the 60 PDUs accumulation for my PMP renewal. If you are interested, you can see how did I earn 60 PDUs.

In this article, I am going to explain step by step how I renewed my PMP Credential.

PMP Renewal Process

1. Go to https://certification.pmi.org/default.aspx.
2. Enter the username and password to log in to the system.


3. Click “Begin the renewal process”.
4. Agree to the PMI Certification Application/Renewal Agreement.
5. Complete the billing address.
6. If you have been given a Company Code to pay for this renewal, please enter the company code. If not, select “No, I do not have a company code” and click Next.
7. If you have been given a Voucher to pay for this renewal, please enter the voucher number. If not, select “No, I will be paying for this online” and click Next.
8. You need to enter your credit card details for the online payment. The PMP credential renewal fee is $60 (U.S.) for PMI members and $150 (U.S.) for non-members.


9. Finally, review and submit your payment.
10. Your application for renewal should be approved. You can print the receipt.

And guess what, now, you are a PMP credential holder in good standing for the next three years. What happens next? Start collecting the PDUs for the next renewal ...

My PMI membership is coming up for renewal in February 2013. The good news is that I would be eligible for a lower PMI annual membership fees based on the Economic Exception Pilot Program.

What is this Economic Exception Pilot Program?
PMI is testing whether offering a lower membership fees would increase the retention rate of the PMI membership. The regular membership fee is US$129 whereas under the Economic Exception Program you need to pay only US$65. That's almost a 50% discount from the regular membership fees. The program is applicable only to existing PMI members from Brazil, India, Mexico and Nigeria. New members are not eligible for this discount. They still have to fork out the full fees.

What is the downside of this Economic Exception Program?
Economic exception membership rate of US$65 includes all rights and privileges provided through the PMI regular membership. The only difference is that your membership publications will be delivered electronically to your e-mail box rather than hard copy publications. If you prefer to receive hardcopy publications sent to you via postal mail, then you still have the option to retain your regular membership at the price of US$129.

A short flashback
I took the PMI membership when I was preparing for the PMP examination; simply for the fact that there was no  obvious advantage of taking the PMP exam as a non-member. Once I cleared the PMP exam, I was not actively using any benefits of the PMI membership. So, I did not renew my membership when it expired after the first year.

This is the period when I shifted from Singapore to India. And I was occupied with more important things like getting settled down in my new company, new job and new project; don't forget that I was away from India for about 15 years. The family also needed time to settle down in a new place & so on. So, you get the point that I had no intention to renew the PMI membership.

This is the period when I got an e-mail from PMI seeking an appointment to discuss & get the feedback about PMI. I agreed and an appointment was fixed for the survey through telephone.

The survery call lasted close to about an hour. I could sense that the survey was mainly to find out why I did not renew my membership. So, I told them the reasons why I took it & why I did not renew it. I also pointed out that it was easy to pay US$129 in Singapore. But, in India, it looked a big amount to spend (US$ has to be multiplied by 55 when it comes to INR). Probably they got similar comments from majority of members from India.

What do you think?
Ok, cut short. Back to the present. I am getting my membership renewed soon with the economic exception discount. What is your opinion on this program? Will you take this offer? Share your views in the comment box or at our facebook page.

India's 4th annual Project Management National Conference was held in Chennai from 28th September to 30th September 2012. I was fortunate to attend the mega event; the first time I attend such a huge conference on project management. While PMI Chennai was painting rosy pictures before the commencement of the conference, I was a little bit negative; as such, I was taken by surprise to see a huge gathering of delegates from all over the world. I understand that the delegates count was more than 1000.


The venue was the Leela Palace Chennai, the new sea front hotel in Raja Annamalai Puram. Being the first mega event hosted by Leela Palace, the staff went the extra mile to ensure the delegates were happy and satisfied.

Mr. Vineet Nayar, Vice Chairman & CEO, HCL Technologies gave a speech which was interesting and engaging. He spoke about the importance of employees to the organization. One interesting question to Vineet Nayar was "I have an incompetent superior; so, I am unable to grow. I am very stressed". Vineet Nayar was quick to respond "You are so lucky. You have the best opportunity to show that you are competent. If your boss is competent, it takes time for you to prove yourselves and establish. Now, you have a better environment, go and use it to your advantage".

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, Art of Living Foundation & International humanitarian leader was another interesting speaker at the conference. That was the first time I attended a programme by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. He engaged the delegates with a quick "desktop yoga/ meditation" session which lasted close to about 20 minutes. He insisted the project managers not to lose their smile in spite of the stressful work environment they have. I liked his advice "Show your anger, but don't get angry". How good if I can follow that? One of the participants requested for advice on balancing his family and work. He gave an analogy of a bicycle, where you always have a nice balance to ride. Sometimes, you bend on one side but not fully; sometimes you bend on the other side to negotiate a curve. But the lesson is to balance both, work and family, knowing when to bend and how much to bend is the secret to have the bicycle running smoothly.

The speaker whom I had been waiting for was Dr. E Sreedharan, Principal Advisor to DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation). In my opinion, he was a pioneer to modern project management in India. He was the roaring success behind the metro rail revolution in India. He showed to the people of India that Government projects can also be completed within the given schedule, to the international quality standards and without any complaint of scam/ bribe. During his speech, he emphasized the importance of forming a good team for your project, encouraging them to take responsibility/ decision making roles and support them when their decisions go wrong. Mr. Sreedharan was of the opinion that delay in decision making was the major reason for delays in infrastructure projects. He ensured the Contractors are properly taken care of and their problems are treated as the project's problems.


I personally felt the panel discussions were boring, particularly the first panel discussion on "Has the time arrived for a Chief Projects Officer?". I felt so sleepy that I had to leave the conference hall for a short walk outside. The second panel discussion on "Do women make better project managers?" was better and was made interesting by the host.

Overall, it was a good experience and helped me learn the experience of project management stalwarts. It was also an opportunity to network with like-minded project management practitioners.

PMP Credential Scheme is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) against International Standards Organization (ISO) 17024. ISO 17024 specifies requirements for a body certifying persons against specific requirements, including the development and maintenance of a certification scheme for personnel. The PMP Credential Scheme is also registered against the ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management systems.

A candidate for PMP Credential is assessed in the following three ways:

1. By reviewing his/ her education and professional experience
2. By testing his/ her competence in project management
3. Ongoing development through Continuing Certification Requirement (CCR) Program