PMP (Project Management Professional) is one of the most respected certifications out there. The certification is offered by PMI (Project Management Institute). The PMP certified project manager has advanced knowledge of project management and years of experience with the concepts of project management.

It’s not easy to obtain the PMP certification. You need to have a high school diploma and 7500 hours of project management experience OR a Bachelor’s degree and 4500 hours of project management experience. Plus you need to have 35 hours of project management training.

If you fit the bill, you can submit your application at PMIs website.

Once your data has been verified and your application accepted, you will be allowed to take a written examination where you will need to get a good score. The estimated current passing score is around 70%.

The exam consists of 200 multiple choice questions and there are several parts to the exam:

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and controlling
• Closing
• Professional and social responsibility

You’ll be tested against your knowledge in time management, cost management, quality management, scope management as well as HR management, risk management, integration management and Procurement and communications management.

You can do the exam in either Prometric testing centers or on paper where there are no such testing centers nearby.

The cost of PMI examination is around $400-$600.

Preparing yourself
In addition to filling all the requirements – you might want to check out PMIs 20-question practise test at http://certification.about.com/od/projectmanagement/a/pmp_test_whiz.htm

You can also find free or cheap practise tests here – http://www.pmstudy.com/practicetestsindex.asp