Practical Completion Certificate Template: Fill & Download for Free

How difficult is PMP certification?PMP exam is considered as one of the most difficult Professional certification exams mostly because of its huge syllabus, the dedication required, type & length of the questions asked, duration of exam & answer choices. It tests the candidate's in-depth knowledge of Project Management skills & patience level. The preparation details are outlined below -Work experienceYou need 35 PDU’s (35 hours) for application.Study of PMBOK 6 (or latest) as a guide bookStudy of a Textbook (Example - Rita Mulcahy)Practice tests before the final exam (3 to 4 exams recommended, but varies person to person, each exam of 4 hours)How long would it take to prepare for it?It varies based on the work experience, knowledge level & the academic background you have. To make it simple I will split the candidates applying for this exam in 2 categories (based on the academics).Category 1: Candidates with Project Management academic background, Example - Post Graduate Construction Management courses (offered by NICMAR, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, NIT-Trichy, NIT-Surathkal, etc), MBA in Project Management or Construction Management & similar type.Category 2: Others with on job project management experienceThe main reason for doing this categorization was to assess the time required for preparation based on the academic knowledge or on job experience already possed by the candidate.Since category 1 candidates will have a brief understanding of the subject & familiarity to the majority of the terms being used in PMBOK or reference books, they tend to take less time as compared to Category 2 to complete the course.I personally believe 45 days for Category 1 & 60 days for Category 2 will be a suitable time period to be ready to clear the exam in 1st attempt (PMI allows 3 attempts, 1st attempt is free & 2,3 are chargeable). But again it varies from person to person depending on their capabilities.Sources for accessing PMP course contentsIt is always advised to attend online/classroom classes (based on candidates' choice) from the institutions who will cover the entire course contents & also give 35 PDU’s completion certification. These are so many websites, Apps & Institutions providing these courses (Example - Udemy, Simplilearn, etc).If the candidate has the basic knowledge & don’t want to spend money on getting 35 PDU’s, then they can easily refer to the Linkedin Learning course (Certification preparation: Project Management Professional) by trying the 1-month free premium membership. (You can thank me later)I (Category 1) personally have completed the course & exam (online) in 45 days. You can see my preparation timelines in the below snapshot.Choosing the Exam fees -PMI offers 2 types of certification fees - PMI members, PMI None-membersNone-members - $555 + $99.9 (tax) = $654.9 (Rate as on April 2020)PMI-members - $405 + $139 (1 time charge) + $98.28 (tax) = $644.28 (April 2020). You have to pay 129 dollar as annual renewal fee for keeping the membership.It will be wise to take the PMI membership for not only saving some 11 dollars but also to access e-learning platforms, project templates & connecting to the PMP professional across the globe as well.Practice Test -Before becoming ready for the final PMP exam, it's very much important to assess your understanding & patience by trying 3 to 4 practice tests. Review of the test results & keeping track of progress always give a boost to your confidence level. You can refer the below cycle which I followed for practice testsReview the notes thoroughly & schedule a time for the testGive exam (take 10 minutes break after 2 hours, it's as per PMI guidelines)Review every question (both correct & wrong answers) after the test - Please note that this is the backbone of your preparation. if you only review the wrong answers & leave the correct ones, trust me you are doing a great mistake. Because while answering there will be many questions where you would have just guessed the correct answer. so by reviewing them you are making yourself confidentmake knowledge dump, notes & identify weak areasgo back to text & guide book to refer the weak areasI have personally not spent a single penny for the practice tests as I find sufficient free online practice tests for my preparation. (If you need the list, please comment with your mail id).Hope these pieces of information will be useful.Best of luck for the exam.

To preface a little regarding the experience I have with the mentioned, I’ve taken Harvard’s CS50 on edX, quite a number of Lynda courses (mostly Python courses & I’m a premium subscriber) and I’ll be completing the Udacity iOS ND in 2 weeks.My experience with edX was great, I learned a ton from the CS50 course. When I took CS50 a couple of years ago I had minimal programming experience, I have to say the I absolutely love the way Professor David Malan and the TA’s of the class teaches the material. The programming concepts are delivered to students with detailed and concise explanations and examples, I find myself understanding them rather effortlessly. However, the problem I sort of have is with the programming assignments. I like the fact that it is evaluated and graded but I find it (for me at least) a little too challenging. There are a couple of assignment where I find myself completely stump and referring to the lecture and the course notes were not really much help, still after scouring and asking on sites like StackOverflow I manage to complete them. That being said, I love the class material, the instructors and despite the assignments can be challenging and frustrating at times, the experience was great, I can tell why its one of the most popular courses online.Please note that I only took one course on edX, I’m uncertain if all the courses are thought the same way or they are tailored by the institutions that create the course.My experience with Lynda on the other hand was somewhat mediocre. I took some Python, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Java and a couple of analytic courses on Lynda. I personally find most of Lynda’s courses aren’t exactly the most effective for me because the instructors rarely go in-depth with the material. For example, in the Learning Django course, the course teaches you how to build a Django web-application as well as introduces you to concepts such as implementing templates, views and etc. It’s all very insightful but we all know, to properly understand programming we need to actually program. The exercises provided are practically completed. Important stuff such as importing libs, declaring the function/object are all completed by the instructor, there isn’t much to do except alter a couple of lines of code to maybe change the content of the example. I find Lynda is a great place to reinforce what you already know. As for novices looking to learn a new skill, there are better options out there.As for Udacity, the experience was beyond astounding. I took their iOS Nanodegree and within two months, I’ve learned an immeasurable amount of iOS programming concepts and have actually implemented them by developing iOS applications. The course materials are extremely succinct and the instructors delivers it incredibly well. The one to one mentorship is a great feature. My mentor Loreto, checks up on my progress at the end of every week and would answer any questions I have regarding the course material. Not to mention the amazing Udacity forum, my questions are usually answered within 24 hours. It’s great knowing someone is always there to help. On top of that, the programming assignments are graded and is assessed line by line with detailed explanations of what went wrong. The projects are immensely fun and challenging. For once I don’t feel like I’m working on some generic product. The projects are tailored accordingly to provide a feel of working on iOS projects in the real world. The career mentorship program is also great. They help with your resume, validation of skills and ultimately try their best to help you get a job.But alas, every rose has its thorns. The cost for the Udacity ND is definitely on the pricier side of the spectrum. Moreover I find that you need to be prepared to utterly commit to the workload.To wrap this up, if you’re financially strong, I highly recommend Udacity, I personally feel what you get out of the course outweighs the cost. If you’re on a budget, go for edX. The certificate of completion would only cost a maximum of $90 (If I remembered correctly!). Finally, if you already have prior experience to a certain skill, let’s say Java and you’re looking for a place to reinforce or get a slight input on a new concept, Lynda is the one to go.

The best way to get an Azure certification is through giving the reputed Azure Certification examinations for different levels of expertise like fundamentals, associates & expert level. After passing the exam candidates will have their Azure certifications. Let’s learn about this in detail.Azure Certification in Post-Pandemic timesHere are some most in-demand Microsoft Azure Certifications for cloud practitioners to validate their expertise & gain updated knowledge in cloud computing.Microsoft Azure FundamentalsThe Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Certification is for those cloud practitioners who are beginning their careers with cloud computing-based solutions. This certification gives validation to the knowledge of Cloud professionals of Azure workloads, Security & Privacy, Cloud Concepts, Azure pricing SLAs & their life cycles. Taking the Azure online training will help candidates in gaining proficiency in compliance, security, trust & privacy-related issues of the Azure cloud platform. The candidates need to give Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Examination, after passing the candidates get their Azure certification with lifetime validity of their certification.Microsoft Azure Administrator AssociateThis Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) credential is designed for cloud practitioners to validate their hand-on exposure in the cloud platform in Azure Powershell, workloads, resource manager templates, azure portal, security & governance, Azure core services & Azure CLI. The candidates can get their Azure certification after passing the exam of Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate. But, before giving the exams aspirants should take the AZ 104 online training in which they learn about Azure governance & identities, deployment, management, monitoring, & backing of Azure resources, configuring & managing Azure virtual networks & many other Azure concepts & best practices.Microsoft Azure Architect TechnologiesThe Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies (AZ-303) is an advanced level cloud computing certification meant for cloud expert level professionals who have expertise in the creation & implementation of Cloud Solutions in the organization who are using the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. This Azure credential will validate the expertise of cloud professionals who know solutions architect & advises the stakeholders, helps them in running business while maintaining scalability, security & reliability. It is advised for cloud professionals to take the AZ 303 online training which facilitates them with training in deployment & configuration of cloud infrastructure, development & deployment of applications, implementation of Azure security & workloads.For gaining an Azure certification the aspirants need to take the relevant Azure online course training with most recognized training providers like Mercury Solutions Limited. They provide the best industry-oriented expert instructors in their live online virtual instructor-led training mode. In that, the aspirants get certified instructors, course completion certificate, E-kit, subject matter expert, exam guidance, & many more. So enroll today & learn from homes according to your suitability.