Early adopters who want to be among the first to earn the new PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) designation can apply starting May 23rd for the PMI Agile Certification pilot. Those selected for the pilot will need to take and pass a multiple choice exam on Agile fundamentals to receive the PMI-ACP certification.
To be in the loop for the pilot send an email to AgilePilot@pmi.org. You will receive a confirmation reply and subsequent updates.
Mike Griffiths lists the key dates for the pilot:
- May 23rd - Launch of application to Public
- Mid July - Pilot Participants can schedule exams at Prometric test centres
- September 15th - Pilot Program Testing begins
- November 30th - Pilot Program Testing Concludes
- January 1st - First set of individuals that passed the exam are notified
To get the certification, you will have to take, and pass, a three hour multiple choice exam that will test knowledge of Agile fundamentals and your ability to apply them to basic projects. The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) Handbook clarifies that 100 of those questions will count in your score while 20 are un-scored pretest questions used to validate future questions.
To sit for the exam you need to meet a number of minimum requirements outlined in the PMI-ACP Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) Handbook.
- High school or equivalent degree
- 2,000 hours (12 months) working on project teams, accrued in the last 5 years
- 1,500 additional hours (8 months) working on Agile teams, accrued in the last 2 years
- 21 hours of training earned in Agile project management topics
Unlike the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, where the PMIBOK serves as the primary reference, there is no single published body of knowledge for the Agile certification test; instead the PMI provides reference materials for exam preparation. As with the PMP you can take courses to help you prepare for the test and to meet the requirement for 21 training hours.
The exam fees as specified on the PMI site are:
- Computer-based training (CBT) – PMI member - $435
- Computer-based training (CBT) – nonmember - $495
Candidates selected for the pilot and who take the exam prior to the end of November 2011 will receive a 20% rebate.
For more information, the PMI has a page dedicated to the pilot, a FAQ and a handbook; Mike Griffiths provides details about the exam content.