Written by: Sára Reményi, CAPM, consultant
What do I need to know about the CAPM exam changes in 2023?
The Project Management Institute (PMI) announced in June that the examination requirements for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) qualification will change from 2 January 2023. Below is a summary of what this change will entail and how it will affect your preparation.
The CAPM qualification may be a good choice for those who have little experience in project management, or who already have some experience, but want more responsibility and want to become project managers.
Why is the CAPM changing?
The project management profession is constantly changing, trends come and go, new tools, techniques and procedures emerge that better reflect the current problems and needs of organisations. For this reason, PMI periodically develops the examination syllabus, so that by obtaining the certificate, professionals can learn the latest trends and achievements. The PMP (Project Management Professional) exam underwent a similar change in 2021, while the CAPM exam was developed this year.
The update will make CAPM more relevant to the practical needs of the project management profession, and will help project team members to work more effectively on the project.
How will the examination requirements change?
PMBOK 6 has been the syllabus for the CAPM certificate so far, so one of the biggest changes is the inclusion of PMBOK 7 in the examination material in 2021. It is important to note here that although many people believe that PMI's certifications are based solely on the PMBOK textbooks that they compile, although the majority of the examination series are based on these, PMI also recognises a further 8-10 textbooks, international standards, as an examination source.
In addition to changes to the content, the update also includes structural changes. The changes to the PMP 2021 suggest that the new CAPM format will also break with the PMBOK matrix still used in PMBOK 6 and use a simpler, more flexible framework. The process groups and knowledge areas will disappear and will be replaced by the term "domain", which will be used to denote a larger aspect of knowledge, giving the curriculum a new structure. In total, the material has been broken down into 4 domains and the proportion of each domain in the examination has been defined.
Domain | What percentage of the exam is included? |
|---|---|
I. Fundamentals and basic concepts of project management | 36% |
II. Predictive, plan-based methodologies | 17% |
III. Agile frameworks and methodologies | 20% |
IV. Business analysis frameworks | 27% |
The 4 domains in the table are:
- Fundamentals and basic concepts of project management - This chapter summarises basic definitions such as project life cycle, roles and responsibilities within a project.
- Predictive, plan-based methodologies - The main focus here is on the waterfall model and its specific tools.
- Agile frameworks and methodologies - Compared to the previous CAPM, it defines a broader agile material, emphasizing the different agile methodologies and their possible combinability with traditional tools and methodologies.
- Business analysis frameworks - An almost entirely new section, the BA tasks were previously presented as a toolkit for requirements gathering. The chapter will cover, for example, business analyst roles and responsibilities, in addition to business analysis stakeholder management, requirements management during the project lifecycle and project success measurement.
Overall, the biggest change is the expansion of agile knowledge and the inclusion of business analysis in the curriculum.
When will our exam preparation material change?
The new CAPM exam is currently planned to be in place from January 2, 2023.
As a PMI Authorized Training Partner (ATP), the training material for ProMan Consulting is constantly being adapted to the requirements set by PMI, so we have now adapted it to reflect the changes. We usually recommend that participants take the exam within 3 months of the exam preparation, so ProMan Consulting will be holding CAPM exam preparation courses in the new version from late autumn. It is important to emphasize that those who wish to take the exam by 31 December 2022 can still do so based on the old syllabus.
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