This free webinar will allow you to experience what the lessons in the course are like and it will also help you on your road to becoming PMP® certified.

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PMP® Exam Prep Project Integration Management Overview
(for PMBOK® Guide 5th Edition)
Podcast Introduction
Cornelius Fichtner: Hello and welcome to this free lesson from The Project
Management PrepCast™. I am Cornelius Fichtner and I am the lead instructor. Thank
you for your interest in our PMP® Exam Preparation Course.
This free webinar will allow you to experience what the lessons in the course are like
and it will also help you on your road to becoming PMP® certified. The complete PM
PrepCast has over 140 lessons that you can simply watch, learn from and then succeed
on your PMP® exam. You can find all the details about the course and how it will make
studying for your exam easier at www.pm-prepcast.com.
And now on with the show!
Lesson
Female voice: Welcome to The Project Management PrepCast™. Helping you prepare
for the PMP® exam. Here is your instructor, Cornelius Fichtner.
Cornelius Fichtner: Hello and welcome to The Project Management PrepCast™. We
are the PMP® Exam preparation course that removes all the fears that you may have
around the exam. I'm your instructor, Cornelius Fichtner.
And in this lesson, we are going to take a look at the dreaded exam audit and show you
well it's not really all that bad. We're going to talk about understanding the audit
process. We'll describe why PMI performs this audit at all. You will understand how to
best prepare for a possible audit. Well and as a result of all of these, you are going to
realize that the chances of being audited are really quite low and you should just relax
and take it as it comes.
Official Information
First of all, to learn more about audits, begin by reading the PMP® Credential Handbook
and the image here on the right is its front cover by the way. In particular, look for the
section about the PMI® Audit Process and do go ahead and do read through it. It's
really rather straightforward and in the coming slides, we'll give you all the information
you would find in the handbook as well. But PMI sometimes changes things so it's
always a good idea to also open up the official information and read through it may be in
parallel as you're watching this lesson here.
I'd also like to mention that if at the end of this presentation you still have any questions
about the audit process, then please go to the PMI website where you will find an
extensive FAQ in the certification section. At the time of this recording, there were 31

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questions and answers there and they should pretty much got any questions that you
may have. You can also look for the link to this FAQ in our Student Handbook. It'll take
you directly to the FAQ.
Remember
Before we get into any of the audit details, you need to remember and understand that
when you sign up for any PMI® exam, you agree that your application may get audited.
So you really want to make sure that you fill in your application truthfully because if your
application contains nothing but the truth, then well you have nothing to fear from the
audit.
PMI writes
From the Credentials Handbook, we learned the following about audits: All applications
are subject to an audit although only a percentage of applications are actually then also
selected for that audit. And the selection of an application for an audit is completely at
random.
Why have audits at all?
The more interesting question is of course "why?" Why does PMI have audits at all?
Well that's simple. PMI conducts application audits to confirm the experience and
education documented on credential applications. The purpose of the audit is also to
enhance the credibility of the certification program and the credential holder.
So in essence, the audits ensure that only qualified individuals apply for and attain PMI
credentials because for each credential, a specific percentage of applications are then
randomly selected for audit; and the result of all of these is one of the reasons that all of
PMI's credentials retain their high regard.
Audits are random. Period.
And then at least once every month, I will come across a message in a news group or
forum that talks about the fact that PMI application audits are not random because a
friend of a friend of a friend of a friend told me that PMI looks at your application and
based on the profile, you will get audited.
Well frankly, these are worthless speculations because audits are seriously a random
affair. I say this because according to PMI, all audits are random. That's all that we are
told officially and any sort of audit triggers that you could imagine --- profiling,
application gaps, types of projects you have worked on, types of education you have
had, they are pure speculation and frankly, these kinds of speculations, they don't help
anyone. They don't especially help you at all.
So don't worry. You either will or you will not get audited, period. Instead of worrying
about it, you should know how the audit process works. So congratulations to you for
watching this lesson here. You should be prepared for the possibility of an audit and in

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the event that your application is indeed selected for an audit, you'll have to follow the
instructions from PMI on how to respond. So let's take a look at the audit process.
Audit Process
If you are selected for an audit, then you will know very quickly because PMI will send
you an email about it. This email also contains detailed instructions on how is the audit
going to be processed.
Also, once you are being audited, then the clocks stops. By this we mean that normally
you have 1 year following your application to take the exam. But during the audit, this
clock stops and does not continue after your audit has been processed.
So if for example, your audit takes 6 weeks, then you have your usual 1-year eligibility
to take the exam and also the 6 weeks that it took for you to complete the audit with
PMI. So there is no time lost for you in regards to your eligibility period to take the
PMP® exam. No, PMI knows that, understands that and adds the 6 weeks that it took
for you to complete the audit to your 1-year eligibility period.
After you get the info about being audited and then logged in to your account at PMI,
you will find the audit package waiting here for you. This package contains all the details
that you have submitted in your application and this package also once again contains
the instructions that you have to follow.
If you have already filled in your application at this time, then you know that on your
application, you have to fill in names of contact persons for each of for your projects that
you have worked on. So now, you have to print that package and then give the
appropriate section to these contact persons that you have named in your application.
Your contact persons, they now have to read the information and they have to verify
that everything that you have put into your application is correct. They have to sign the
documents that you sent them. They have to put it into a sealed envelope and then they
have to turn the envelope around and on the back of the envelope across the flap, they
are going to have to sign once again. Sort of you know, they close the envelope and
then they almost put a seal over it by signing it making sure that the envelope isn’t
tampered with. And yes, PMI is very serious about that.
In addition to this confirmation from your contact persons, you are also going to have to
make photocopies of the certificates of training that you have received. For example,
from your diplomas, your Master's Degree, your Bachelor's Degree, your high school
diplomas, et cetera and from the training courses that show that you have received your
training contact hours in project management.
So you have purchased The PM PrepCast™ here and you will receive a certificate for
contact hours from us once you take your final exam. So simply make a photocopy of
that certificate and include it in your package. And then you are going to have to send

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the sealed envelopes from your contact persons and the photocopies of your certificates
to PMI for review within 90 days.
Here it's important to realize that you have the power to expedite the audit process. The
sooner you respond, the sooner it is processed. PMI is usually rather quick in
processing your audit documents after you sent them back and in some cases, it can
take as little as 4 days. And then of course once PMI has received your audit package,
then they will inform you about their decision that your audit has been accepted or
declined via email.
Here are some more important points to remember about returning the audit documents
to PMI.
 The good news for everybody is that the experience verification forms and your
copies of your Bachelor's or Master's Degree, they do not have to be notarized.
The simple photocopy is sufficient.
 So once you have everything ready, you can simply send your completed audit
forms by regular postal mail or express courier service back to PMI.
 PMI will not accept faxed or emailed audit documents.
 PMI also doesn’t accept an email signature. So you cannot email to your contact
persons and then they will return everything via email and then you print out their
responses, no. They have to print it. They have to sign it. It has to be an original
signature on the document and they have to physically mail everything back to
you in that sealed and signed envelope.
 Also when you send your documents to PMI, please do send everything at once.
 And as I have said before, if you are able to provide the necessary
documentation to PMI, then the audit takes about 5-7 business days on PMI's
side to complete. Like I said, I've heard of instances where it was 4 days or even
below so it's a rather quick and straightforward process from the side of PMI.
Worse Case: Failed Audit
If you are really, really unlucky and you failed the audit, then here is what is going to
happen. PMI will refund the credential fee minus a processing fee to you. Your
application will of course be rejected and then PMI further writes on their website that
the certification department will address further actions on a case-by-case basis.
They do not specify what exactly this means and I personally only know of one single
person who has failed the audit. He failed because one of his contact persons
disagreed with the information that he provided on the application form to PMI.
The measure that the certification department took in his case were rather drastic. He is
now no longer eligible to apply for any PMI certification at all. Not the PMP, not the
PMI-ACP, not the CAPM, none of them. But remember, this is the only, the only single
person I know in almost 10 years of teaching for PMI certifications. So don’t let this get
to you. Instead, let's use his story here as a motivation to prepare and make certain that
this does not happen to you.

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Recommendation: Be prepared.
That much said, here are my recommendations for you and how you should prepare
today for an eventual edit:
 First of all, just realize that there is a 50-50 chance that you will or will not get
audited.
 Be truthful on your PMI application. Stick to the truth. Don't stretch the truth.
 Have everything you write in the application documented. Make sure you have
your diplomas. Make sure you have your training certificates available.
 And this is maybe the most important part. Contact your former employers,
supervisors, colleagues before you submit your application because after all, you
do name them in your application as your contact person. Tell them that you are
applying for the PMP® exam and that if you should get audited, that they would
have to review and confirm your application.
Even better, show them what you have written in your application. Send them a
copy of your notes about the projects you worked on and ask if they agree with
what you have written about your participation in that particular project. This is a
positive and proactive way to approach your application.
 As I said before, worrying about whether or not you will get audited because you
fit a certain profile is futile because you'll just worry too much. Instead of investing
energy into worrying, invest the energy into properly studying for the exam.
And that's really it. Be truthful, be prepared and don't worry. That's a positive way to
approach a possible and usually very unlikely audit by PMI on your application.
Audit Resources
On the screen, you right now see the 2 links to the resources mentioned --- the
Credentials Handbook and also the PMI Audit FAQ. Impossible to remember and type
in, yes of course. That's why we have these links for you in the Student Workbook. Just
open it up and click and you will be taken to these resources instantly.
And with that, we have come to the end of this lesson. So it's time for Justin to say:
"Adios amigos!" and of course, I say: "Until next time."