What Is PMI?

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international, not-for-profit, educational association. The PMI group is exclusively dedicated to expanding project management practices and excellence in areas associated with the profession. PMI sets professional standards for the project management profession and is involved with research, publishing, training, and development, as well as numerous certifications, academic scholarships, and awards.

The organization was established in 1969 by five volunteers, and is located outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Membership grew to more than 2,000 by 1980, more than 8,500 by 1990, and more than 50,000 by the year 2000. PMI is a group of project managers and educators from a variety of industries who share project management experiences, applications, and concepts. PMI goals include professionalism, the development of project management educational programs, and membership growth. PMI currently has more than 100,000 members worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. PMI publishes numerous books and periodicals, including PMI Today, The Project Management Journal, and PM Network.

Benefits of membership include chapter meetings, periodicals, workshops and seminars, special interest groups (SIGS), continuing certification opportunities, and PMP certification. PMI also supports an educational foundation the PMI Educational Foundation that promotes project management for the benefit of society. For more information about memberships and benefits, visit www.pmi.org.

Expect to feel "disoriented" at some point during the exam. This is a common feeling caused by either one of the following:

• A series of long questions (especially if they appear early in the exam) that temporarily have you thinking that the entire test is this way and that you'll never have enough time to complete it.

• The sense that the exam questions are much more difficult than the practice questions. (We hope to reduce the chance of this happening by including many "exam-like" questions.) This is the main reason why you need to understand the concepts and principles and not just memorize facts.