“All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with a white carpet is one of them.” Erma Bombeck
“I hate when I am taking a math test and my answer is nowhere near the multiple choices.” Unknown
Thank you, Project Management Institute!
My strategy for COVID – 19 was to use the time saved by not commuting for self-development. I have been hitting the gym, taking classes that interest me and doing work for a non-profit.
I am an instructor for the Project Management Academy (PMA®)(www.projectmanagementacademy.net), and with the COVID – 19 slowdown they offered a variety of different professional development options. Thanks PMA! I choose to take a class on the PMI Project Business Analyst (PBA®) certification. After I completed the class, I submitted my application to PMI and a few days later I was cleared to take the test.
But how? I searched the PMI website to determine if the PMI-PBA certification could be taken by remote proctor. There were press releases about the PMI-ACP®, CAPM® and the PMP® exams, but nothing about the PMI-PBA test
I started to review the material and waited for an announcement from PMI.
Several weeks passed and I was sure I was ready for the exam, so on a whim I went to the PMI website and began the test scheduling process. Once you enter that, you are sent to the PearsonVue sight to begin registering. The process was seamless and my PMI approval to take the exam was noted by PearsonVue. The site asked me what option I wanted, and I was a bit shocked (and pleased) to notice a remote proctor option! So I chose it.
The site asked me to check my internet speed, my microphone and my camera. They were all acceptable. I had to provide my phone number and it texted me a link to their mobile site. Here I followed a series of steps to validate who I was and the suitability of my location.
First, I took a picture of myself. Then I was asked to take a picture of the front and back of my drives license. After that, it requested pictures of my office in all four direction (front, back, left, right) and I submitted those. As part of the process, I was also required to sign several legal documents that said, (my verbiage) that I wouldn’t cheat, and that if I did I could forfeit the right to take the exam.
I am set! In a while I’ll take the exam and I'll share how that process goes.
If you are waiting for the pandemic to end to take a PMI certification exam, I recommend you try and register. Online may be an option.
Coda
Just yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) said that people without symptoms were highly unlikely to spread COVID-19. The next day they said they were wrong about that. The Surgeon General of the United States said that masks didn’t work, now they are mandatory. My daughter looked at me last night and said, “I may never trust an “expert” again! They are consistently wrong.” It makes you wonder how many other “experts” we rely on are wrong, and we never know it!
I bet a lot.