The PMI-ACP exam was developed to certify project management practitioners dealing with the problems of globally distributed teams, shifting requirements, and the need for rapid and effective solutions. Moreover, after you successfully write this test, you will receive the PMI certificate of the same name, which will confirm your proficiency in agile practices and principles across agile methodologies including Kanban, Lean, Scrum, etc. Also, it’s a great way to highlight your resume, especially now, when around the globe, flexible project management methods are being adopted by a growing number of organizations.

Related Qualification

As already mentioned above, the appropriate PMI-ACP qualification validates the candidates’ knowledge and skills in using various agile practices in their projects as well as professional flexibility with numerous agile techniques and tools. Moreover, this designation demonstrates a higher level of professional credibility in the project management field as it requires a combination of agile training, hands-on experience in agile projects, and passing of the relevant exam on agile tools, practices, principles, and techniques.

Target Audience and Prerequisites

It is intended that this certification path is for those who have experience of leading or working in agile project teams, as well as those who have a solid knowledge of a variety of agile approaches. At the same time, this certificate can be obtained by a specialist in various roles, as well as any member of the agile team. It is also important to note that this qualification can be useful in a variety of projects and industries, not just IT. And most importantly, applicants are not required to have the PMP certification to be eligible for the PMI-ACP exam. However, you should confirm your educational background thanks to the presence of a secondary degree, general project experience through at least 12 months working as a project team member, as well as spend 8 months using agile methodologies to prove your agile project experience. And don’t forget about training confirmation, as you have to complete 21-hour training in agile practices.

PMI-ACP Evaluation Overview

In more detail, this multiple-choice exam consists of 120 tasks that candidates should complete within 180 minutes. This test aims to verify candidates’ confident knowledge of agile fundamentals and skills to use various agile practices in basic projects and to enroll in this evaluation, you need to fill out an online application, after reviewing and confirming which you will be sent a request for payment of the registration fee. As for the fee, for a PMI member, it will be $435.00, while a non-member will have to pay $495.00. You can then choose the date and form of the exam. If you didn't know, you have a choice of an online proctored test or a center-based one at your nearest Pearson VUE authorized office.

Tested Knowledge and Skills

Probably what worries all candidates is what topics will be covered on the final test. And this interest is understandable because without an understanding of the knowledge areas it is difficult to prepare qualitatively. Therefore, you should start with a detailed study of the PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline, which you can find on the official website. Through this document, you will discover that the test will check your expertise in the following domains:

Section 1. Agile Mindset and Principles

This section includes 9 assignments, the main purpose of which is to test the candidate's ability to identify and apply the most effective agile principles and ways of thinking in the context of the project team as well as organization.

Section 2. Value-Driven Delivery

The next area of the main exam includes 14 items and is designed to verify your capability to achieve valuable outcomes by creating significant increments for consideration according to stakeholder preferences. You must also be able to communicate effectively with stakeholders to get feedback on those increments and apply their feedback to prioritize and enhance future increments.

Section 3. Stakeholder Engagement

Through the 9 tasks in this portion, you will prove that you are able to engage actual and future stakeholders by creating a trusted environment that meets their expectations & requirements and balances their needs with a cost/work understanding. Also, as a certified specialist, you should be skilled at facilitating collaboration and participation during the entire project lifecycle and providing the tools to make informed and effective decisions.

Section 4. Team Performance

You will struggle to pass the real exam if you cannot build an effective environment of collaboration, learning, conflict resolution, and trust that encourages team self-management, improves relationships among the team members, as well as promotes a high-performance culture. And to prove it, you'll have to complete nine relevant tasks pertinent to this topic.

Section 5. Adaptive Planning

The next part includes 10 tasks that cover the process of creating and maintaining the evolving plan from inception to completion, based on general goals, constraints, values, stakeholder feedback, risks, and analysis.

Section 6. Problem Detection and Resolution

Don't forget that you must also constantly identify obstacles and problems, as well as assess risks and execute solutions to improve the process. Your future tasks will also include implementing an improvement process to prevent similar situations from happening again. And, due to the high volume of job tasks, you must be able to prioritize and address them promptly. Therefore, be prepared to face five relevant questions on such an exam domain.

Section 7. Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, and People)

And the last six assignments in the final topic will focus on your ability to help improve the effectiveness, quality, as well as team, process, and product value.

Career Prospects and Certification Path

As you can see, after proper training and comprehensive preparation, you will have a wide range of skills, which can be useful in many professional areas. For example, a PMI-ACP certified professional can qualify for an average annual salary of $111k working in such positions as Agile Coach, Project Manager, Product Owner, or Program Manager, according to the PayScale.com website. But don't stop there, especially when the PMI Agile Certification path includes other designations. Thus, you can gain experience and get the Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) or Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) certificates.