Writing up your experience is the part of the PMP® application most people put off. PMI® gives you one box per project and 100 to 500 words. This page shows what a good entry looks like, then gives you a free helper that counts your months the way PMI does and keeps every word yours. It doesn't write anything for you, and it can't tell you whether you're eligible. PMI decides that. PM Mastery isn't affiliated with PMI.
Skip to the helperFor each experience entry, PMI's application asks for the organization, your job title, whether you're still on the project, the start and end month, and a Project Summary: one box, 100 to 500 words, covering your role, the project objective, your contributions, and the outcomes. The experience has to be leading and directing projects, inside the last 10 years, and PMI counts months, not hours. Months where projects overlap only count once. That's the form as of September 2026. PMI changes it from time to time, so check the live form before you lean on any of this.
Education paths and the 35 contact hours are covered in our PMP requirements guide.
Three fictional examples of what a solid entry looks like, and one that would get you in trouble. The companies and people are made up. Don't copy these. PMI can contact your supervisor or organization to confirm what you wrote, so the only description that holds up is one about your own work, in your own words.
As the IT systems analyst assigned to lead the warehouse scanner replacement, I was responsible for moving our two warehouses off handheld scanners the vendor had stopped supporting. The objective was to replace 140 scanners and the inventory app that ran on them before the vendor's support ended in December 2023, without stopping shipping. I built the schedule and budget with our operations director and got them approved, ran a two-week pilot on one dock, and used the pilot results to change the rollout order so the busiest dock went last. I ran weekly status meetings with the warehouse leads, the vendor and our help desk, kept the risk log, and escalated a Wi-Fi coverage gap that the pilot exposed, which got two access points added before rollout. I wrote the cutover checklist, coordinated training for 60 pickers across three shifts, and handled the go/no-go call for each dock. All 140 scanners were live by October 2023, two months ahead of the support deadline and about 4 percent under the approved budget. Mis-picks in the first month dropped compared with the old system, and I handed the new app over to the help desk with a support runbook and closed the project with a lessons-learned session.
206 words
Why it works: It says what the analyst personally did, separates their work from the team's, and every number is something a supervisor could confirm.
I'm an operations coordinator, not a project manager by title, but the clinic director assigned me to lead our move from a leased space to a renovated building six blocks away. The objective was to relocate a 25-person outpatient clinic with no more than two days of closed clinic time and without losing any patient records. I built the move plan and timeline, kept the budget with the director, and ran a weekly meeting with the contractor, our IT vendor, the landlord and the department leads. I tracked the punch list with the contractor, negotiated moving the IT install up a week when the contractor finished early, and set up a shared issue log the leads could update. I planned the patient notification schedule with the front desk supervisor and organized the move weekend in shifts. When the phone line install slipped, I arranged call forwarding to staff cell phones so we could reopen on time. The clinic closed for one and a half days and reopened on the planned Monday, every patient chart was accounted for in a post-move audit, and we came in about 3 percent over the moving budget because of the phone line delay, which I documented in the closeout report.
205 words
Why it works: The job title isn't 'project manager' and that's fine. PMI cares that you led and directed the project. It also reports the budget miss honestly.
As a senior marketing specialist, I led the rebuild of our company website after the old site failed an accessibility review. The objective was a new site that passed a WCAG 2.1 AA audit and moved our product catalog onto a platform the marketing team could update without developers, launched before our spring trade show. We used a hybrid approach: fixed milestones for the content migration and legal review, and two-week sprints for the design and build work with an outside agency. I built the release plan, ran sprint planning and reviews with the agency and our product managers, and owned the backlog priorities with the marketing director. I managed a change when legal added a cookie-consent requirement mid-project, reworked the sprint plan to absorb it, and got the director's sign-off on a one-week shift. I coordinated user testing with six customers and fed the findings back into the last two sprints. The site launched one week later than first planned but before the trade show, passed the external accessibility audit on the first review, and the marketing team published its first product updates without developer help the week after launch.
191 words
Why it works: Agile and hybrid work counts. It describes how the work was run without dressing it up, and it owns the one-week slip.
I managed the IT help desk for the company. I was responsible for all day-to-day support operations, handled tickets, supervised the team and made sure users were happy. I led a company-wide digital transformation and drove strategic initiatives across the organization. The team resolved thousands of tickets and customer satisfaction improved. I also participated in various projects and meetings with stakeholders, ensured best practices were followed, and was involved in planning, executing, monitoring and closing activities for many initiatives. Overall the department ran smoothly and leadership was very pleased with my performance throughout the period. My role covered the full scope of the department's responsibilities.
105 words
Why it gets people in trouble:
These are fictional and there's no copy button. Use them to see the shape of a good entry, then write your own below.
PMI's form asks for an organization and a job title, so it's tempting to write one entry for a whole job. Don't. PMI's PMP certification page says it plainly: you'll list each project separately on the PMP application. Its guidance on what counts as experience walks through it project by project too. A single project is also easier for a supervisor to recognize and sign, and it keeps routine operational work from creeping in.
Not sure which applies? See the four paths in our PMP requirements guide.
Your drafts save in this browser only. Nothing you type is sent to PM Mastery. On a shared computer, hit Clear everything when you're done.
When you submit, you sign PMI's certification agreement. In plain English, and this isn't legal advice: everything you submit has to be true and complete. Inaccurate answers can lead to an investigation or sanctions even if the mistake wasn't intentional. PMI can contact people and organizations to confirm what you wrote, not just during an audit. And whether you qualify is PMI's call, and it's final. Read PMI's actual agreement.
Copying stays locked until you tick this. It's for you, not us.
Tick these off for every entry. Your ticks save in this browser only, and we never see what you write.
Good. Paste your summaries in, one per entry, and keep a copy of what you submitted.
What PMI asks for in an audit, and how the rest of the application works: the PMP application and audit, section by section.
PMI's form takes 100 to 500 words per entry, as of September 2026. Length matters less than whether your supervisor would read it and recognize the project.
By calendar month, and both the start and end months count. January 2020 to September 2026 is 81 months. Months where projects overlap count once, so two projects that both ran January to March 2020 give you 3 months, not 6.
One per project. PMI's PMP certification page says you'll list each project separately on the PMP application, and a single project is easier for a supervisor to sign.
PMI audits a random share of applications and can audit at any time, even after you're certified. If you're picked, you get 90 days to send your diploma, a signed verification from a supervisor or manager for each experience entry, and proof of your 35 contact hours. Failing an audit comes with a one-year suspension, per PMI's certification handbook.
No. They're fictional, and PMI can check what you write with your supervisor or organization. Use them to see the shape of a good entry, then describe your own work.
No. PM Mastery is exam practice, not a 35-hour training course, so it doesn't count toward PMI's training requirement.
PMI gives you a year after approval to pass. PM Mastery is practice questions, case studies and a full 180-question mock exam built for the 2026 exam. It's exam prep, not a 35-hour course.
Start practicing free →