Frequently asked questions

PMCert Global Institute is a professional certification body for product management. We assess knowledge through our own exams and issue credentials to those who pass. We are not a school: we do not sell courses, and no course is required to sit an exam.

Experience is what you lived; certification is what a third party can check without taking your word for it. Whoever is hiring reads dozens of résumés that say the same thing, with no way to tell who decided from who watched. The credential settles that with a public verification code, and the exam also shows you, domain by domain, where your practice left gaps.

No professional certification forces a company to hire anyone, and we will not pretend otherwise. What PMCert guarantees is what is under our control: anyone can check your credential in seconds in the public verifier, the register states what was assessed, and the credential does not expire, so it stays checkable years later. How much weight each company gives it is their decision.

Four steps. You choose the certification and buy the exam, receive a voucher by email, open the exam whenever you want and answer it online, and the result comes on the spot. If you pass, the credential is issued right there, with a public verification code, and the PDF certificate becomes available in your account.

The catalogue ranges from the foundations of product management to specialisations such as discovery, experimentation, AI product development, Kanban, design thinking, negotiation and customer experience, plus the leadership track. The full list, with syllabus, number of questions, duration and price for each exam, is on the certifications page.

Start from what you do today. If you moved into product recently, or work alongside product without owning it, the Foundation closes the gaps in the basics. If you already make decisions about a product, the Enterprise tests judgement in real situations. The specialisations are for proving depth in one specific area. Every certification page has a "who it is for" section describing candidates in recognisable profiles.

No. The Foundation is not a prerequisite for anything, and you can start with whichever certification fits your moment. There is a single dependency in the whole catalogue: the executive leadership certification requires the Enterprise credential first. Where a prerequisite exists, it is shown on the certification page and checked at purchase, so nobody pays for an exam they could not open.

The certification stops being sold, but nothing happens to those who already earned it. Issued credentials remain valid forever, stay in the public verifier, and the certification page stays online so that anyone checking years later can see what was assessed.

No. No course is required, and no course guarantees a pass. The exam assesses what you know, not where you studied. There are partners who prepare candidates, and you may use them if you want, but buying training is never a condition for sitting a PMCert exam.

You can. We do not require proof of years in the role, a degree or an employer letter for any exam. Worth knowing: the questions describe work situations and ask for a decision, so someone who has never been near a product usually needs to study more. The Open Assessment is the honest way to find out where you stand before paying.

Start from the certification syllabus, which publishes the domains assessed and what each one demands, rather than just the domain name. Then take the matching Open Assessment: twenty questions at exam level, with the result on the spot, showing which domains you are solid in. Study what came out weak and, if you want guidance, the partner directory lists who prepares candidates.

It is a free twenty-question test at exam level, with no account, no card and no attempt limit. You choose between two modes before starting: check each question as you go, with the right answer and the reasoning, or answer everything first and see the full review at the end, like a mock exam. The questions come from a separate bank and are never reused in a certification exam.

No. It issues no credential, produces no certificate, and the result is not recorded anywhere: your answers stay in your browser only. It exists so you can gauge where you stand before committing to a certification exam, not to replace one.

It is an online multiple-choice exam, taken in your own browser, with no scheduling and no test centre. Questions describe work situations and ask for a decision, rather than testing memorised definitions. Some ask for more than one option, and the screen says how many to select. The number of questions, the duration and the passing score for each exam are on the certification page.

The duration is on each certification page, and the clock starts when you open the exam. The deadline belongs to the server, not to your browser: reloading the page, switching devices or closing the browser gives no time back, and the clock keeps running while you are away. It is worth opening the exam only when you have the full time available.

Whenever you want. A voucher bought on the site has no expiry date, so there is no scheduled date, no registration window and no risk of losing what you paid for by putting it off.

You can, as many times as you like, while there is time left. You can flag a question to revisit, and before finishing you get a review screen with every question numbered, showing which were answered, which were flagged and how many are blank.

The exam is submitted automatically and marked with whatever you had already answered. Nothing is lost: each answer is saved on the server the moment you select it, not at the end. Blank questions count as wrong, and if your score reaches the passing score you pass normally.

Return to the same exam at the same address: the attempt resumes with the same questions, in the same order, and everything you had already answered. No new voucher is needed. The clock keeps running while you are away, so come back as soon as you can. If the problem was on our side and compromised your exam, write to support@pmcert.org and we will release a new attempt at no cost.

There is no pause. You can leave and come back, and the exam resumes where you left it, but the deadline is counted from the moment you opened it and never stops. Stepping away for half an hour means half an hour less to answer.

Immediately. When you finish, the screen itself shows your score and your performance in each domain assessed. There is no board, no marking queue and no waiting days. If you pass, the credential is issued right then and the verification code appears on that same screen.

The passing score varies by certification and is published on each exam page, alongside the number of questions and the duration. There is no curve and no comparison with other candidates: your result depends only on your answers. There is no partial credit on multiple-response questions either, where the whole set has to be right.

Yes. The result shows your score in each domain assessed, whether you passed or not, and that reading is what tells you what to study before trying again. Per-domain performance is kept in your account, next to the credential. It does not appear on the certificate or on your public profile: it is your evidence, not a shop window.

Not passing on one attempt closes no doors. You get the result with your per-domain score, showing where the gaps are, and you can try again when you feel ready. Nothing is recorded publicly: attempts that did not pass never appear in the verifier, on your profile, or anywhere visible to third parties.

You can retake it, and there is no waiting period and no limit on attempts. What each new attempt requires is a new voucher, because each voucher is worth one attempt. Questions are drawn afresh each time you open an exam, so a retake is not a repeat of the previous paper.

On the page of the certification you chose, the purchase button takes you to the payment screen. Once payment goes through, the voucher is issued and arrives at the email given at purchase. You do not need an account to buy, but you will need one to sit the exam and receive the credential.

The price is shown on each certification page, already in the currency of your country: visitors from Brazil see and pay in reais, and other countries are charged in US dollars. The figure shown is the final price of the exam, with no registration fee, no certificate issuance fee and no annual dues afterwards.

The payment screen accepts credit cards, and with them the digital wallets your device offers, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Pix is not yet enabled on our payment account; the site already requests it on every purchase, so it will appear on the screen by itself once it is released. The payment screen is always the source of truth for what is available in your country today.

The voucher is the code that opens the exam, and each one is worth one attempt. It is consumed the moment the exam is OPENED, not when it is submitted: opening it and giving up spends the voucher all the same. So only enter the code when you have the full exam time available.

A voucher bought on the site does not expire. Vouchers issued to an institution in bulk may carry a deadline set at issuance, and in that case the date is shown with the code. If you lost the email, the code is also in your account, under exams, once your address is confirmed.

The voucher is not tied to an account: whoever enters the code is the one who uses the attempt, and the credential is issued in the name of whoever sat the exam. So treat the code the way you would treat a ticket and do not publish it. If someone else uses your voucher, the attempt is spent and cannot be given back.

Yes, within 7 days of purchase, as long as the voucher has not been used. Write to support@pmcert.org from the same email used in the purchase, saying you want the refund. We return the amount through the same payment method and cancel the voucher in the same act, so the code stops working. A voucher already used is not refundable, even within the 7 days, because the attempt is consumed when the exam is opened.

Yes, as a PDF, as many times as you like, from the credentials area of your account. The file is yours and costs nothing beyond the exam. Only the holder can download it, so keep a copy, but know that it is never the only one: the certificate can be downloaded again at any time.

The certificate carries your name, the certification earned, the date of issue, the credential code and a QR code leading to the verification page. It is issued in English in all three site languages, deliberately: it is a document usually shown outside your own country. Your score and per-domain performance do not appear on it, and stay in your account only.

It can, through support. The printed name is the one you type before opening the exam, and it is fixed there so the document cannot be rewritten later by whoever received it. A legitimate correction, such as a typo or a legal name change, is done by us: write to support@pmcert.org explaining what needs adjusting. Changing your account name does not alter a certificate already issued.

No and no. A PMCert credential does not expire: there is no expiry date, no periodic retesting, no renewal fee and no annual dues to keep what has already been earned. You pay for the exam once. The only way a credential stops being valid is revocation, which is an administrative act with a recorded reason, not an automatic expiry.

Through the credential code, at pmcert.org/verify. Whoever enters the code sees the holder name, which certification was earned, the date of issue and whether the credential is active or revoked. No account, no permission from you and no contact with you is needed. The PDF certificate also carries a QR code that opens that same page.

The same verification page has a public directory of certified professionals, searchable by name, email and certification. The email search checks an exact address and never returns anyone’s address in the response. Only profiles set to public appear in the directory.

Your public profile starts switched on, and it shows your name, your credentials and whatever you filled in for job title, location and LinkedIn. Public profiles are listed in the sitemap and may be indexed by search engines. Your score and per-domain performance are never published under any circumstances, and you can switch the profile off whenever you want.

You can switch the public profile off at any time, in your account, and it leaves the directory, the search and the sitemap. What keeps working is the code verifier: whoever holds the code can always check, even with the profile switched off. That separation is deliberate, because a register the holder could quietly erase would be no proof to anyone.

In the credentials area of your account there is a button that adds the certification to the licences and certifications section of LinkedIn, with the name, the code and the verification link already filled in. On a résumé, write the full certification name, the year of issue and the credential code: it is the code that lets anyone check without depending on you.

It can, and the grounds are written on the privacy and terms page: exam fraud, publishing the questions, false identity, misleading use of the credential, and administrative error on our side. A revoked credential does not vanish: the code stays checkable and starts answering that it was revoked, because vanishing would make the code look forged to anyone who had verified it before. Administrative error is reversible.

To buy, no. To sit the exam and receive the credential, yes: the credential belongs to an account, and that is where you download the certificate and follow your performance. You can create the account with email and password, or sign in with a Google account.

All in your account, without talking to anyone. Changing the email triggers a fresh confirmation to the new address. Changing the password ends every other open session and keeps only your current one. Remember that changing the account name does not alter a certificate already issued, because the printed name is frozen when the exam opens.

Turn on two-step verification in your account. It uses a standard authenticator app, such as the one on your phone, and starts asking for a six-digit code after your password. It is optional and starts switched off, but it is worth switching on: your account holds credentials other people rely on to trust you.

You can. Write to support@pmcert.org from the address on the account and we delete your account, your attempts, your exam telemetry, your vouchers and your communication records. What cannot simply disappear is a credential already issued: whoever verified it must still be able to verify it. If it has to be withdrawn, that is a revocation, and it stays visible marked as revoked.

Write to support@pmcert.org or use the form on the contact page. To get it resolved faster, say which certification it concerns and, if there is one, the voucher or credential code. Requests about your personal data are answered within 3 business days.

Team purchases are handled through contact, not through the site checkout, which sells one at a time. We issue the vouchers in bulk, under your organisation’s name, with a single invoice. Get in touch telling us which certification, how many people and the timeframe you have in mind.

Yes, on request: we track the batch and report how many vouchers have been used and how many remain. There is no self-service dashboard for organisations yet, so this tracking is done by us. Write to support@pmcert.org with the batch name.

There are three tracks: accredited organisation, which is audited and listed in the directory with annual renewal; individual instructor, listed in the directory without auditing; and company, which buys vouchers for its own team. Accreditation requires a syllabus mapped to the published domains and instructors who hold the certification they teach. Get in touch through the contact page telling us what you want to teach and where you operate.

No, and that is non-negotiable. No partner, instructor or accredited organisation receives exam questions under any circumstances. What is published for everyone is the syllabus, with the domains assessed and what each one demands. That rule is what makes every candidate’s pass mean the same thing, whether they studied with a partner or alone.

The exam is individual and closed book. Do not use help from another person and do not sit an exam in anyone else’s place; do not consult material, websites, apps or artificial intelligence assistants; do not copy, photograph or publish the questions, during or after; and do not use automation to circumvent how the exam works. The full rules are on the privacy and terms page.

No. Consulting an artificial intelligence assistant during the exam is prohibited conduct, like any other consultation. It is worth saying plainly why the rule matters even without camera surveillance: a credential obtained that way is verifiable by any employer, permanent and issued in your name, and it is your reputation hanging on it. Proven fraud leads to revocation of the credential, with no refund.

We use no camera, no microphone and no screen recording: there is no proctoring, and we would rather say so than imply surveillance that does not exist. What we record during the exam are signals such as time per question, loss of window focus and paste attempts, which produce flags for human review. None of those signals fails anyone automatically, because a dropped connection and a system notification are not fraud.

Yes. You choose the exam language on the screen where you enter the voucher, among the languages offered by that certification, and the choice applies to the whole attempt. The exam language is independent of the language you browse the site in. The certificate, on the other hand, is always issued in English.

You can. The exam is online and taken in your own browser, with no test centre and no scheduling, so the only requirement is a stable connection for the duration of the exam. There is no mandatory time zone, no sitting window and no country restriction.

The exam screen is built to work with a keyboard and with a screen reader: the controls are standard elements, the question and options are announced correctly, and the timer does not interrupt reading every second. We do not yet have a formal accommodations programme, with extended time or specific assistive resources. If you need an adjustment, write to support@pmcert.org before buying and we will talk about what is possible.

The privacy and terms page describes, item by item, what we keep, on which legal basis under the GDPR and the LGPD, who we share it with and for how long. In short: card details never pass through PMCert, there is no tracking or advertising cookie, and raw exam session events are deleted after 180 days. Your rights of access, correction and erasure are exercised by email and answered within 3 business days.