My 3-Year, 60-PDU Plan to Keep the PMP, Starting with My First Approved PDU

Passing the PMP isn't the finish line. To stay certified, you have to earn 60 PDUs within three years and renew. On 31 August, about two months after I passed, I watched the webinar that became my first PDU.

In three lines — The PMP needs 60 PDUs every three years: at least 35 in Education, with at least 8 in each of the three Talent Triangle areas. My first PDU came from a single PMI webinar I watched on 31 August, approved on 3 September as 1.00 PDU. My plan is 42 Education plus 20 Giving Back, 62 PDUs in total, and the Education side works out to a little over 1 PDU a month, about one webinar's worth.

In Part 10, we saw that the PMP needs the most PDUs of the three certifications. This post is about how I'll actually get to 60, from my first PDU approval email to my three-year plan.

The renewal rules (CCR) at a glance

A PDU (Professional Development Unit) is how PMI counts the learning and giving back you do to keep your certification. The rules for how many you need, and of what kind, are called the CCR (Continuing Certification Requirements).

Item	Rule
Cycle	3 years from when you earn the PMP
PDUs needed	60
Education	35 or more, with at least 8 each in Ways of Working, Power Skills and Business Acumen
Giving Back	Up to 25 (including up to 8 for working as a practitioner, claimable once per cycle)
Carry-over	PDUs above 60 earned in the cycle's last 12 months, up to 20
Renewal fee	$60 for members / $150 for non-members

The three Talent Triangle areas

PMI splits Education PDUs into three areas it calls the Talent Triangle:

• Ways of Working: the different ways work gets done, such as predictive, agile and hybrid, and the techniques that go with them
• Power Skills: people skills such as leadership, communication and empathy
• Business Acumen: decision-making that ties your project to the organization's strategy

You have to put at least 8 into each area, so 24 PDUs are spoken for, and the remaining 11 can go anywhere. There's no cap on Education, but anything above 25 in Giving Back doesn't count. In other words, at least 35 of the 60 have to come from learning.

My first PDU: a webinar on 31 August, approved on 3 September

My first PDU came from a PMI webinar, "Why Some Projects Fail: The Sponsor's Role," which I watched on 31 August. If you've studied for the PMP, the title alone probably brings back a few sponsor questions. I submitted a claim for it, and the approval email arrived on 3 September.

My first PDU approval email, received on 3 September 2026: the webinar I watched on 31 August counted as 1.00 PDU. My PMI ID and the claim ID are covered.

The email shows that one webinar was split across all three areas: Ways of Working 0.25, Power Skills 0.25 and Business Acumen 0.50, for 1.00 PDU in total. That's how the 8-per-area minimums fill up, a little at a time.

The learning doesn't stop after the exam

Here's what struck me after that first PDU. PMI keeps you learning long after it hands you the certificate. Many of its webinars and courses are free for members, so keeping up with them becomes ongoing care for your certification and ongoing education at the same time. Some count as PDUs automatically; others just need a quick claim.

It isn't the grit-your-teeth kind of studying I did for the exam, which is exactly why I think I can keep it up for three years.

My 3-year plan: 42 Education + 20 Giving Back = 62

My cycle runs three years from when I earned the PMP in July 2026, so until around July 2029. Aiming for exactly 60 leaves no room for a slip at the end, so I built in a buffer of 2 and planned for 62.

	Year 1 (Jul 2026–Jul 2027)	Year 2 (Jul 2027–Jul 2028)	Year 3 (Jul 2028–Jul 2029)	Total
Ways of Working	4	4	4	12
Power Skills	5	5	5	15
Business Acumen	5	5	5	15
Education subtotal	14	14	14	42
Giving Back: education committee volunteering	4	4	4	12
Giving Back: working as a practitioner	–	–	8	8
Giving Back subtotal	4	4	12	20
Total	18	18	26	62

Year 1 already includes the 1.00 PDU I've earned (Ways of Working 0.25, Power Skills 0.25, Business Acumen 0.50).

Checking the math against the rules:

• Education 42: meets the minimum of 35
• Ways of Working 12, Power Skills 15, Business Acumen 15: all at least 8
• Giving Back 20: under the cap of 25, with working as a practitioner at exactly its cap of 8
• Total 62: above 60

A few choices behind the numbers:

• Extra Power Skills. People was my Below Target domain on the exam, so I'm putting a little more into people skills.
• Only 20 in Giving Back. Up to 25 would count, but I don't want to cut back on the learning side.
• Working as a practitioner in year 3. It can only be claimed once per cycle, so I'll claim it in one go in the final year.

Where the PDUs will come from

Source	Category	3-year target
PMI member webinars and eLearning	Education	18
ProjectManagement.com	Education	12
PMI Korea Chapter monthly seminars and PM Column Seminars	Education	12
Volunteering on the PMI Korea Chapter education committee	Giving Back	12
Working as a practitioner	Giving Back	8
Total		62

• PMI member webinars and eLearning. Some are free for members. Six PDUs a year is about one webinar every two months.
• ProjectManagement.com. Once your account is linked to PMI, the PDUs report automatically.
• PMI Korea Chapter seminars. Chapter events count as Education. The monthly seminars come with PDUs, and the online "PM Column Seminar" (PM 칼럼 세미나), held every two months, is free for members.
• Education committee volunteering. Volunteering for the chapter counts as Giving Back. I'll write about the PMI Korea Chapter's education committee separately in Part 15.
• Working as a practitioner. Simply working in a role related to the PMP counts as Giving Back, up to 8 PDUs, claimed once per cycle.

Claiming PDUs and keeping proof

Where: CCRS

You report PDUs in PMI's CCRS (Continuing Certification Renewal System), which you reach from your myPMI dashboard. Some sources, like ProjectManagement.com, report on their own once your accounts are linked. Others, like my first webinar, need a claim that PMI then approves.

What: keep your evidence

PMI can audit any certification holder, even after they've earned the credential. So for every PDU, I plan to keep:

• The approval email (like my first one above)
• A screenshot of the completion or attendance confirmation
• The date, title, provider and number of PDUs
• Two or three lines on what I learned
• For volunteering, a note of what I did and when

When: don't leave it to the last minute

Spread over 36 months, 60 PDUs is under 2 a month (about 1.7). Leave it all to the final year and it's 5 a month. So I'll build steadily in years 1 and 2, then wrap up year 3 by claiming working as a practitioner and paying the renewal fee. PDUs above 60 earned in the last 12 months carry over to the next cycle, up to 20, so a little extra at the end isn't wasted.

1. 2026.07

   Earned the PMP, first cycle starts

   Passed on 3 July

2. 2026.08.31

   First PDU activity: a PMI webinar

   Why Some Projects Fail: The Sponsor's Role

3. 2026.09.03

   First PDU approved: 1.00

   Ways of Working 0.25 · Power Skills 0.25 · Business Acumen 0.50

4. Around 2028.07

   The final 12 months begin

   PDUs above 60 from here can carry over, up to 20

5. Around 2029.07

   First cycle ends

   60 PDUs plus the renewal fee ($60 for members)

Wrapping up

Getting the PMP took me seven weeks. Keeping it runs in three-year cycles. Those seven weeks were short and intense; this time, I'm going for slow and steady. If you'd like to start from the beginning, Part 1 is the place.

In the next post, I'll talk about what has actually changed at work since I got the PMP.

Next: What changed at work after the PMP

Frequently asked questions

How many PDUs do I need to renew the PMP?+

60 PDUs every three years. At least 35 must be Education, with at least 8 in each of Ways of Working, Power Skills and Business Acumen, and no more than 25 can come from Giving Back.

Can I earn PDUs for free?+

If you are a PMI member, free webinars, eLearning and ProjectManagement.com can cover Education PDUs. My first 1.00 PDU came from a single PMI webinar. Chapter events also count as Education, and chapter volunteering counts as Giving Back.

Do extra PDUs carry over to the next cycle?+

PDUs above 60 that you earn in the last 12 months of your cycle can carry over, up to 20. Extra PDUs earned before that do not carry over.

How much is the PMP renewal fee?+

It is $60 for PMI members and $150 for non-members, so members save $90 at renewal.

What is working as a practitioner?+

It is a Giving Back category for simply working in a role related to your certification. PMP holders can claim up to 8 PDUs for it once per cycle, and it counts toward the 25 PDU Giving Back cap.

Sources

• PMI: Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) Handbook (PDF)
• PMI: Project Management Professional (PMP)
• PMI Korea Chapter