I will explain about PgMP panel review process in this post.
After your PgMP application has been accepted by PMI, you have to make payment. Post payment, it may go for audit or may directly go to panel review stage. If it is selected for audit, you need to provide evidence of educational details and program details mentioned in your application. Once audit process is complete, next hurdle is panel review where a panel of expert program managers will review the answers of five experience summary questions. This is the most tricky and difficult stage.
The application may get rejected if the answers are not in alignment with PMI’s expectation of program management. Hence, it is very important to draft the answers as expected by PMI. Even though you have great program management experience but if answers are not as per expectation, it will be rejected. The most common cause of rejection is that your answer may appear project management experience not program management experience. You should very clear show program management experience when you answer the question. If rejected, you will have one more chance to submit answers for review. After two rejections in panel review, your payment will be partly refunded since PMI will deduct some amount as expenses for the process followed till this stage. It easily takes around 2-3 months of back and forth with PMI in this stage if the application is rejected. It is always advisable to get your answers reviewed with already PgMP certified professional before submission to PMI.