My Experience with an ACMP CCMP Application Audit

I finally completed my ACMP CCMP application – essays, experience, training – on a Wednesday afternoon. Yes, I still remember the day of the week!

I hit submit. I was very proud and relieved. I had been meaning to get around to submitting for at least two years at this point and I FINALLY DID IT! Woo.

Imagine how displeased I was, upon waking up Thursday morning, to an email informing me I had been randomly selected for an application audit. Lucky me.

All the joy and energy I had, which I intended to funnel into studying, escaped faster than a helium balloon held by a toddler and not tied down to anything.

The email was quite straight forward. It had links to the Candidate Handbook, the Statement of Understanding and the Employment Verification Form. All of the audit is conducted via the same platform as your original submission.

There were two email sections, one for CCMP Applicants and one for Certificants Renewing and Reporting PDUs.

Here’s the instructions I received:

For CCMP Applicants:

1. Education: a copy of highest degree or diploma.
2. Training: a certificate of completion or transcript if training was taken through a Qualified Education Provider (QEP). If training was taken through a non-Qualified Education Provider (non-QEP), all documents noted on pages 24 and 25 of the Candidate Handbook must be uploaded, if not already provided.
3. Work Experience: A completed Employment Verification Form for each work experience entered, signed and dated by an employer representative. This form may not be substituted with other documents or uploads.

For me, the first step was easy. I took a photo of my framed master’s degree and uploaded it.

The second step required digging up a receipt for my training and an outline of the materials we covered. Again, not too big of a deal.

Tip: If your training registration was through your work email address, forward or save a copy to your personal address for your records.

Definitely, the hardest part of my audit was the employment verifications. These are reliant on other people.

For each experience that you used in your application, you need to submit one of these forms.

Several of my supervisors have now retired, and I no longer have their contact information. Thankfully, I do still have relevant references for all of the work experiences that I used in my application.

The easiest way to collect signatures is to use an esign program. If you have full Adobe, Dropbox, DocuSign or anything similar, this is the time to use it!

I was able to fill in the forms with all of the information except for the employer signature and date field.

Then, I sent emails/texts to my references, asking if they would be willing to act as references. When they replied in the affirmative, I replied to the emails and included what I had submitted in my application, so they knew what I was saying about my time on those projects. I also said that the Adobe eSign email would come directly from Adobe, separately from my email.

Tip: Prior to submitting your application, have a reference in mind, with their contact information, for each work experience you are using.

Thankfully, I only needed to round up 3 people to verify my employment. I had everyone contacted and all of the documents sent out by Thursday afternoon, and everyone had eSigned by Monday morning. I then uploaded the forms and the eSign pages with the digital signatures to the portal.

I would estimate that it took me an extra three or four hours of effort, between digging up the requested documentation, finding contact information, reaching out, using unfamiliar software (eSign), following up with my references and ensuring that I had everything correct before submitting.

Things to Know About CCMP Application Audits

You have 90 days to submit your audit documentation. So, the sooner you get on it, the better.

Your “accepted application” date, which starts the clock on your one year to write the exam, is from the date of your audit approval.

Do not embellish your experience when submitting your application. If you fail an audit, you are no longer eligible to apply to write the CCMP. Full stop, that’s it, game over. You can request an application fee refund, less a processing fee. You need to request it, it is not automatic.

Full details are available in the Candidate Handbook, from acmpglobal.org.

How long did the CCMP application audit take?

One of the reasons that I felt like a deflated balloon upon learning I was selected for an audit was that I mentally wanted to move onto the hardcore studying phase.

I also needed to book an exam date, to light a fire under my butt and get myself studying.

So, the audit threw that mental approach out the window.

Much to my surprise, the audit was approved within two hours of my submission!!

It really was straight forward. Thank goodness it only cost me a few days.

Be sure to read our other tips and my experiences, so you can submit the most robust application possible.