length of time it takes to study for PMP

Hi Stéphane,

I just recieved my certificate today. :)

I did the exam online, and it was a bit more intimidating than the CAPM, but based on the bar graph, I actually did better on my PMP than my CAPM. I achieved Above Target in all 3 domains.

Now, onto my CMPICM and the PMI-RMP.

Congratulations, Jessica! Getting Above Target in all 3 domains is a great achievement, on top of passing the exam! Make sure to celebrate with all your "stakeholders"!

Now, you'll start asking PDU questions like "can I get PDUs doing that"?

Thanks!

I already started, even before passing! I posted a few days ago asking about the CMPICM courses potentially applying.

My current employer also seems keen on my interest in the PMI-RMP, but I'm trying to figure out how best to demonstrate the 24 months experience, and find the appropriate 30 PDU hours.

When I applied for my PMI-RMP, I had sufficient project management experience that I could use a portion of it for my risk management experience.

Personal development units (PDUs) are used to maintain your certification. What you are talking about are the 30 contact hours needed to apply for that certification. (I took an online university course in risk foundation for my PMI-RMP contact hours.)

I'm trying to figure out how to quantify my Risk Management experience.

I've also noticed that the 30 hour course can count as PDUs towards my PMP, so the key is finding a good one that would be something my company would be willing to pay for. The focus currently is definitely on the CMPICM certification, but for the current contract I'm on, they do want to do more risk management.

I planned for about 6 months to prepare. During that time I:

- Helped start and participated in a study group
- Established a schedule for reading an exam prep book in coordination with the PMBOK (I don't recommend reading the PMBOK straight through, unless that fits with your learning style)
- Took a video exam-prep course (back when they were on DVD, not online)
- Listened to exam prep podcasts
- Studied flashcards (I recommend writing them out - this can help you remember them better than just reading them)
- Took a couple of practice exams to help assess my readiness and identify areas to focus my studies

If you don't mind rambling, I blogged the experience. You might be better off skimming than reading... https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-pos...t-s-get-started

Tips:
- Treat preparing for the exam like a project. Schedule time to study. Plan and track your progress.
- If you don't already know, figure out how you best learn and retain information and then find/use study resources that fit that approach.
- Don't plan on learning anything new in the last month before you take the exam. At this point, it should all be review.
- In the last days before you take the exam, schedule a day off to not think about it. Give your brain a break, as opposed to the last-minute scramble.
- Get plenty of rest the night before the exam.
- If it fits your learning style, take a boot camp. Just keep in mind that you don't attend a boot camp to learn how to manage projects. The focus is exam prep.
- The emphasis of the exam is how PMI would have you manage projects, not necessarily how you are managing them today. It's called the PMBOK Guide because it's a guidebook and you can't always do everything in it, but you need to know how to apply it.

Aaron - I'm self taught and have never had the advantage of working within a PMO. I've tried reading the PMBOK straight through and it's just horrific. I've downloaded three others books after some online research. (I just finished the first one and am starting the second.) Are you willing to share what book you used as your study guide? The first book I read had a few tidbits that I could pick up but what I really need is a lot of the vernacular. Thank you!