What resources and support do you think will help you pass certification?
Linda MullallyProject Manager, Consultant| Strategic Technical Consultant, Project Manager, Learning FacilitatorMa, United States
I am seeing a lot of others posting here that share similar experiences to me, in which they are struggling to find credible, helpful resources, or even formulate a plan/strategy to effectively study for and pass their certification exams. There is a LOT of extensive, complex, and sometimes unhelpful information out there - and the Handbooks/guides from PMI (in my opinion) overly complicate things.
To help me improve my studies and become a true expert in Project Management, over the next 3-6 months as I study, I will be creating study plans, resources and other materials to help simplify the process, and in turn, use the resources to help make this process more accessible for others.
I know what resources will work well for myself, but we all have different learning styles. To anyone studying for the PMP or CAPM- what study resources would be most helpful to you? Study groups? Support from experts? Simplified guides and check lists, study plans for various timelines? Audio or video files? Interactive videos?
What financial investment do you plan to make for resources to pass the exam? So far, I have spent nearly $500, excluding a course in my MBA program.
Feel free to message me privately if you're not comfortable responding here. Thanks in advance for your time and for sharing! Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
From my side, here is what I suggest and this feedback is coming candidates who sat for the exam:
1) Read through the Exam Content Outline (ECO), PMBOK 6th Edition (Including the Agile Extension as lots of questions are Agile / Hybrid based) and then read the PMBOK 7th edition (it is a small book).
2) Go through Rita Mulchay’s Exam Prep book, I think its 10th edition now, not sure so double check. This is one of the best resources for exam preparation. Here is the link for the book: https://store.rmcls.com/pmp-exam-prep-tenth-edition
3) After you are done, purchase the Simulator Package through PM Prep Cast and practice as much as you can. This is a great simulator and resource for questions that mimic the real exam – Here is the link: https://www.project-management-prepcast.co...-exam-simulator
4) If you want a course to fulfill your 35 Hours then check Joseph Phillips on Udemy. He is a PMI ATP and great instructor. Saving Changes...
Before I would advise anyone on what prep-aids to use, I'd first ask them to assess where they need help. New to PM? Experienced at PM but new to PMI's format? Strong PM knowledge but need test taking prep, etc.
You don't want to spend a lot of time and training you don't need, just like you don't want to do a lot of non value added work on your projects.
I used free online practice tests to help me figure out where I needed to study to align my work experience to PMI's process groups and terminology instead of studying *everything*. I also found some good online courses for test taking best practices. That gave me time management strategies and how to pick the best answer, between multiple partially correct answers. Saving Changes...
*Read PMBOK 6th and PMBOK 7th editions
*Use Rita Mulcahy's certification prep, it's a good option to acquire PM Knowledge at your own pace and is updated to the latest exam. Visit this link:
https://rmcls.com/about/rita-mulcahy *Practice with Rita Mulcahy's simulator: https://rmcls.com/pmp-exam-simulator/ Saving Changes...
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