Rebecca BraglioCommunity Engagement Specialist II| Project Management InstituteNewtown Square, Pa, United States
Have you taken the exam? Passed? Failed? Failed and then passed?
Help out a fellow project manager and post your tip on studying for and taking the exam. Here are some we''ve gathered from members so far:
J.l Laroche: Try not to try to absorb all the PMBOK content by heart, focus on the main stream of processes and knowledge, the tools and the results and you will be fine don''t worry. remember to get first through all questions, answering the evident ones and flagging the others and then get back to the flagged ones, and think of it, even if you''re unsure of the answer, always, always pick one, if you''re wrong you will not loose points and you have 1 on 4 chances to get it good...
M. Hartsough: When reviewing those questions you flagged, don''t start second-guessing yourself. IMO, in all probability your initial answer was correct. Don''t change your original answers unless you definitely found a better one. Remember to answer from the "PMI Perspective". The PMI Perspective isn''t necessarily how you or your organization manages projects.
F. McCaskell: take a break every 50 questions - no matter if you don''t think you need it. This will prevent you from being burned out at the end.
C.Tong: don''t think the exam is easy or you won''t prepare yourself well Saving Changes...
I went through Aileen Ellis' book - PMP Exam Simplified. I thought it was a tremendous help in preparing for the exam. I passed my PMP exam on the first try. Good Luck! Saving Changes...
I am finding difficulty for scenario based questions related to change management. Any tips on getting a grip on that please?
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1 reply by Hatem Haffar
Aug 16, 2017 1:52 PM
Hatem Haffar
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Hi Mousumi.
With an example you can understand the concept.
Imagine you have drawings and specification that specify to build a special type and size of block wall.
You didn't find at the suppliers the required type or size.
The supplier recommend you another similar type.
But since it is not mentioned in the specification, so you prepare a change request and submitted to the consultant (who is participant in the CCB) explaining the issue and you suggest a replacement.
The consultant study the request and reply with approval or rejection to your request.
In case of approval you proceed with the new type of block, and if rejected you will look for another solution and submit another change request.
You document everything in a change log.
This process is called a change management system.
I tried to go with PMP but finally decided to not loose my many as I have a problem with timing.
I am afraid PMBOK 6th Ed will be more than 1000 pages plus Agile book.?
I am really confused should I go with PMP of PMBOk 5th ED ? or wiating to next year?
Thanks
Mansour Saving Changes...
Abdul AbbasiIT Project Manager - PMP, CSMToronto, Ontario, Canada
Have you taken the exam? Passed.
I read the PMP Exam Prep Rita 3 times in 4 months.
After reading it three times, I completed the PMP Exam Prep System from Rita. There were about 1200 questions. This helped the most. I remember seeing very similar questions on the real exam from the fast track.
My biggest advice is to pick one resource and study it religiously. I have seen many individuals go in a panic mode near the exam date if they have read many books and completed many tests. Keep the studying simple and concise. Saving Changes...
Mohammed UllahGlobal Programme Manager| HSBC Bank plcLeeds, United Kingdom
Hi Rebecca, I took the exam in 2008 I think, passed first time. Two main tips for me:
One thing I didn't do (which some of my peers did) was to book a date so far into the future that it was always going to be a risk that I delay/defer study time for something else because 'I still have plenty of time'!
The second thing I felt was key was the more exam practice the better (from whatever ''free'' and reasonably priced options existed. This was to reinforce what I knew and tease out areas where I was struggling and bring these knowledge areas up to scratch. Saving Changes...
Hatem HaffarProject Manager| Schweitzer Engineering LaboratoriesPulman, Wa, United States
Jun 20, 2017 11:21 AM
Replying to Michael Adams
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Hatem, I'm sorry you failed the exam. I failed my first attempt as well. On your report, there should be areas indicating the specific topics that you performed poorly on.
Those questions can definitely be tricky. There may be two or three correct answers, and in order to get credit on the question, you have to select the most correct answer.
My recommendation would be to take a lot of practice exams and get a sense of the sorts of questions that will be asked. If you know the material pretty well now, I'd suggest finding practice questions and practice exams on google and going over those repeatedly. If you get an answer wrong, make sure to stop and understand exactly why the answer you selected wasn't the correct (or most correct) answer.
Here are some links from a quora post...
Here are my picks from experience:
If you want an unlimited number of free PMP Mock Tests that can save you some serious cash without compromising on quality, you should try PMP Practice tests from Exam Central
http://www.examcentral.net/pmp/pmp-practice-exam
Another good quality free full length test you should try is the Practice Test from Head First Labs (It is only moderately challenging but will still be worth your your time)
http://www.headfirstlabs.com/PMP/free_exam/
Finally I passed my PMP exam from my 2nd try. It was a great journey. I learned a lot and added them to my knowledge. I took your advice and practiced as much as I can till the last night before the exam. I found that practicing is very important. PMP aspirant should solve more than 2000 Q. I found examcentral questions are very easy. while simplilearn (Free), PM exam simulator (Paid) and PM fast track (Paid) are very similar to the real exam.
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2 replies by Irtaza Ghafoor and Stéphane Parent
Aug 16, 2017 3:12 PM
Stéphane Parent
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Congratulations, Hatem! Now you get to help newcomers on their journey to their PMP.
Sep 18, 2017 2:47 PM
Irtaza Ghafoor
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Congrats Hatem, I want to know what area you focus in second attempt. How you recover your weak area. Or only practice as much as you can.
Saving Changes...
Hatem HaffarProject Manager| Schweitzer Engineering LaboratoriesPulman, Wa, United States
Aug 15, 2017 9:25 AM
Replying to Mousumi Tripathy
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I am finding difficulty for scenario based questions related to change management. Any tips on getting a grip on that please?
Hi Mousumi.
With an example you can understand the concept.
Imagine you have drawings and specification that specify to build a special type and size of block wall.
You didn't find at the suppliers the required type or size.
The supplier recommend you another similar type.
But since it is not mentioned in the specification, so you prepare a change request and submitted to the consultant (who is participant in the CCB) explaining the issue and you suggest a replacement.
The consultant study the request and reply with approval or rejection to your request.
In case of approval you proceed with the new type of block, and if rejected you will look for another solution and submit another change request.
You document everything in a change log.
This process is called a change management system.
...
2 replies by Mousumi Tripathy
Aug 18, 2017 12:47 PM
Mousumi Tripathy
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Thank you Hatem for detailed example. However my concern is i get confused with below type of questions on change requests. Not able to choose the correct answer.
"A project is in the final stages of testing when it receives a major change request from the customer which would delay the final delivery of the project by 2 weeks. What should the Project Manager do NEXT?"
a) Create a change request and go through the change management process
b) Evaluate the impact of the change
c) Communicate the implication of the change to the customer
d) Adjust the project management plan and baseline
Aug 18, 2017 12:47 PM
Mousumi Tripathy
...
Thank you Hatem for detailed example. However my concern is i get confused with below type of questions on change requests. Not able to choose the correct answer.
"A project is in the final stages of testing when it receives a major change request from the customer which would delay the final delivery of the project by 2 weeks. What should the Project Manager do NEXT?"
a) Create a change request and go through the change management process
b) Evaluate the impact of the change
c) Communicate the implication of the change to the customer
d) Adjust the project management plan and baseline
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Aug 16, 2017 1:05 PM
Replying to Hatem Haffar
...
Finally I passed my PMP exam from my 2nd try. It was a great journey. I learned a lot and added them to my knowledge. I took your advice and practiced as much as I can till the last night before the exam. I found that practicing is very important. PMP aspirant should solve more than 2000 Q. I found examcentral questions are very easy. while simplilearn (Free), PM exam simulator (Paid) and PM fast track (Paid) are very similar to the real exam.
Congratulations, Hatem! Now you get to help newcomers on their journey to their PMP. Saving Changes...
When answering what if/what comes next questions, assume EVERYTHING is happening as perfectly and ideally as described in the PMBOK.#breakthroughpm Saving Changes...
Michael MoloneyProject Management Professional| Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, The PentagonBurke, Va, United States
Memorize the formulas.
Memorize and understand the processes. No need to know every input, tool and technique, and output--but you must understand the process.
Take as many practice exams as you can in the weeks leading up to your test.
Write the formulas and processes out on the scratch paper you are provided at the beginning of the exam.
Complete every question--a guess is always better than leaving the question blank.
If I can pass the exam--so can you. Saving Changes...
