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...
Pamela NandiDelivery Project Manager| IBM India Pvt. Ltd.Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Jan 31, 2018 9:37 AM
Replying to Christian Lillo
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Hello Pamela, thank you for your recommendation and tipps.
Well I have read the PMBok two times and Rita as well and I have work and answer on Rita´s question. I had the feeling that most of the questions and the according ansers were stupied meaning by reading the answers I thought every answer or no answer is correct.
Furthermore I was wondering about the sense....what is the question refereing to (do you know what I mean ?).
Well actually I am thinkning of if a fourth time makes sense.
Cheers
Hello Christian, coming to your points one by one
I had the feeling that most of the questions and the according answers were stupied meaning by reading the answers I thought every answer or no answer is correct.
You are correct, this is the trick of the exam. Each ques will make you think at least twice or even more during the exam.
Out of all the correct ones you have to select the BEST.
For the absurd answers in some of the open forum its documented that they do not add any marks to the exam. Its a pressure test to confuse the candidate more.
My recommendation if you can buy and practice one PAID simulator in case if you haven't done that yet. I am sure this will bring back your grip and confidence level over the exam. PMPrepCast is the MOST RATED simulator.
If you would like to buy any other simulator, please go through the reviews carefully before you buy them.
By reading the explanation for both incorrect and correct answers you will know what is wrong in your understanding. For every correct answer, I tried to do thorough search in PMBOK - you will get a catch how that BEST answer is hidden in some way or other as concept in PMBOK. This is very time consuming process and specially for situational questions.
Furthermore I was wondering about the sense....what is the question refereing to (do you know what I mean ?).
Sometimes the ques comes as a combo from 2 or 3 KAs of PMBOK which is very confusing whether its referring to RISK/PROCUREMENT. This type of quality questions i came accross in both PMZEST and PMPrepCast.
Honestly, I also practised lots of free sample ques but sorry to say they did not add much benefit to the exam.
In the last 5 months i only practised the above 2 simulators multiiple times and i stopped wasting anymore time looking into the free sample tests.
Did you make use of the tools for highlighting the ques and scratching the wrong answers during exam.
Since last 5 months, I regularly dumped all the best tips in a sheet and that is how i came with the plan.
Please let me know if you need any furthur info/help.
My suggestion would be not to give up, please go ahead and give the exam ONLY when you are ready. Saving Changes...
I presented the exam on January 31 and I lost it, I will present it within a month and a half (March 14) I want to know if anyone knows the prepcast simulator in Spanish and some tips for the new attempt
I have passed my PMP (first attempt) on Dec 30 2017.
I completed my exams with almost an hour to spare. I marked only one question for review. I read questions more than once and gave a definitive answer. Importantly I didn't change any of my answers.
* Don't follow too many resources for study
* Study PMBOK glossary
* Understand the concepts of PMBOK (eg: Origination of change requests and its flow, change control systems etc..,)
* Practice as many as mock exams possible (I had never taken 200 questions mock exam once, I used to take 50 questions or 100 questions in a sitting)
* If you are not confident facing PMP exam first, try and take CAPM first and then proceed to PMP ( I took CAPM, Project+ and then PMP)
Vijay, So you are saying PMBOK is sufficient, I am confused with so many second book suggestions and really it would be a task to study. Please confirm
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1 reply by Vijay Selvaraj
Feb 28, 2018 11:55 AM
Vijay Selvaraj
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Hi Chethan,
Sorry for delayed reply.
Yes as per me PMBOK is more than enough, i had Rita Mulcahy and Head Fist PMP book but i hardly read that books.
I was wondering if sticking to one book i.e PMBOK 5 is sufficient? Studying more supporting books and I may get confused. Can you clarify, Of course I will take the mock test and go through the question bank. Saving Changes...
Just earned 2 days ago!
For me it was:
- 3h per day x 5 days x 6 weeks
- PMBOK 5th edition twice + other few publications found on the web
- some webinars, podcasts, youtube prep.,
I've not insisted too much on anything as if you got the credentials it's already your daily life, so nothing really new. Just be honest with yourself and work on your weaknesses.
NB: enjoy these study time as it's breaking down the routine.
Happy Christmas to everyone and Happy 2018!
Hi, Just wanted to check, is PMBOK 5 sufficient? I am confused with so many second book suggestions and really it would be a task to study. I will however take the mock test and go through the question bank. Please clarify.
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1 reply by Pamela Nandi
Feb 08, 2018 1:56 PM
Pamela Nandi
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Please get yourself through with Rita exercises and practice paid simulators. The free mock tests are good for practice but they do not follow the actual confusing pattern given during the exam.
Saving Changes...
Pamela NandiDelivery Project Manager| IBM India Pvt. Ltd.Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Feb 08, 2018 4:23 AM
Replying to CHETHAN MANGALORE
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Hi, Just wanted to check, is PMBOK 5 sufficient? I am confused with so many second book suggestions and really it would be a task to study. I will however take the mock test and go through the question bank. Please clarify.
Please get yourself through with Rita exercises and practice paid simulators. The free mock tests are good for practice but they do not follow the actual confusing pattern given during the exam. Saving Changes...
I took the exam for PMP on February 10, 2018. paper based. in Ecuador. I really felt comfortable but unfortunately did not pass. I could not finish the last 20 questions (I did not even read them for lack of time, anyway I answered them, guessing).
TIP: answering the last questions at the beginning of the exam could help. What do you think? That is, do not pass through the exam in order but try to leave unanswered questions other than the last ones.
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1 reply by Diane Gloor
Feb 28, 2018 6:06 PM
Diane Gloor
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Bernardo - sorry to hear about your results. I am studying right now to take the exam on 3/21. Things that I am finding helpful are: Do not use PMChallenge as a simulator, you can find many true simulators for free and some you can purchase. Prepcast is always mentioned as the closest to the actual test.
Everyone learns in different ways, but the value of doing a complete practice exam (4 hours/200 questions) is crucial so you can experience how it feels to sit and focus for 4 hours, be able to handle 200 questions, and learn how to watch your time and pace yourself - i.e. hurry up or you have enough time go back and review questions you marked.
I have seen many PM's mention that you should try to answer around 2,000 practice questions. And always look up the questions you got wrong.
Evaluation of my exam:
Question: It is convenient to request a requalification? Has anyone in this forum asked for requalification before? My exam was Paper Based. Could the computer have gotten confused on my answer sheet?
My performance:
Initiating: Below Target
Planning: Needs Improvement
Executing: Needs Improvement
Monitoring and Controlling: Needs Improvement
Closing: Needs Improvement
Details:
I took the exam for PMP on February 10, 2018. paper based. in Ecuador. I really felt comfortable but unfortunately I could not finish the last 20 questions (I did not even read them for lack of time, anyway I answered them, guessing).
TIP: answering the last questions at the beginning of the exam could help. What do you think? That is, do not pass through the exam in order but try to leave unanswered questions other than the last ones.
I really thought that I did well since all the other questions I did not have many doubts! However: my test result is very bad! I'm surprised by that. I mean, I can not explain how I was so confused in my study to have such a low performance? Study so badly to have this performance so low on the exam?
To be honest I did not follow a formal simulator.
I used the PMchallenge as an exam simulator and I got to answer three sessions of 60 questions with a 60% performance in the PMchallenge (I made my own PM challenge scoreboard) Saving Changes...
I failed the exam! I did not follow a formal simulator.
I used the PMchallenge as an exam simulator and I got to answer three sessions of 60 questions with a 60% performance in the PMchallenge (I made my own PM challenge scoreboard).
Do you think a PMchallenge in www.Projectmanagement.com is a weak tool?
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1 reply by Pamela Nandi
Mar 14, 2018 7:33 AM
Pamela Nandi
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Practice the best paid simulators like PMPrepCast and PMZest.. They have well written justifications for right and wrong answers which will help to clear your concepts.
Saving Changes...
Vijay SelvarajLead Engineer| W-IndustriesHouston TX, United States
Feb 08, 2018 2:18 AM
Replying to CHETHAN MANGALORE
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Vijay, So you are saying PMBOK is sufficient, I am confused with so many second book suggestions and really it would be a task to study. Please confirm
Hi Chethan,
Sorry for delayed reply.
Yes as per me PMBOK is more than enough, i had Rita Mulcahy and Head Fist PMP book but i hardly read that books. Saving Changes...
