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...
Congratulations to all those who passed the exam. Saving Changes...
John DuncanRetired| RetiredLebanon, Tn, United States
This is an old thread... And I didn't read all 24 pages of replies. SO this may have already been mentioned, but I don't see it in the summary in the original post.
Prepare a "brain dump" list of information which could be formulas, or any item that is difficult for you to remember in the heat of the moment. Rehearse this brain dump list ahead of time. Then jot it down on the scratch paper when you first get into the exam room, before answering any of the questions. Saving Changes...
Julia CunninghamManager Project Management| BattelleRichland, Wa, United States
I took the PMP as a proctored exam with bubble sheets and #2 pencil, so that should tell you how long ago it was... All the ideas around practice and the references are along the lines of what I hear from friends and colleagues locally who are preparing for the new exam though.
Remember to be well rested and eat an appropriate meal (whatever that may be for you personally) before the exam so you will be at your best, which I find always makes me perform better and less likely to become flustered when I encounter something I'm not expecting. Saving Changes...
Dileep SankarProject Engineer| Mechon Trading and ContractingDoha, Qatar
I'd like to know one thing regarding the exam: if I answer a question and move to the next, will it be possible to return and edit the answer? I know that we can mark the questions and come back later, but this is a different case, isn't it?
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1 reply by Chad Chouinard
Mar 07, 2018 1:32 PM
Chad Chouinard
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You will be able to select a button to "next" question or "previous" question to navigate forward and backward through the exam. You can "mark for review" any and all, or no questions. Once you finish, you can review all questions or only the ones marked. I strongly recommend, however, only marking questions that you are completely unsure of or that are lengthy math questions. If you feel a question will take you several minutes to complete, select and answer and mark it for review and move on. I was unable to finish my exam in the 4 hours (left 8 - 9 questions) so I never got to go back and review ones I was unsure of. Also, it was recommended to me to minimize the amount of times you use the mark feature as it sets you into a mindset of second guessing yourself and potentially changing correct answers to incorrect ones.
Saving Changes...
Chad ChouinardConstruction Project Manager| Ocean State Job LotMarlborough, Ma, United States
Just took the exam yesterday. Did not pass. I wrote down the entire process groupd and knowledge area chart, jotted down most, if not all of the EVM equations (note this was done once the exam clock started). It did not help me at all save for one or two questions on EVM. I also ran out of time leaving about 8-9 questions unanswered that I probably could have answered had I not spent the 15 or so minutes writing down the Process Groups and Knowledge areas. Most of the questions are situational..what should the project manager have done better, etc. I think comitting the ITTO's to memory would have been a more valuable approach to answer these. Also knowing exactly what each output consists of and its purpose is a recommendation. I thought I had a decent grasp. I was completely wrong.
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1 reply by Pamela Nandi
Mar 14, 2018 7:26 AM
Pamela Nandi
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Hi,
I hope while taking the exam you have used the marker ( to strike off the wrong answers)and the selection tool ( to highlight the imp. areas of question) - these tools save lot of time.
Sharing my experience -
Have not brain dumped the formulas in the sheet as it wastes lots of time.
Completed all 200 questions in 3.5 hours without taking any break (though it was bit stressful, as i was bit nervous about finishing the paper)
Last 0.5 hour i spent in revising at least 70 questions.
Practised 2 paid simulators - PMZest and PM PrepCast ( that helped me to clear my concepts) . Free simulators will not help anyway - its just for your practice only.
Best of Luck !!!
Saving Changes...
Chad ChouinardConstruction Project Manager| Ocean State Job LotMarlborough, Ma, United States
Mar 06, 2018 4:39 AM
Replying to Dileep Sankar
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I'd like to know one thing regarding the exam: if I answer a question and move to the next, will it be possible to return and edit the answer? I know that we can mark the questions and come back later, but this is a different case, isn't it?
You will be able to select a button to "next" question or "previous" question to navigate forward and backward through the exam. You can "mark for review" any and all, or no questions. Once you finish, you can review all questions or only the ones marked. I strongly recommend, however, only marking questions that you are completely unsure of or that are lengthy math questions. If you feel a question will take you several minutes to complete, select and answer and mark it for review and move on. I was unable to finish my exam in the 4 hours (left 8 - 9 questions) so I never got to go back and review ones I was unsure of. Also, it was recommended to me to minimize the amount of times you use the mark feature as it sets you into a mindset of second guessing yourself and potentially changing correct answers to incorrect ones. Saving Changes...
FAHIM SHEIKHPresident| 0947292 BC Ltd.Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Hi,
Please recommend an exam simulator, asking specially those who took the PMP exam in the last 30 days or so.
Cheers,
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2 replies by Pamela Nandi and Vijay Selvaraj
Mar 08, 2018 2:35 PM
Vijay Selvaraj
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Fahim
Try Praizion.com site the questions are very realistic and little tough to pass the exam.
Once you clear the mocks test definitely you have a bright chance to clear the main exam.
Cheers
Vijay
Mar 14, 2018 7:15 AM
Pamela Nandi
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Hi Fahim,
you can use the 2 best paid simulators - PM PrepCast and PMzest. Helped me clear my concepts and i passed the exam.
Focus on the justification/explanations of both right and wrong answers.
First, if you have failed the exam. Don't give up. Assess what areas you were not strong in and begin your study plan again. Do not MEMORIZE ITTOs... but UNDERSTANDING the processes is more important. If you understand them you have no need to actually memorize them. IMHO, this may not sound correct; but it is true. You must memorize is EVM formulas. Take as many of the practice exams as you can and monitor the areas you are weak. Improve on those areas. Keep taking the exams until you have scored well over what is considered passing.
Good Luck! Saving Changes...
Juan Carlos LondoñoProfesional de Gestión de Tecnologías| Metro de MedellínBello, Antioquia, Colombia
Dec 04, 2015 8:01 PM
Replying to Bala S Duvvuri
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Utilize the first 15 minutes which is given to get familiarized with the system to write down all the important formulas/things which you can''t remember for a long time on the paper so that you can free up your mind and concentrate on the questions.
is correct!, "Project Management Institute (PMI)® and Prometric have made the following change to the examination format of all PMI® certifications: You are no longer allowed to take any notes during the 15 minute time of the tutorial". from Saving Changes...
Juan Carlos LondoñoProfesional de Gestión de Tecnologías| Metro de MedellínBello, Antioquia, Colombia
Dec 07, 2015 4:27 AM
Replying to Markus Kopko
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@Chintan:
You do provide some valuable tipps, like the previous poster also, but there is one thing i like kind to disagree.
It si about your second point regarding the ITTO''s.
I know that this is broadly discussed out there and there are a lot of sources which recommend to train and memorize all the ITTO''s by heart.
But that is exactly what i do disagree about. Imho it is just not necessary and a huge waste of time and ressources just to try.
There are more than 600 ITTO''s related to all the 47 PM processes and i would say it is nearly impossible for 99% o the aspirants to memorize them.
But just more important, it is simply not necessary.
I did the exam back in august this year and i can''t remember not a single question which has asked for an ITTO directly, not one.
And in addition i would say, if you have learned about all the processes and if you have UNDERSTANd how they work and how they are interrelated, than the ITTO''s are coming by nature.
However, for all who are asking themselves if they should learn the ITTO''s by hear or not i would like to recommend this article here:
