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...
Tips for taking the exam: Time Management is extremely important. I'd divide the total time into 4 slots with the first 3 being hourly while the last one being 45 minutes. The remaining 15 minutes is for revision. Then assign a target no of questions to be answered at the end of each slot such that 200 questions are completed at the end of the 4th slot. The key here is to not spend long time on a particular question. There will be tricky/tough questions which might need your attention more than others. You should not be bogged down by those questions. If you can't answer it, don't get bogged down. Answer it to the best of your ability and Move on! More often than not, the first answer that comes to your mind is the correct one. Don't let that question bother you and affect your mood.
Tips for preparing for the exam: Try to understand the concept rather than just memorizing things. Build on the fundamentals. While studying put your PMI hat on and try to find out the Whys not just Hows and Whats. Once, you know the answer for Whys it might be easier for you to answer other related questions easily. Prepare well and try to resolve as many mock questions as possible. Try to take at least one time boxed simulation test. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I thing in any exam you need to understand the concept first.
Prepare a list of things you are less at ease to write down as you start the exam, not to be confuse later, when facing a question. (ex formulas)
Prepare more for the subject you're less familiar with. Saving Changes...
I would recommend reading PMBOK over and over. I also bought a membership from Career Academy (http://bit.ly/2fnjzjJ) and took their online PMP training, it helped me prepare for the certification exam and it gave me the 35 contact hours that I needed. Lastly, I took exam simulators so that I can be more confident on the exam. Saving Changes...
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.
This practice was not permitted in my test center. Tester has to wait until the actual test has begun to use the scratch paper and pencils provided Saving Changes...
ABDELLAH NAIT SALAHPM I| Bureau Veritas MarocCasablanca, Grande Casablanca, Morocco
Hello
Where can we find case studies to concretize the notions of PMP?
Regards Saving Changes...
Deepa KalangiManager, Program Management, Author, Trainer| CVS HealthCharlotte, NC, United States
Attend a webinar or a course, understand the PMBOK content thoroughly, both from a memory and practice perspective. In between, I have used Rita Mulcahy to kind of validate my thinking for some tricky questions. Yes ITTO needs to be memorized as much possible but again with understanding the why of it. Otherwise, hard to just apply the knowledge during the exam. I prepared for 6 weeks and passed on my first try, about 7 years ago. Saving Changes...
Hatem HaffarProject Manager| Schweitzer Engineering LaboratoriesPulman, Wa, United States
Unfortunately today I failed my PMP test. Although I was fully prepared with full understanding of all knowledge areas and processes, I read PMBoK and Rita book, did lot of practice questions on PM Fasttrack by knowledge area and 1 full test. As soon as I sit for the exam, I wrote the knowledge area map "Table 3-1" and all cost formulas in front of me during the uncounted 15 min. But still somehow I failed.
I am looking for materials to fill my knowledge gaps. Most of the questions I got in the test were situational questions which require me to have the same logic of PMI to get them right. I got few ITTO or formulas questions.
I am planning to sit for the test again next month, but I am confused, don't know where to start. Should I re-read the books, should I concentrate more on practicing or better register to some PMP preparation training like learnsmart.com and pmeducate.com What is your best advise for me to study and pass this test. Thank you.
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1 reply by Michael Adams
Jun 20, 2017 11:21 AM
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/
Saving Changes...
Michael AdamsSolutions Architect| LANLLos Alamos, Nm, United States
Jun 20, 2017 11:01 AM
Replying to Hatem Haffar
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Unfortunately today I failed my PMP test. Although I was fully prepared with full understanding of all knowledge areas and processes, I read PMBoK and Rita book, did lot of practice questions on PM Fasttrack by knowledge area and 1 full test. As soon as I sit for the exam, I wrote the knowledge area map "Table 3-1" and all cost formulas in front of me during the uncounted 15 min. But still somehow I failed.
I am looking for materials to fill my knowledge gaps. Most of the questions I got in the test were situational questions which require me to have the same logic of PMI to get them right. I got few ITTO or formulas questions.
I am planning to sit for the test again next month, but I am confused, don't know where to start. Should I re-read the books, should I concentrate more on practicing or better register to some PMP preparation training like learnsmart.com and pmeducate.com What is your best advise for me to study and pass this test. Thank you.
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/
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2 replies by Hatem Haffar
Jun 20, 2017 9:15 PM
Hatem Haffar
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Thank you for the references Micheal.
I will take with your suggestion for practicing only without reading again.
I will let you know if I pass it next time hopefully
Aug 16, 2017 1:05 PM
Hatem Haffar
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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.
