Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Hi George,
I'd say begin with the application process. Get that squared away so once you begin preparing to sit the exam, your focus remains on that.
Preparation will include the applicable veriin of the PMBOK, along with Ritals guide (a favorite here, although, I did not use it).
Study tips wise, that is up to you. What suits you best? Personally, I studied in short bursts, like the train to and from work, and lunch breaks, the a couple hours before bed. In the weekends I'd spend a solid 5 hours. I read the PMBOK twice, took notes, then used those notes as my 'bible'. I also used flash cards.
I was also fortunate to attend a 4 day workshop prep class for the exam.
Also, utilize this community. I did not spend time here until after my exam. I could have benefited from the experience that is right here at your fingertips.
I'm typing on my mobile, so forgive any typos or shortness.
Good Luck! Saving Changes...
Markus KopkoAI Enabler for Project & Program Mgmt | Founder PMotion.ai / The PM
AI Coach| PMotion.aiHamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Hello George,
i have developed a 5 Step Guidance process to answer exactly this question you do have here, cause this question have most of the new PMP aspirants.
You can find this also as an article on LinkedIn, where i will this update and enhance regularly; hope it helps a bit:
PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification
The Project Management Professional (PMP)® is the most important industry-recognized certification for project managers.
You can find PMPs leading projects in nearly every country and, unlike other certifications that focus on a particular geography or domain, the PMP® is truly global. As a PMP, you can work in virtually any industry, with any methodology and in any location.
The PMP can also provide a significant advantage when it comes to salary and earning potential. Among survey respondents to PMI’s Earning Power Salary Survey, (https://goo.gl/1KDfHb ) those with a PMP certification garner a higher salary (20% higher on average) than those without a PMP certification.*
Employers benefit as well. When more than one-third of their project managers are PMP-certified, organizations complete more of their projects on time, on budget and meeting original goals. (Pulse of the Profession® study, PMI, 2015.) (https://goo.gl/bpPSLr )
The PMP signifies that you speak and understand the global language of project management and connects you to a community of professionals, organizations and experts worldwide. Become a PMP and become a project hero.
• PMP® Requirements - general (“The Complete Guide To “How To Get PMP Certification”)
? http://goo.gl/umrz68
• PMP® Requirements – 35 contact hours (The Complete Guide to PMP 35 Contact Hours of Project Management Education )
? http://goo.gl/dTL5i2
Step 2: Get started with your PMP® certification preparation. Make a plan! Read the PMBOK Guide, a good PMP prep book (in companion) and use other recommended resources:
STEP 2.1: Make a plan
• Create Your PMP Study Plan - The Complete Guide
? http://goo.gl/fqKm7B
This article shows you how to create your very own study plan based on lessons learned of thousands of students!
• Enroll in our “Project Manager’s PMP Exam prep guidance”-program!
As an alternative to create your own study plan, why not using ours! We have created a guidance program which will guide you through the complete preparation process in a structured and professional way! And the best – it is completely for REE! No cost and no risk for you. You can start and cancel at any time. You may have a look here:
Let me be your PMP guide program – totally FREE!:
? https://goo.gl/pPDzms
STEP 2.2: Get the PMBoK Guide PLUS a good prep book (at least one) and work through them thoroughly
• PMBoK Guide 5th Edition itself (? http://goo.gl/hgevNQ )
As a PMI member you will have access to a digital and personalized version of the actual PMBoK Guide version. Otherwise you need to buy a paper based version.
• PMBOK Knowledge Areas for Project Management Guide 5th Edition - Process Groups and Processes - The Complete Guide
? http://goo.gl/I2Eusc
Here are some additional article regarding this topic:
STEP 2.3: Choose additional prep material and resources based on your personal learning preferences and behaviors
There are tons of resources available out there. Don’t get confused and mislead about it. Think about your personal learning preferences and choose the material that fits to them. Do not choose too many resources and get overwhelmed! Sometimes more is less.
For some guidance about this topic please refer to the following article:
The 12 Most Popular PMP Study Materials for your PMP Exam Preparation
http://goo.gl/x22lDd
Step 3: Took a PMP® preparation course (live or online) and get you’re required 35 contact hours of PM training.
You should already read about it here (refer to step 1 of this 5 step guide):
• PMP® Requirements – 35 contact hours (The Complete Guide to PMP 35 Contact Hours of Project Management Education )
? http://goo.gl/dTL5i2 Next question you have to answer yourself: “Should I go by a live class/bootcamp or is it better to use a online course for self-learning (or something in between …)?!
Once again, this depends on your very own learning preferences and behaviors. Some of us do need a teacher in front of us and others prefer to learn completely by their own.
Here are some articles with helpful information and guidance regarding this topic:
Five Reasons to Attend a PMP Exam Boot Camp to Pass the PMP Exam
If you consider going for a online course then we would highly recommend the “PM PrepCast” by the well-known Cornelius Fichtner:
Prep Cast:
? http://goo.gl/KUPFBG
Step 4: Finalize your preparation: Utilize a professional online Exam simulator. Analyze and enhance your results. Use flashcards and study tables, review your notes from class and take lots of practice exams.
• Practice, practice, practice – cause practice is the key!
We can’t underline that more! And we would recommend NOT ONLY doing as much sample questions as you can, cause practice is the key!
Furthermore you should go for really SIMULATING the exam.
It is not an easy job to do 200 (more or less difficult) Questions in a time frame of 4 Hours.
Those 4 Hours could get really long and/or you could run out of time in case you will hang on to long to one very difficult/complex question for instance.
So, you should train your time management for the exam also.
You can do so with those tons of free sample question available on the internet, but in our experience, a professional tool which provides you exactly the exam circumstances, is much better for this.
Yes, it may take a little invest, but from our point of view and our experience this is priceless.
We would like to recommend you the exam simulator by Cornelius Fichtner, which provides you ? 1.800 high quality PMP questions and which gives you ? high flexibility in how to train your questions up to max. ? 9 fully loaded and timed exam simulations, each with ? 200 individual questions.
You may have a look here: ? http://goo.gl/9jh79N
You may earn an exclusive 10% discount on this one by using the code MARKUSQ117 while checking out!
To get an idea of what you can expect, please use ?the free/trial version to try out: ? http://goo.gl/SorPfD
And again there are some other options available out there which are also good to use for this:
Pmaspire Exam Simulator:
?Package Name: PLATINUM
15% Discount Code: MK15PASS
Please go to the following link for registration for the PLATINUM Package!: ? http://goo.gl/FrCEp8
If you have done all those steps you should really be well prepared for the exam! Here are some final tips and recommendations for you:
The Secret of Creating Your PMP Brain Dump
? https://goo.gl/7dxTKX PMP Exam Tips: How to Handle Your Actual PMP Exam Day
? https://goo.gl/1jbYaS
All those tips and even more PLUS a structured study guide PLUS additional checklists (like an “Exam Day Count down” for instance …) PLUS Expert advice PLUS a great community of PMP aspirants … this all you can get by enrolling in our completely FREE “Project Manager’s Exam Prep Guidance” –Program:
Pier Luigi CalabriaProject Manager| INFORM Institut für Operations Research und Management GmbH, Aachen, GermanyAachen, Germany
My suggestion:
-.- PMBOK in collaboration with any other books that will give more practical advice (i.e. Rita Mulcahy's)
-.- do test simulations, hoping that you find good ones, test yourself also in the full length of the examination (all 200 questions, check your time)
-.- "Rome wasn't built in a day", consider that you need time to assimilate all information, you cannot pretend to compress your schedule for learning too much
-.- do not start from the assumption that you've always worked well as a PM up to now, neither your Company used the right processes. I mean, start to look in the PMBOK with open mind.
Good luck!!!
...
1 reply by Roberto Alvarez
May 17, 2017 1:09 PM
Roberto Alvarez
...
100% agreed with Pier' suggestion. I'll add that you "understand" PMBOK's processes and its ITTOs. Not memorizing them, but to learn where it’s used and why.
Saving Changes...
Andre CassuleFEED and Detailed Engineering, Project management| DEALLuanda, Luanda, Angola
I'm preparing the PMP exam and I'm using:
- PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition
- PMP Exam Prep 8th Edition - Rita Mulcahy
- Project Manager - Aligned with the PMBOK Guide 5th Edition and some simulators. These books have helped me. Saving Changes...
First read all the way the PMBOK, then go deeper with Rita Mulchay outstandings book and only when you feel confident, start testing your knowledge using lots of the exam test prep on book or even online.
Consider to read carefully change management, communications management and stakeholders management that are the most sensitive process where a deep understanding is required.
Don't focus on your current PM experience but rather think about very large projects with tons of stakeholders. This will finally help a lot.
Formulas, charts, procurements contracts types are easy enough and won't be of any matter.
Deep focus on stakeholders once again throughout the whole change management process.
Relax on the Test day, no study the day before, take the day off and Good Luck! Saving Changes...
Get started with PMBOK and Rita's book. Go through the same knowledge areas from both the books to have better understanding.
Remember that the knowledge areas and output of processes are dependent, so be sure to understand the concept while going to next chapter.
Of course, try solving questions on the chapter as well. Saving Changes...
Seema SonkiyaHead Business Analysis Practices, PMI-PBA trainer| iZenBridge Consultancy Private LimitedJaipur, Rajasthan, India
Just to add my view: Apart from the selecting the right material and training- A goal based study plan is also a very important. Like as follows:
1. As you have just started your preparation, your FIRST GOAL is: • Getting sufficient knowledge about basic of PMBOK contents. Initially don’t need to be master of each PMBOK lesson. Just try to know basics of each knowledge areas and processes. What they do and how they interrelate with each other You can plan initial 15 days for your FIRST GOAL. - It is just an example 2. Your SECOND GOAL is: • Get into details of PMBOK topics and Get the grip on each knowledge area Get details of IITO and their interrelationship. How practically each processes are used and what is important and what is not important for each process. You can plan next 25 days for Your SECOND GOAL. - It is just an example 3. Your THIRD GOAL is: • Develop endurance for final PMP exam. You must develop habit of 4 hours You can plan remaining 10 days the THIRD phase of your GOAL. - - It is just an example Don’t forget to have 2 days of rest before the exam date, it is very important to have cool mind during the exam. Now for the action plan for each Goal, you can watch following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-o_YRi8flE Saving Changes...
Roberto AlvarezIT, Web Services Manager| New York Law SchoolNew Jersey, United States
May 15, 2017 3:29 AM
Replying to Pier Luigi Calabria
...
My suggestion:
-.- PMBOK in collaboration with any other books that will give more practical advice (i.e. Rita Mulcahy's)
-.- do test simulations, hoping that you find good ones, test yourself also in the full length of the examination (all 200 questions, check your time)
-.- "Rome wasn't built in a day", consider that you need time to assimilate all information, you cannot pretend to compress your schedule for learning too much
-.- do not start from the assumption that you've always worked well as a PM up to now, neither your Company used the right processes. I mean, start to look in the PMBOK with open mind.
Good luck!!!
100% agreed with Pier' suggestion. I'll add that you "understand" PMBOK's processes and its ITTOs. Not memorizing them, but to learn where it’s used and why. Saving Changes...
Betsy GreenOnboarding Manager| TownNews.comMoline, Il, United States
In addition to the PMBOK and Rita's book, I highly recommend Head First PMP by Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman. It's written conversationally and gave me quite a few lightbulb moments. I felt more like I understood, rather than just memorizing things for a test. Saving Changes...
