Exam content - the unmarked 25 Questions....

Asif,

I am sorry to here that you failed twice. I do not think PMI's intention is to make you fail but the intention is to test your knowledge beyond the PMBOK and this all comes down to how experienced you are in your field. The PMP is not an easy exam and this is why it is a credential of value for individuals and employers. Here is what I suggest:

- See which processes you were below target.
- Do more studying in those areas.
- Solve more simulation exams.
- Give it another try before the exam changes in March.

That would be my advise to you & Good Luck.

Hi Asif, sorry to hear you're having a hard time passing the exam. The first two mock exams I took I only got 63% so was considering postponing the date as I was very depressed with those results. But I just decided to look at the answers I was getting wrong and then working really hard on addressing my areas of weakness, including my lack of exam stamina. I ended up studying about 4 hours a day for the next three weeks, took another 5 mock exams plus questions from another two sources - one of them the Rita book mentioned in another reply - which I went through twice. I would spend just as much time reviewing the answers as I did in taking the test, cross referencing the ones I got wrong with my on-line course and the PMBOK guide.

My approach to the exam was to read the last sentence first and then the answers from D backwards to A. If necessary I then read the rest of the question.

I skipped all the questions I could not answer straight away (28 of them) and marked another 48 where I was not sure of the answer. I also took two ten minutes break - the second one when I felt my focus drift and I was not reading the questions with 100% attention.

I had about an hour and 25 minutes left at the end to go over those questions I mentioned above - obviously starting with the ones where I had no answer.

I found the highlighting tool very useful for marking out key phrases e g. "product scope" instead of project scope, and the strikeout tool for crossing out those answers that was obviously wrong.

I also found the exam to be very fair - much better worded than the practice ones I had seen - and a good fair test of my knowledge. 99% of mine were situational and I can't remember any questions that just outright asked what an input or output to a certain process was. (I had decided not to memorise them)

I could not tell which were the 25 questions that would not be marked. I tried to remain calm and confident and not second guess myself - which is difficult to do if your confidence is low.

So study really hard, then study some more, be calm, confident and have a plan for how you will manage your exam.

I wish you the very best of luck.