PMP, which is alternatively called project management professional certification, is a globally recognized accreditation that gauges a person’s ability to manage the process, project, and people. There are over a million certified professionals across the world, and still, there exists a skill gap because of the huge demand for these professionals. Every industry, from information technology to health care, needs trained project management professionals. To get the highly qualified certification, one has to meet the eligibility criteria and pass an exam. It is very important to learn how to prepare for the exam, earn the highest level of certification, and boost your career goals.
Eligibility and application
The project management techniques training is not for everyone who wants to get the certification. The professionals who wish to appear for them should meet certain perquisites. You should have a high school or graduate diploma along with experience in project management to appear for the exam. You should have at least three years of experience in leading projects within the past 8 years of your career and have a CAPM certification and a university degree. If your education qualification is a high school diploma, you should gain five years of experience in leading projects along with CAPM certification. It is not always necessary for professionals to be project managers, but they should play a key role in leading projects. They should document all the information related to their project and experience and apply for the exam. Your preparation for the PMP exam starts after your application is accepted.
PMP Exam format
The PMP certification is aligned with industry best practices. The exam includes 250 multiple-choice questions, which are divided into 25 pre-test unscored questions and 175 scored questions divided into phases. An applicant has three opportunities to attend the exam and earn the certification, which costs $575 per attempt; your preparation for the PMP exam saves you both time and money.
Preparing for Your PMP Exam
Review the PMP Examination Content Outline
Once you know that you are eligible, you should go through the content outline to understand the phases of question breakups as per the process and areas. You should learn the tasks, knowledge, and skills for a project management role to get an idea about the topics that will be covered as part of the exam. After you gain command over the content outline, please review it to ensure nothing sounds unfamiliar.
Enroll in the course
You can enroll in the PMP certification training course with the registered education providers approved by PMI to get a quality education when you want to take the exam. The classes are designed to offer tailor-made course material and teach you best practices for attending project management professional exams. The course program helps you get a quick grasp of project management concepts, terminology, and many key inputs to prepare you for the exam.
Prepare a Study plan
Every project needs correct planning for successful completion, and so does PMP certification. You should draft a plan covering all the activities of PMP certification, and the PMP exam is one of the key steps to earn the certification. Have a study plan by breaking it into smaller sessions and fix a timeline to complete and gain a considerable command over each session. Stretch your study time for an extended period to help you retain the information better. Estimate your total time to complete the course and distribute it into smaller timelines for longer periods. You can also get into last-minute cram sessions for better short-term information retention.
Take practice tests
After you complete the PMP training course for your exam preparation, you may not still be confident about your ability to pass the exam and earn the certification. Taking a practice exam is a great way to assess your skills and your ability to recall the things you have learned during the exam preparation. Practice tests usually consist of 200 questions, and you don’t have to complete the full questionnaire each time you take the test; take shorter tests to help you identify the areas of improvement and strengthen your knowledge in the subject. By the end of the exam preparation period, you should be able to attend the PMI-authorized practice exam completely to ensure you are ready for the exam. The official test follows the same format as the project management professional exam to get you a true feel of the test design, time frame, and questions as well.
Mistakes to avoid while preparing for PMP exam
- The professional taking the PMP exam should understand the question from a project management perspective before going to real-time experience because your current approaches may not always be correct.
- Consistency in the preparation is key to passing the PMP exam. Stay focused on your preparation and stretch the preparation for a three-to six-month period rather than a year.
- People often reschedule their exam dates, and lack of enough preparation could be a possible reason. Always stick to the exam date unless it is an emergency so that you can stay focused on your exam preparation.
- Most of the people who prepare for the PMP exam are experienced professionals, and they should find the right balance between their work time and preparation time to crack the exam successfully.
- You should understand the concepts from the PMBOK guide before attempting the objective questions to be able to crack them successfully and gain confidence in attempting the real test.
Conclusion
Getting PMP certification is an achievement as it is a great boost to one’s career. Your preparation for the exam should be planned well and executed successfully. You should get training from PMI-recognized institutes to focus and understand the concepts better and score high in the exam to earn the credential. The educational providers help you not only understand the concepts but also schedule your exam preparation to help you gain command over all aspects of the exam and aid you in getting the certification in the first or fewer attempts.
