Cracking the Project Management Professional Exam (PMP)|PMP Exam Tips and Resources

Project Management

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements***.

Project management is a carefully planned and organized effort to accomplish specific project goals and objectives. It involves the discipline of managing resources. The most crucial objective of project management is the completion of all of the project goals and objectives while honoring the predetermined constraints, i.e., scope, time and finance.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

This certification is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and to obtain this one has to:-

• Document one’s work experience in Project Management
• Score at least 61% on a written multiple choice examination
• Complete 35 hours of Project Management related training

This certification has acquired importance in the current recessionary scenario where companies are being very focused in being efficient and manage projects well. The certification boosts one’s credentials by establishing your competence at Project Management and gives one an edge over the others to accomplish project objectives.

Several Fortune 1000 companies demand that their employees in project management activities should be PMPs.The Project Management role has evolved into a well defined discipline that encompasses all the different activities and skill-sets required for successful implementation of a project.

Free Tips for the Project Management exam-

Before the Examination

1. A PMP exam prep course is the best way to begin. Check for institutes that offer PMP Boot Camps which are classroom sessions spread over 3-5 days that involve extensive and comprehensive training sessions. The primary benefit of these sessions is that one can interact with the experienced faculty and also other Project Managers (PM) who are taking up the exam. This interaction ensures that one gets a firsthand experience on how to approach situations that one comes across as a PM and the underlying principle that govern them.
2. Periodic Evaluation-A large number of free tests are available online that one can use to assess one’s preparation for the examination. The exam simulation software that most websites offer is a better option though they can be expensive. These tests let you pick up the necessary time-management skills and the detailed reports allows one to review one’s performance and learn the correct answers for questions one missed.

Sample Questions: Take PMstudy.com FREE 200 questions simulated practice test to get an idea of the final PMP exam format at www.pmstudy.com.

During the Examination

Type of Questions:

• The PMP Certification Exam consists of 200 Multiple Choice Questions, which must be answered within 4 hours. These questions are randomly generated from a question database which has several hundred questions.
• There is No Negative Marking. All Questions are Multiple Select Questions i.e. the examinee must choose one from the available four alternatives. The examinee does not need to type even a single word in the question paper.
• Out of 200 questions answered, 25 questions are dummy questions which will not be used for scoring. Please note that dummy questions are selected randomly by the computer and are not known by the candidate when taking the exam - so effectively candidates have to answer all the 200 questions to the best of their ability.
• Since 25 out of 200 questions are not used for scoring, so effectively, 175 questions are used for scoring for the exam.
• To pass the PMP Exam, the candidate must answer 106 out of 175 questions correctly (i.e. pass percentage is 60.6%).

1. Elimination of options while answering remains the golden rule for any multiple choice examination. So is the case with this examination. Judicious elimination of the options is necessary here.
2. Going against PMI principles is never a good option. Always choose options that are ethical even though they may seem to be the tougher choices to make during the examination. Each question has only one correct answer. Read all the options before selecting any one. Choices that are characterized by words such as always, never, must, or completely; are often incorrect.
3. Remember, when in doubt, go by the PMI PMBOK. Do not apply only practical project management knowledge or else you will fail the PMP exam.
4. Read the questions correctly and interpret them properly. Have good, specific reasons for changing answers to questions that you have already answered.
5. Avoid adding extra functionality in the answers without benefits or gold plating (which is giving the customer more than what was required).Customer extras can include extra functionality, higher-quality components, extra scope of work or better performance.
6. Get plenty of rest the night before taking the examination. The examination is both rigorous and challenging.

To all the PMP aspirants I wish you all –Good Luck!

*** : As defined by PMI®