For any project manager, project management (PMP) certification is an indicator of a high level of professionalism. Passing the PMP exam and answering all its questions is very difficult, so tips on how to prepare for the PMP exam will be useful for professionals in project management.
General information about PMP certification exam
A project management professional (PMP) is the most important, recognized industry certificate for project managers.
There are more than 600,000 project management professionals worldwide today. With a PMP degree, you become a member of the largest and most prestigious community of certified project management professionals, PMP certificate holders can be found in almost every country. Unlike other certificates that focus on a specific area or regional characteristics, the PMP certificate is truly global. PMP can work in almost any industry, use any methodology, anywhere in the world.
Preparing to PMP certification exam
Preparation and familiarization with the PMP exam can be started from the official PMI website, where you will find the PMP Handbook – a book with all the information about the exam that you may need. Besides, there are specified requirements for passing the exam, the cost of the exam, the rules for filling out the application for participation and other useful things in this book. It is worth reading it completely.
Here you will find information about project management and the role of a project manager, how to successfully lead projects, and what competencies a project manager should have. It also covers the basics of time management, the basics of personnel management and other resources, here are some of the sections of this textbook:
- New practices and trends;
- Key ideas;
- Aspects for a flexible/adaptive environment;
- Individual considerations.
In general, the PMP exam includes 200 multiple-choice questions. 25 questions without preliminary testing and 175 questions with a breakdown by stages are among these.
In general, you can use the following methods for preparing for the PMI certification:
- The study of professional materials to prepare for the exam.
- The use of an online exam emulator program that will help you get an understanding of the essence of the questions and what answers PMI requires.
- Attend a short intensive course or online specialized courses, for example, here you can master the basics of PMP concepts and theories in the shortest possible time. It will significantly improve your chances of a successful passing.
How to pass PMP certification?
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Prepare well
A good preparation is the key to success in any business and project management certification is no exception. Without careful, systematic preparing and training, everything else is doomed to failure. We recommend you to organize your training this way: devote at least several hours each day to study educational materials in order to be constantly involved in this issue. Read the PMP Handbook carefully so that you can get a handle on all the main points. Of course, you can use other materials, but this is the basis, and it should be.
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Basic concepts and principles
It is very important to understand the basic principles and concepts of project management. At first, visualization will help you, these materials can be found in the form of diagrams and structural diagrams, moreover, visual perception is much more effective than verbal perception.
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Process flow diagrams:
This item can be considered a continuation of the previous one. In most courses offered by specialized educational institutions, you can find the appropriate technological schemes of the processes; one of the examples is shown below. It shows five process areas and 47 process groups.
Also, in preparation for project management certification, it will be useful to create your own diagrams for each of the process groups and process areas. On the one hand, this will allow you to systematize your own understanding of the subject, and on the other hand, it will be a visual aid that will help in the PMP exam.
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Theory without practice is useless
This is a well-known fact for any field of knowledge. A picture is worth a thousand words. You can read a lot about how to properly pass the PMP certification exam, but after passing a trial testing, you can quickly understand what exactly is this process about and what kind of answers are expected from you. This is a very important point for understanding the whole process. Having passed trial testing several times, you will feel confident on a real exam.
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Contact others
Group work has its advantages. Communicating with other people who are also going to take the PMP exam, you can get acquainted with the experience of others, and this can be very useful in the preparation process. You can find other people interested in PMP certification in thematic forums and on professional platforms like LinkedIn, for example. Those who have already passed PMP certification can share their live hacking and successful practices, so this is a potentially very promising approach. In addition, such contacts may be useful after passing your exam in further professional activities, so do not overlook this issue.
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Effectively manage your own time
Any management begins with planning, including time planning. Our advice is that it is better to regularly devote several hours a day to studying this issue, rather than devoting a whole day and a long pause. In preparation for project management certification, it is important to pay attention to planning for testing. Pass the trial PMP exam to see if you can meet the test time.
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Positive attitude
PMP certification is an important and responsible event, and undoubtedly exciting. Therefore, it is important in preparing for the exam to maintain a positive attitude and not be discouraged in the face of difficulties and a great amount of work to be done. It is a positive attitude that allows us to overcome any difficulties and problems. Preparing for project management certification resembles a marathon race – not the one who can quickly run in the short distance wins, but the one who does not fall by the end. The ability to cope with difficulties (they are always with us) is also a very important characteristic, which will allow you not to go astray and achieve the desired result, no matter what happens.
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Work, work, work…
Success in any business depends mainly on your perseverance and the amount of effort expended. 1% of talent and 99% of hard work is a universal formula for successful people in sports, science, technology, art and other fields of activity. Preparing for the PMP exam will require a lot of effort, so be ready to work a lot.
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Learn to cope with anxiety during the test.
Failure to cope with anxiety can eliminate all your efforts spent on preparation. Before you take the exam it is better to come to the site earlier to eliminate the possibility of being late, in addition, you can get comfortable on the spot and concentrate on the testing itself.
We hope that our advice on preparing for PMP testing will be useful for those who are going to get this certificate. Ideally, training should begin at least 3-4 months before you take the test. So you can thoroughly master all the key points and get acquainted with all the key points, concepts and practice to take the test.