PMP Certification Preparation Guidance

PMP Preparation Tips
To all PMP aspirants, I listed some of questions (along with my comments) that you may have hoping to help you prepare for PMP exam.

This is a free resource but I would request you to drop a few words under comments section if the content has helped you prepare and pass the exam.

PMP Preparation Tips and Material to read
Is the exam really hard?
How much time do i need to prepare for the exam?
How much would it cost?
Exam day: what to take, test center, how do i know if i pass or fail, etc..?

PMP Exam Preparation Steps:
1. Read PMBOK Guide (Fourth edition) at least 2 times before you take the exam. You must understand the concept, that's the bottom line.
2. Do as many practice questions as possible and with different sources.
Don't rely on one source for practice questions, Period!!!!! After you finish each set of questions, it is MUST to review all the questions you answered, including the ones you got right and ones you got wrong.
3. Review PRAXE PMP Basic Concepts a day before you take the exam.
4. Take the exam.

Read PMBOK Guide
It took me a week to read PMBOK guide the first time. It will be a boring read but just bear it. Try to grasp the concept as you read. Page 43, project management processes and knowledge areas will be an important part throughout the preparation. Actually, before you start reading the PMBOK Guide, I would suggest start with page 43. Spend few minutes to get a sense of the project management process flow. This should make your preparation task easy. Read the table top to bottom, rather than left to right, this is the key to read that table on page 43.
Second time you read PMBOK Guide you will cruise through.

Practice questions
• RMC’s PM FASTrack® Exam Simulation Software, Demo version.
>http://www.rmcproject.com/index.aspx?id=PMFASTrack_6.0.0.3&uid=Demo
This has 1000+ question and answers. Keep this for the end.
• 175 free PMP Sample questions
>http://www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/free-downloads/175_PMP_Sample_Questions.pdf
• 200 Q & As for the PMBOK Guide, third edition. This is accessible from the PMI.org website. There is lot of good reading material available on PMI website as well.
• 70 free mock exam question and answers at www.preparepm.com
• Free Q & A from PODprepcast, http://www.project-management-prepcast.com/. You will have to sign up for the free tips and questions.
• Q & A from Project management professional certification exam book by Michael W. Newell. This book should be available in your local library.

Just with the above listed Q & As sources you should cover all the variety of questions covering different processes and knowledge areas that you can except in the exam.

During your preparation, make sure to spend 4 hours at a stretch doing practice questions at least once in your preparation. This should help you get tuned to the real exam. Make sure to work on your time, if you feel like you are taking more time answering a question, start practicing on lengthy questions. This is exactly what I did, and it helped me in real exam.

PRAXE PMP Basic concepts
This material is a list of 240 pointers that I felt were very helpful for the exam. I can't re-track the source of this material. Looks like the author has removed this material but if you can find this material it will come real handy. Good luck searching !
Above 3 steps should give you enough confidence to take the exam.

Is the exam really hard?
No!!. If you prepare well Real exam is no different than the practice exams. Take the exam with confidence.

How much time do i need to prepare for the exam?
For some or for those who are already practicing project management it may take 1-2 weeks. For those who are new to the field, i would recommend 2-4 months of prep time, assuming you will study on and off.

How much would it cost?
There is no reason to spend when you have plenty of resources available for free. But it is your choice. I spent $49.99 (now it is $129.99) on Pod prepcast and got my 35 credits to take the exam, that's pretty much it. POD Prepcast is by Cornelius Fichtner. If you like to learn through audio, Prepcast is excellent. I prefer to read than listen but it could be different for you.

Exam day: what do i need to take for the exam
Driver's license and nothing more. That is it.
I took the exam at prometric center, falls church, VA. My appointment was at 8:30 am, i went to center at 8:15 am, signed up and went in to another room where they would give you a booklet (4 blank pages) and 2 pencils. If you want a calculator, ask for it, you don't get it by default. I hardly used 2 pages from 4 pages.
Once you get in, do a quick brain dump. Just incase you get freaked out by some questions and your mind goes blank, your brain dump will help you get back on track. I dumped page 43 tabular diagram with all the processes & knowledge areas and it helped. You don't need to specifically memorize this page, but by the time you are ready for the exam, you will automatically memorize every bit of it :)
I answered all questions in 3 hours, then spent 1 hour reviewing all the answers. In the end when you complete the exam, you will have a survey, after that you will know if you pass or fail.

Good luck !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PMP Free Resources

Best instruction videos:
I found Sir Ganttalot's instruction videos very helpful and are easy to understand, especially earned value management concepts.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Other good resources for PMP Free question and answers

http://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions.htm

>Head First

>PM Study