PMP Certification

What is PMP Certification?

Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is awarded by a renowned organisation Project Management Institute(PMI) and recognised as a standard to measure the competency and management skill of project managers.

WHat is advantage of PMP certification?

 It enable employee for greater job possibilities, higher salary, and greater earning potential. and it also boost management skill and competency to present yourself as a better project manager.

What is PMI?

PMI stands for Project Management Institute and is a global non profit professional organisation for project management. The PMI serves more than 2.9 million professionals including over 500,000 members in 208 countries and territories around the world.

It offers below credentials:

1. Project Management Professional (PMP)
2. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
3. Program Management Professional (PgMP)
4. Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)
5. PMI Agile Certified Practitioners (PMI-ACP)
6. PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
7. PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)
8. PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)

Who should Apply?

An experienced project manager who meets the following requirements:

• Perform their duties under general supervision and are responsible for all aspects of the project for the life of the project
• Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources
• Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverable.

What are the Prerequisites for PMP?

• Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or the global equivalent)
• 7,500 hours leading and directing projects
• 35 hours of project management education

or

• Four-year degree
• 4,500 hours leading and directing projects
• 35 hours of project management education

What is PMP Examination blue print?

Exam consists of 200 multiple choice questions and duration is 4 hours. Most of the qustion is situational based where you have to choose best answer as a manager.

I passed exam in latest version(PMBOK 6). I can categorised PMP questions as below:

1. Situational questions.
2. Formula based questions.
3. Best practice.
4. Process sequence based questions.

Questions are broken down as below according to process group :

What is the best recommendations for the exam preparation?

Below are the top 10 recommendations to pass PMP examination :

1. PMI registration:

This is important and first step, which enable to access PMI documents including PMBOK book.

PMBOK is project management body of knowledge and standard book to cover all knowledge area, process group and all processes. also there is less exam fees for registered users.

2: Work on PMP prerequisite:

35 PDUs are required along with other exam criteria, So gain required PDUs from online or class room training.

3. Submit your application to PMI:

Exam booking is not allowed unless your application is approved by PMI.

So login on PMI site and submit your application with all required information. 

4. Application audit process:

If you are lucky and your application is not selected for audit then your application will get approved/reject in few days. However, in special case if your application get picked for audit then approval process will take longer time in some case it take up to 4 weeks after you will send all required proof including signed form from the person whose name you mentioned in the application as reference.

So while filling application make sure that information are correct and person whose name you mention in the form as reference should be contactable in case if PMI want to verify information.

5. Study materials:

According to my experience i think PMBOK guide is most comprehensive and standard document for the PMP exam. However, there are ample of information available on internet which can also help if further detail information required apart from PMBOK.

6. Mock test: 

Mock test is very vital part of PMP exam preparation. which gauge your preparation and also suggest weak area where you have to concentrate more to score better in next mock test.

I used mock test as a tool and book my all mock test evening time which was my intended slot for the actual exam. which really helped me while i was giving final exam.

and after every mock test i prepared To-Do list to prepare better and overcome weak area and score better in next mock test.

7. Book exam in advance: 

If your mock test is of similar level as PMP final exam and you are scoring more than 75 % then book exam in advance so that you make sure that you will find best slot according to your schedule and preparation and also booking exam means more dedication towards preparation.

8: Take good break and good sleep before going in exam:

PMP syllabus is very lengthy so once before exam day do not study much just revise note which you prepared during preparation and take rest and good sleep so that in exam you can access all information and think in better way to answer situational question. 

9. During exam:

During exam do not take any note before start exam it is not allowed. and utilise time in better way and do not skip any question as there is no negative mark, if you have doubt or need more time  so choose best answer which you think correct and mark this question to review later if time allow.

and its worth to take one break after 100 question which really help to concentrate again to solve next 100 question. 

10. Calculation based questions: 

Numerical based questions are best way to score correctly and quickly. So, well prepare for these question. I got around 20 calculation based questions.