Be a PMP on the First Attempt – How to Prepare for the PMP Certification Exam

There are several aspects to preparing for a PMP certification exam:

1. Time management:

Most of us have a preparation timeline. Therefore, it is important to plan appropriately so that you can make good use of your time while preparing for the exam.

To better manage time, you can consider the following issues:

Identify and work on your weaknesses

You can ask the following questions:

-Which are the areas where I am lagging?

-What forums, books, sites can help you get help on these issues?

During the preparation period, you can receive a lot of support from the PMP official site. I found answers to many difficult concepts and problems. If you lose time, these sites are very helpful. You do not have to spend a lot of time looking for answers to difficult questions.

Prioritize preparation

Prioritizing studies is important for managing preparation time.

For example, if you are given a second chance, you will start with every 42 processes and ask questions such as what the whole process is, why it is important, and when it will run. If you make the entire process clearer, you can see the interdependencies of the processes. You might then have a better understanding of ITTO, focusing on the inputs, outputs, tools, and methods of each of these processes.

Have flexible plans that you can alter on demand

You may feel the need to change your plan as you progress. This can be very frustrating because the new plan will take a lot of time. However, do not hesitate to change plans when you really need them, such as solving extra papers reading extra books, spending time on important concepts, or reading PMBOK again.

The important thing here is that the preparation of the PMP program is as detailed as possible so that you have a plethora of scoring options.

2. Managing your study

There could possibly arise a situation in your research while preparing for the exam. Issues that need consideration are:

Books/reading materials:

It is important to identify online articles, e-books, preparation courses, PMBOK guides, and all other reading material that will help us.

Excellent books are available on the market. At first, Andy Crow, G Rita Mulchay, Headfirst Laboratories, etc. can stick to one book to avoid confusion. Later, you can read as much as you can to develop better understanding of the process.

Read PMBOK:

It is very important to understand the concepts covered by PMBOK. You may have a tough time comprehending them, reading PMBOK may feel very tedious and time-consuming. But in great books such as Andy Crowe and Headfirst, the concepts usually come with many real-world scenarios and illustrations that make things easy, so you can always look for clarification.

However, it is important to understand that the actual tests are for real-world scenarios that revolve around the concepts covered in PMBOK.

PMP screening specifications:

Knowing the purpose of the exam is very important. We need to spend time thinking about all the information we may encounter while dealing with all our projects in our career. This is very important for actual testing. PMI is not confidential and test specifications can be downloaded for free. These specifications allow you to determine the results of the test. While preparing for the exam, you can check these specifications to see if anything is missing.

Practice exam:

This exam is all practice. You should practice as many mock test papers as possible. Initially, you can purchase practice tests from famous vendors. Later, you can practice as many free tests as possible. Most vendors also offer convenient free tests. You can also test with fewer questions (20, 25, 50, etc.).

Practice tests are useful in several ways

It helps you understand what the question is really trying to convey. As you begin to understand the concepts behind each question, the answer becomes clearer. The more you practice, the faster you will understand the basic concepts behind each question. This is really important in real exams because it saves a lot of time.

During preparation, you can use these practice tests to measure the degree of exam preparation. If some students get good results, they can sometimes gain morale because they have the confidence they need to prepare for the exam.

Scoring Questions and Answers

It is important that you devote your concentration on scoring areas, such as process-oriented questions (such as those that come after this process), ITTO questions, and formula-intensive questions.

How much do I need to prepare before taking the actual exam?

We all may ask this common question while for the exam. Each time we took a training exam, we received a lot of unreliable questions, so none of us felt that we were well prepared for the exam. There is a lot of discussion about how much you need to score before actually taking the exam. Some people feel that a score of 60-80% is sufficient, while others feel that a score of 90% is needed given the difficulty of the actual exam.

Honing your skills with practice tests as soon as you feel ready is a good idea. You can then review the results for the first time in each test and share them with mentors or people who have passed these tests. You can also share it with REP. You can schedule tests based on feedback.

Revise:

Make sure to revise at least 2-3 times before taking the exam. Ensure that you have confidence in your preparation in the last few months by reviewing the content. It is important to remember that it took hard work and money to prepare for the exam. Therefore, a proper revision is necessary.

3. Manage fears / concerns / anxiety

For some PMP aspirants, the examination gets into their nerves and they start feeling the pressure. You need to deal with them and not look for runaway. They may try to convey some important facts. Like

-I am not good at communication management

-I don’t have time to view all of this

-Can I really pass the exam?

-How long will it take to pass the exam already?

-I cannot understand the concept of PMBOK

-What happens if I get good results in the practice test but fail the actual test?

While preparing for the exam, you should catalogue a list of all these concerns. You can then develop a plan or strategy to address each of these issues.

4. Manage the actual exam.

The following concerns should be taken into consideration for the actual exam

-There may be questions in the exam we are not familiar with

-If you don’t know the first 10 questions

-What if you could solve all the questions, but it takes time and you don’t know if you can solve all these questions?

-Will it be possible to manage the entire 4 hours without interruption? If not, how often do I need to take a break

-How many questions do you need to solve before each break?

-Is it mandatory to attempt all questions?

-During the test, a video recording of the entire procedure may be performed at the test center. How comfortable are we in such a situation? How will it affect the total time required for the exam

After reviewing all of the above questions, you will find that you need to be well prepared for the exam and that you need a battle plan for the exam. Therefore, you can develop your own strategy to deal with the actual exam.

-Like you can take a break of 5 minutes after 75 questions

-The second break after the following 75 questions.

-A third break after the remaining 50 questions.

Revise answers

This will allow you to complete the exam in 3 hours and allow 1-hour review. The battle plan also helped to avoid spending too much time on specific questions and was able to address the uncertainty of the exam.

This exam is about planning, preparation, and practice. More importantly the resolve to do well.