PMP Frequently asked questions
Q.1. What is the PMP Exam?
A.1. PMP stands for Project Management Professional certification. This is an exam offered by PMI (Project Management Institute) for individuals in the project management domain. There are over 325,000 certified PMPs in 200 countries.
Q.2. What is required to get PMP certified?
A.2.
Educational requirements
Experiential requirements
Agree to and adhere to PMI Code of Professional Conduct
Passing the PMP Certification Examination
Q.3. What is educational requirements to be eligible for PMP Exam?
A.3.The candidate should have attended at least 35 hours of class room training on Project Management.
Q.4. What is experiential requirements to be eligible for PMP Exam?
A.4. Minimum of 4500 hours of project management experience covering the 5 process groups, if the candidate holds a baccalaureate or equivalent university degree at the time of the application.
Minimum of 7500 hours of project management experience covering the 5 process groups, if the candidate holds a high school diploma or equivalent secondary school credential at the time of the application.
Q.5. What score is required to pass the PMP Exam?
A.5. PMI made a decision in 2006 to no more publish passing scores for its exams. In 2007, PMI also removed all quantitative elements from the post-exam review for test candidates. The passing score is estimated inside a range between 61% and 75%.
Q.6. How many questions are there in the exam? How much time do I get?
A.6. The exam has 200 multiple choice questions. Each question has exactly one correct answer. You will get 4 hours to answer these questions. 25 pretest questions will be randomly placed throughout the examination to gather statistical information on the performance of these questions, in order to determine whether they may be used on future examinations. These 25 pretest items are included in the 200-question examination, but will not be included in the pass/fail determination; candidates will be scored on 175 questions.
Q.7. How much does it cost to take the exam?
A.7. It is highly recommended that you become PMI member prior to signing up to take the test. The membership fee is $139 and application can be submitted online at www.pmi.org. If you are a PMI member, the exam fee is $405, for non-members, the exam fee is $555. Becoming a PMI member will not cost you anything, and you will gain PMI membership privileges.
Q.8. How do I apply for the PMP Exam?
A.8. PMI has an online application for certification. More information regarding applying for the exam online is available at PMI’s website at www.pmi.org. The PMP Credential Handbook is also available in PDF format on the PMI website.
Q.9. What is application audit?
A.9. PMI states that all eligible applications are subject for audit. Upon successful completion of the audit, candidates will be able to sit for the PMP examination. Submission of an application indicates agreement to comply with audit terms. Please be advised, that while the selection process for the audit is primarily random, PMI does reserve the right to manually select any candidate to be audited at any time, including after the credential has been bestowed. Candidates who are selected for audit will receive an e-mail notification from PMI with detailed information on how to comply with the terms of the audit.
Q.10. Do you have any tips for the exam?
A.10. The first 15 minutes, you will be asked to go over a tutorial. 15 minutes to review tutorial is not included 4 hours exam duration. Reviewing tutorial approximately takes 5 minutes. You can use 10 minutes of this time to jot down formulas, all processes, and knowledge areas on your scratch paper as you did in ‘Exam Cheating Sheet Workbook’. Don’t skip this step. During the exam, you need to focus on the question instead of trying to remember formulas. You can just refer to the written formulas when those questions arise rather than having to reach into your memory during the stress of a timed exam.
Q.11. How much time does it take to prepare for the PMP certification exam?
A.11. It depends on how much experience you have as a project manager, how familiar are you with PMI's terminology. However, you should expect to spend at least two months spending two to three hours per day before you take the exam.
Q.12. What are the benefits of becoming PMP certified to an individual?
A.12.
Increases your value to your organization
Increases your marketability
Professional/personal recognition
Provides advancement in your field
Demonstrated ability to meet standardized and recognized project management body of knowledge
Raises customer confidence in you and your company’s services
Q.13. What is allowed inside the exam?
A.13. You are not allowed to take anything except your ID in the exam. Inside the examination center you will be provided with scratch papers, pencils, a calculator and an ear plug.
Q.14. Am I allowed to take breaks during the exam?
A.14. Yes, you are allowed to take breaks. You can drink or eat during your breaks. However, don’t forget that whatever time you take, the clock still ticks on your exam.
Q.15. Will PMI accept 35 hour PMP training given by you? How do you guarantee?
A.18. The 35 hours of training credential provided by us is recognized by PMI. We provided our 35 hours of training certification to many students so far and they took their exam and became PMP by showing our 35 hours of training. Our guarantee to you, if PMI does not recognize 35 hours of training certification provided by us, we will reimburse the course fee.
Q.16. Can your study material be printed and used as a hard copy?
A.16. The material can be downloaded and printed. Therefore, you don’t have to use your system to study. You can study whenever and wherever you want.
Q.17. If I register today when would I be receiving your training certificate?
A.17. If you register today, you receive a certificate after you complete attending our training. The timing would be completely depending on your class. We give certificate on the last day of training.
Q.18. Is PMBOK sufficient for my preparation?
A.18. You should read PMBOK for the Exam for sure. However, only PMBOK itself is not sufficient. If you take a look at PMBOK, it is more like a dictionary, and provides only theory. There are also some concepts PMBOK does not cover although, PMI includes those concepts in the PMP Exam. Therefore, in addition to PMBOK, you must study from another resource. It can be a course, or a book eg Rita exam prep book.
Q.19. There are tons of simulation test software and sample PMP questions in the market, carrying thousands of questions. My take is - 200 would take 4 hours and I do not have that much time to practice on thousands questions, also they carry questions since old trend, and majority of those questions are not followed in current trend of PMP exam. I feel if I practice and see all questions, I might confuse with right answer during exam. Please correct my above statement.
A.19. You are absolutely right. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misleading questions/software out there that might confuse you.
Q.20. Would you suggest a simulation test [software] which has lesser number of questions but close to current trend, for me to practice?
A.20. The test does not have to be simulation or software. Please note that, the tests in software mode are very expensive because of the way it is presented. We prepared our test in a pdf format to keep our prices low.
Q.21. Can you pass some references who have already taken your training?
A.21. Please check our Testimonial Page.
Q.22. Do I have to be physically present to attend the training and get 35 hour requirement
A.22. No, you don’t have be physically present to attend the training and get 35 hour requirement. You can get access to our materials. You will need to inform us via e-mail when you complete your study. We will send you 100 test questions. Once you are done with the sample questions, we will issue and send your certificate upon your request.
Q.23. If I get the material from you, do I still need to get PMBOK material?
A.23. No matter what course you take or what book you study, you also need to study PMBOK and practice sample questions as much as you can. PMBOK is PMI's guidance book and can be obtained free from PMI by becoming PMI's member. Eventually, you will need to become PMI's member, when you register to take the PMP Exam. Therefore, obtaining PMBOK will not cost you any money.
However, PMBOK itself is not sufficient to pass the PMP exam. It is more like a dictionary and does not give practical tips and sample questions for the PMP Exam.
Q.24. Can the PMP Exam be taken on line?
A. 24. PMI (Project Management Institute) just offers PMP Exam as a computer-based exam at Testing Centers worldwide. They don't offer online exam. For details, you can check PMI's website. For the prometric test locations, you can go to the prometric website and search for the location near you.
Q.25. Where can I write the certification exam?
A.25. The PMP Certification Exam itself is done by Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI is the owner of this certification and provides the real exam. We provide the training for the preparation of the PMP Exam. For the location of the PMP Exams, you can get more information in PMI's website.