Top 5 lessons that will help you pass your PMP exam
Everyday we hear success stories from our students who have passed the PMP exam on their first try; so we thought it would be a great idea to share some of the wisdom we have gained over the years in this fun top 5 list!
Here they are, the top 5 lessons that will help you pass your PMP exam the first time!
Plan your work, and work your Plan. It is really strange to think that project managers who plan for a living, often do not apply the same discipline to their personal goals! Most often, the lack of a definite plan means that months or years can go by before people get certified.
One of the most important things we can do to ensure success is to set our study timeline, and actually get it done! We can even make this fun by appointing our own ‘sponsors’ to hold us accountable, and then share our successes!
Take the study seriously– Overconfidence is the number one reason for failure in the first attempt. It is natural to assume that since we manage complex projects every day, the exam should not be too difficult!
The best approach here is to learn the PMP material as if you are a brand new student seeing it for the first time. Get excited about learning something new with an open mind, understand the reasons behind everything from the PMI’s perspective, and you will not fail.
Focus your effort on a few reliable sources– We live in the world of abundant information and infinite learning material delivered in the book, video, and audio formats. The downside of knowledge is that we can face conflicting information, opinions vs facts, and information overload, which can completely confuse our studies.
To date, our most successful students tell us that a good PMP training course, in association with the PMBOK 6th edition is the winning combination!
Understanding vs memorization- The PMP exam questions are situational, that means a project situation is presented, and you will need to figure out an answer. Many students use memorization as their greatest tool to pass exams. Then when they get to the exam they are stumped because the question is worded in a way memorization alone cannot help.
Although we know some things should be memorized, like key formulas and tables; the real solution is understanding! Take the time to learn why things work the way they do, and how every process group and knowledge area work together to make your project successful.
If you apply your knowledge, memory, and full understanding of how the processes work to each situation in the exam, you will get it right!
Do practice questions and exams…lots of them– The number one thing we hear from successful students is that they did a lot of practice questions in an exam simulator, with a pass rate of 80 per cent or greater. The reason is that these questions are not only testing our knowledge, they are training our minds to spot key pointers in the questions that lead to the best answer. Notice the use of the phrase ‘best answer’; we are saying this because there is often more than one answer that actually sounds right! The PMI is looking to you to find the ‘best’ answer in each given situation, so you will need to completely dismantle clues in the question to achieve this.
We hope you find this information helpful. At ExamsPM we are committed to your success as a project manager, and we know that if you apply these tips you will definitely achieve your goal!
If you’re looking to pass your PMP exam in the next 6 weeks, register for a free class today to learn how!