Your guide to
PMP
®
Certification
A step-by-step roadmap for organizing your study
and economizing on time, effort and money.
A complimentary guide prepared by
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Table of Contents
PMP Certification
Getting certified
Step 1: Study the PMBOK
®GUIDE
Step 2 – Attend a Training Course
Step 3 – Tools, tips and tricks for your study
Step 4 – Register and go for the test.
Step 5: During the exam
3 This guide has been prepared by the Hellenic American Union (HAU) and Global Business Management Consultants (GMBC).
HAU is a leader in professional and personal development training in Greece, with a track record of almost 60 years in education and cultural innovation. Working exclusively with GBMC, HAU has been training project managers since 2003. Visit http://projectmanagement.hau.gr GMBC is a leading global specialist in project management training and consulting, providing services in more than 45 countries for over 25 years. Visit www.bmc-global.com
Both HAU and GBMC are PMI-registered Education Providers, meaning that they meet PMI’s standards for training and developing project managers. HAU offers GBMC’s maturity-based training curriculum in Greece, which is fully aligned with the PMI PMBOK® Guide
GBMC programs are also approved by the US General Services Administration Federal Supply Service (GSA). GBMC’s nearly 100 courses are registered with PMI and are tiered for all levels of project management experience and for various industries and government agencies.
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PMP Certification
A great way to distinguish the right kind of experience
What’s the difference between a project manager from a competent project manager? Two things, mainly: knowledge translated into good project management practices and certification. The first is necessary to get the job done well, the second is necessary to distinguish experience and showcase devotion to the project management discipline.
In an economy that promises 41.5 million jobs in project management by 2020, distinguishing your experience with internationally recognized certification will further your career
development. With over 680,000 certified professionals all over the world, PMP®, is one of the
most well-known project management certifications. And what’s more, PMP certificate holders earn on average 20% more than their non-certified peers.
Am I ready for certification?
Let’s start with a simple question: Do you manage projects in your job? It sounds kind of obvious, but you may already have the right kind of experience for certification even if you’re not officially a project manager. On the other hand, some managers may confuse ongoing
operations with project management.
The PMBOK® Guide to PMI calls a project “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” “Temporary” means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. “Unique” means that the product, service or result is different from deliverables in other projects. Projects involve doing something which has not been done before and cannot be addressed within the organization’s normal operations.
You don’t need the right job title but the right kind of experience. Where do you fit in the matrix below?
Does your job involve managing projects?
Yes No
Do you consider
yourself a project
manager?
Yes Then consider getting certified. Professional certification will be a key asset in developing your career further.
That’s fine, but keep in mind you need at least 4,500 hours leading and directing projects to be able to take the certification exam. See the section on “PMP at a Glance”
No Think again. Project managers aren’t the only ones who manage projects. Even if your job description doesn’t have the word “project” in it, your work experience may make you eligible for certification.
Are you sure? Perhaps you do in fact manage projects without realizing it. Take a look at the discussion on “Roles for PMP
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PMP at a glance
PMP is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), the world's leading not-for-profit professional membership association for the project-, program- and portfolio-management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than 2.9 million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research.
PMP validates project management competences and experience in leading and directing projects and project teams. To certify with PMP you need to meet requirements for project management experience and project management education. The amount of required experience depends on your educational qualifications. Only if you meet these requirements can you take the test.
Your education:
High school diploma, associate'sdegree or global equivalent Bachelor’s degree or global equivalent 4 year degree
Project
Management
Experience
Minimum 5 years/60 months unique, non-overlapping 7,500 hours leading and directing projects
Minimum 3 years/36 months unique non-overlapping 4,500 hours leading and directing projects
Project
Management
Education
35 contact hours of formal education
35 contact hours of formal education
Roles for PMP certification
According to PMI’s Role Delineation (Job Analysis) as a PMP candidate you must:
Perform your duties under general supervision and be responsible for all aspects of the project for the life of the project
Lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects. Leading and directing as identified with the tasks, knowledge and skills specific in PMI’s Project Management Professional Examination Content Outline
Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply the methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined requirements and deliverables.
Your knowledge and experience should comply with the 5 project management groups of processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Closing.
Experience verification information
You report your experience by completing (on line) an Experience Verification Form meeting above criteria.
In this form you fill in: project start/completion date, project title, your role in the project, approximate number of hours spent working in the five process groups as mentioned above (there are no minimum requirements for any of the five groups), and employer information including name, complete address and telephone number. If project work was done for client (and not an employer), you fill in their contact details respectively.
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Getting certified
PMP is a challenging exam.
You need to answer 200 multiple choice questions in 4 hours, meaning you have an average of 1.2 minutes to spend on each question.
You need to align knowledge acquired from your experience with the standards described in PMBOK. You need to have the stamina and focus to sit for 4 hours in front of a screen answering demanding theory and scenario-based (situational) questions.
Some people say that you have to switch from your current memory chip with information accumulated from your work experience, to the PMI chip, where you must answer questions and view project management from the PMI’s PMBOK professional lens.
You need a study plan.
This shouldn’t be difficult for you. After all YOU ARE A PROJECT MANAGER and getting ready for the test is a major career objective/project which needs planning, organizing, executing, controlling and closing!
These are the basic steps to follow, as recommended by our instructors based on their experience in running this course for over 25 years all over the world.
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Step 1: Study the PMBOK
®
GUIDE
A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge - PMBOK® Guide-Fifth Edition is PMI’s global standard for project management. It accumulates currently accepted fundamental practices in the project management profession as these are applied to a wide range of projects across all industries.
The first thing you have to do to start preparing for the test is to acquire the PMBOK. We recommend that you become a PMI member and get the guide for free. Being a PMI member you also have the benefit of discounts on a wide range of their services and products, including a discount on the PMP exam fees.
PMBOK provides a wealth of project management principles, tools, techniques and best practices, but don’t get intimidated by this amount of information.
Read it at least once before you attend any training prep course. The second time you read it, it will make better sense. If you manage to cover at least one chapter over the course of 1 or 2 days, you will have a very good grasp of the material within at least 2 weeks.
During your first encounter with the PMBOK, note down the areas that you are not familiar with and get help with training and supplementary training materials. Do some sample questions and exercises to understand how well you are familiarized with those areas.
Follow a training course or search the web for self-study guides and training materials. Studying only the PMBOK is usually not enough to prepare for the test. To save time and target your preparation efforts you will need extra study material or guidance from professional trainers.
In brief:
Get the PMBOK.
Read it at least once before going to any training course, and read complementary training material.
Spend at least 2 hours per day reading the PMBOK, or at least read one chapter a day together with any additional study material you are using.
Based on the level of your experience and knowledge choose whether you will make the effort alone or if you will also attend a training course.
1 to 2 weeks study time of the PMBOK will get you well-prepared for attending a crash course on PMP.
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Step 2 – Attend a Training Course
There are many candidates that prefer to study on their own – this is, of course, feasible. You can find study material, register with on-line self-study training platforms or databases with thousands of sample questions to practice.
But, following a training course will make your life a little easier, especially if you are working and your time is limited.
You’ll get immediate answers to your questions answered, and gray areas defined and solved. You’ll get study material that’s been tested and recommended by project management professionals. And you‘ll get the 35 PDUs necessary for your application.
Our PMP Prep Course
… provides a chronological framework for understanding PMBOK. Yes, PMBOK is organized according to knowledge area. While this is a great way to organize a body of knowledge, we believe that people learn the same way as they do on the job. That’s why we’ve organized our training methodology and material to take you through the knowledge areas chronologically, start to finish, from Initiating a project all the way through to Closing a project.
…uses information based on PMI publications (apart from PMBOK of course): The PMP Exam Specification, PMP Credential Handbook, PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct as well as many supplemental articles and books.
… provides you with a 700-page workbook full of explanation material on PMBOK, exercises, and at least 500 sample questions and many examples.
… gives you access to PMTetOnline, an advanced self-study system which helps you practice with thousands of multiple-choice questions
… is delivered by certified and experienced project managers.
… has been delivered to a variety of companies for over 25 years, across all industries and many government agencies. Through this we’ve gathered a wealth of information to put together tips and questions that arise on the test in some form or another.
… automatically offers you the 35 PDUs you need for your application. You get 24 PDUs for attending the course and 11 PDUs using the online self-study guide PMTestOnline.
…guarantees complete preparation and confidence in passing the exam. Once you get to the desired pass level on the PMTestOnline platform you can go and pass the test.
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Step 3 – Tools, tips and tricks for your study
After you complete a prep course, try to spend at least 3 to 4 weeks for your study time and then register for the test. The longer the time between the training course and the exam, the more chances there are you might get distracted from work or other obligations, and it will be harder to retain so much information.
Start your study by focusing first on the hard core theory: Inputs, Tools, Techniques and Outputs. Make a “cheat sheet” and focus on the logic behind these – don’t just try to memorize them. Know the processes and the components. You may use index cards and mind maps.
Review the study material organized in chronological order. Then study the PMBOK again chapter by chapter.
Practice with questions per chapter. Practice with examples on formulas. Use any extra material such as cheat sheets, formulas and mind maps from the training course.
Focus on scenario based questions. Understand the philosophy of those questions. You might not agree with the right answer, but that is not relevant in getting the PMP. It’s their test, their game.
Practice with at least two full 4 hour sample tests and get the real feeling of test conditions. Answer questions strategically: some prefer to answer the straightforward questions first and then go back to the tricky ones – the computer provides you with easy access to the questions not answered. Some read the questions twice, even the easy ones. Some answer the questions by first eliminating the obvious wrong ones.
As of January 2016 the exam was slightly changed to give some extra attention on the following areas:
Business strategy and benefits realization Values of lessons learned
Project charter responsibility Enhancing stakeholder relationship
In brief:
Make a time schedule of your efforts to be ready within 3 to 4 weeks tops Start with the theory
Review PMBOK every time with any study material you use
Prepare your cheat sheets, formulas, mind maps and any quick and dirty help aid you can get from your training providers
Practice with as many questions as you can and do at least two 4-hour complete sample tests to master time under real exam conditions.
If you are scoring above 80% in mock exams you are ready for the test.
Did you notice how many times in this section we used “practice with questions”? More than 4. It's the No.1 success factor in taking this test: Practice. Practice. Practice!
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Let’s get physical!
Being fit and healthy is crucial for your preparation.
Pay attention to your diet, your physical condition and sleeping time.
Follow a well-balanced Mediterranean diet. Cut down on alcoholic drinks and junk food. If you are not already working out, find an outdoor sports activity that relaxes you and stay fit. Get rest as much as possible. Do some breathing and mindfulness exercises to ease your body and mind.
These old fashioned well-being habits will help you keep your energy levels high enough to respond to the highly intellectual process of studying for the PMP as well as the actual 4 hours of test.
A few days before your test make sure you reduce carbs and stick to protein and fruit. Reduce coffee, sugar and caffeinated drinks.
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Step 4 – Register and go for the test.
Start with online registration.
Gather reference information for validating your experience in case of auditing.
Submit your application. PMI will get back to you within 5 working days with information on making your appointment for the test in the authorized Prometric test center in your area, unless you get audited.
If you get audited, first read PMIs Credentials handbook with specific information regarding the audit process. If you fill out your application truthfully, you have nothing to be concerned with. Follow audit instructions and expedite the process by responding as soon as possible. In some cases it will take as little as only 4 days.
Meantime, refresh your knowledge by practicing with some more questions and prepare your body to confront test conditions.
Some people visit the test center area a few days before their test to avoid last minute parking stress.
Some people prefer to book the test ahead of time in order to book on their preferred day and time.
Make sure you have your ID and your original letter from PMI when you go to the test center.
In brief:
Complete the registration process
Schedule your appointment at the test center Enhance your confidence with some more tests
Take 2 or 3 days off to rest before the exam date– preferably take some time off from work
Mind your mind and your body. We’re adults, working professionals and this test is demanding.
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Step 5: During the exam
Have a high protein breakfast or lunch and bring with you an energy bar, juice and water. Don’t forget your ID!
Take a 5 minute break (or every 50 questions depending on how fast you are).
Get up, sign out, go to your locker, have a bite of a high energy bar, drink water and stretch. You will not believe how much easier this makes answering even the questions you thought you didn’t know! But note that this time counts against the 4 hours of the test.
Use all your allotted time. Usually in about 2 and half hours you should have answered most of the questions. Some prefer to spend another hour to answer the questions which they have skipped and then go back to the ones that they are not sure about.
Answer all questions, even the ones you don’t know because questions not answered are wrong.
Don’t be surprised if some long questions are early in the exam and you get behind on time. Your PMP test has been created by the system just for you, so no test is exactly the same. Also, there are plenty of other tricks to show you during our prep course.
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Quick Facts about the PMP examination
Here are some basic facts about the PMP to help you in preparing to take the test
Exam format
4 hours duration
200 multiple choice, randomly generated, questions. You must get about 122 questions correct, or about 61% to pass the test. Pass rate is about 74% 1,2 minutes per question
Questions are based on theory and mostly on situational analysis
Examination report: upon completion of the test, you receive a printed copy of your test results
Exam fees
€465 for non-member
€345 for members (PMBOK e-copy included) €315 reexamination for non-members €239 reexamination for members Fees are paid to PMI
(Membership fees: abt $120)
The exam is based on PMBOK® Guide – 5th Edition
There are now 47 processes and a new knowledge area was added on Stakeholder Management beginning 2016.
Domain content:
Domain Weight Approximate # of questions Project
Initiation 13% About 26 questions Project
Planning 24% About 48 questions
Project Execution 31% About 60 questions Project Monitoring and
Controlling 25% About 50 questions Project Closing 7% About 16 questions
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Exam location
PMI uses Prometric test centers. For the location nearest you, please assess
http://www.prometric.com/PMI/default.htm. You will need the authorization number from PMI to make an appointment at one of the test centers.
What happens if you don’t pass?
You have 3 opportunities to pass the exam within 1 year. If you do not pass any, you must wait 1 year from the date of the last attempt.
Reasons why people fail the exam
Skip this note if you have studied enough and keep being positive. However, people might fail this exam if:
They do not read questions correctly or have a poor knowledge on the language of the test
They do not read all the choices in each question, because they immediately stuck with the first one that seems right to them
They are too nervous.
They have not studied enough, or used source books other than the PMBOK Guide. They believe they can rely exclusively on experience.
They have not taken a PMP Prep course like our PMP Prep Course. Select carefully those training providers that will help you through this huge effort.
Credential maintenance
You are required to earn and report 60 professional development units (PDUs) every 3 years. The 3-year certification cycle begins the day you pass the exam. You also pay a renewal fee.
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Get ready!
Think positive!
Good luck!
Celebrate success!
For more information on our PMP courses, please visit our site
Hellenic American Union Center of Excellence in Project Management Ελληνοαμερικανική Ένωση – Massalias 22, 10680 Athens, Greece
