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PMP Exam Tips – Always use the PMBOK Guides’s approach when answering PMP Exam sample questions

By Son Nguyen, on March 15th, 2012%
This entry is part 20 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

There is a bit of a disconnect that PMP Exam takers report as they are preparing for the exam. Because you must be an experienced project manager to take the exam, you bring years of experience in managing projects and using tools & techniques with you. Often, these are based on company internal project management best practices and tactics that you found working for you. However, the PMP Exam requires that you apply the concepts from the PMBOK Guide to real-life situations as presented in the exam questions. If the methodology that you are experienced in using is not aligned with the PMBOK Guide, then you may pick the wrong answers in your test.

Furthermore, the projects you manage may not have required you to deal in all the PMBOK Guide’s Knowledge Areas. For instance, risk management was something I did very rarely on my projects and maybe in your career you never had to deal with procurement. So it is likely that you’ll be more comfortable with some project management knowledge areas and processes than others. This can lead to two problems:

First you may feel that because you are an absolute pro in scheduling (after all you have years of experience here) you can slack off in your studies and rely on your own project management experience instead. You tend to minimize studying for the areas you know best. But this can hurt you because the PMBOK’s approach is the correct approach for the PMP exam.

The second is the tendency to minimize the importance of project management areas with which you are unfamiliar. Just because I didn’t do much risk management doesn’t mean that it isn’t important. But we are creatures of habit, so it’s only normal to also think that the “unimportant” areas on our projects are also “unimportant” on the exam. PMPs are expected to demonstrate a good understanding of all aspects of project management as defined in the PMBOK. So pay particular attention to the processes with which you are not familiar.

So what’s the best approach? I always recommend to my students that they study the PMBOK Guide at least twice before taking the exam and that they immediately start using the practices learned on their projects. Applying the theory from the PMBOK Guide on your projects is the best way of learning it and passing the exam

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PMP Exam Tips: Answer at least 1,000 Sample Questions

By Son Nguyen, on March 13th, 2012%
This entry is part 19 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

One of the important aspects of preparing for your PMP Certification is going through a process of answering a series of sample questions that are purposely meant to test your readiness for the big day. As you may already have realized, studying for the exam requires a lot of work, including taking numerous sample tests to find out if you can cope with the question format of the actual exam.

This is why we recommend that you take at least 1,000 PMP sample questions. This means that you simulate a complete 4 hours exam to gauge your ability to finish the actual exam on time. As a general rule of thumb: If you are able to correctly answer at least 85% or more of the practice questions on your first try, then you are ready for the PMP Certification Exam.

It is important that you take these sample exams as they prepare you for the rigors of the exam day, and the type of questions that will be asked. It is even possible that you will encounter questions similar to the ones on your sample tests during the actual exam.
Remember that PMI does not release the actual number of questions that you need to answer correctly in order to pass. They are very vague about it and you can read up on the exact scoring system in the PMP Handbook. The best that you can do is to take a shot at practicing with sample exams. That helps you to get prepared.

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A PMP Exam Simulator Assesses Your Readiness for the PMP Exam

By Son Nguyen, on February 29th, 2012%

The Project Management Professional (PMP) credential offered by PMI is a great asset for any project manager. It is a sign that you understand the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, and have the experience and expertise required to do your job well. As well as being practically useful for your day job, the credential is also a signal to employers that you take your role seriously and have spent the time investing in professional development.

Studying for the PMP exam requires you to review the concepts and contents of the PMBOK® Guide. You’ll probably want to include some other study materials as well to make your personal revision schedule more interesting – variety in how you learn will break up your study and allow you to cover more topics quickly. However, how do you know when to stop studying and apply to take the exam?

A PMP exam simulator can help you assess your readiness for the PMP certification. A simulator is a piece of software that mimics the environment of the exam, down to the way the questions are presented. Using a simulator will give you an idea of whether you are ready to apply to take the real PMP exam. So how will a simulator give you that feedback?

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PMP Exam Tips: Interpersonal Skills a PMP Needs: 2. Team building

By Son Nguyen, on February 29th, 2012%
This entry is part 18 of 20 in the series PMP Exam Tips

(In Appendix G, the PMBOK Guide discusses Interpersonal Skills for the project manager. We are currently reviewing these one by one in our weekly PMP exam tip.)

Team building is another essential skill for a good project manager to possess.  The nature of a project is that there are people from various different departments involved. In most cases, these people have not had the opportunity to work together and they may not even be familiar with each other’s departments. If the project manager isn’t able to turn these individuals into a team that is focused on the same goal, the project may not reach it’s potential.

Although some of the individuals or sub-teams involved in the project will complete their tasks independently, they will need to feel as part of the team.  When a decision needs to be made related to their part of the project, their focus must be on what is best for the project, not just what is best for them and their departmental problem. A feeling of belonging to a team that solves a problem for the whole company (and doesn’t play departmental favorites) goes a long way.

Also, building a team where each member is comfortable in reaching out to the others will ensure small details don’t turn into larger issues later in the project.
It is therefore essential, that project managers not only know the tasks and processes that are involved in building a team, but that they have the skill and finesse to apply them appropriately.

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