PMP Exam Study Plan: Your Blueprint for Success

Becoming a PMP-certified professional requires a sturdy plan to study and understand the PMP course to increase your chances of passing the exam. You will have to answer 180 questions in 230 minutes; therefore, you need to have prepared thoroughly in advance.

How to Study for the PMP Exam

Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications are fast-growing around the world. Therefore, there is massive competition to pass the PMP exam. Are you a hopeful PMP  seeking quick tricks to help you navigate the study material and the initial exam? 

Here are 8 great study tips to help you master the entire PMP syllabus;

1. Get familiar with the PMBOK® Guide
2. Get familiar with other study resources
3. Leverage your 35 contact hours for Project Management Training wisely
4. Take practice exams
5. Strategies for memorizing and understanding
6. How to remember PMP inputs and outputs (ITTO)
7. Know your processes, process groups, and documents
8. PMP formulas to memorize

Tip 1: Get Familiar with the PMBOK® Guide

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide is the source of all information for the PMP exam. Therefore, use the guide to your advantage and make it a roadmap for your studies. About 75% of the exam questions are based on the content. As an exam taker, you can begin by studying one knowledge area of the PMBOK Guide per week.

Ensure to use the latest version of the PMBOK Guide released by PMI (Version 5). Start by reading the guide, then move on to other study materials. The PMBOK guide will help you comprehend each topic, whereas other study guides will help rehash the content from a different angle.

Instead of memorizing, try to understand concepts properly and study the principles with focus and concentration. It’s usually ideal to break down the PMBOK Guide’s knowledge areas and analyze one process daily to help you prepare/ develop a clear plan for daily and weekly study milestones.

The PMP exam contains questions with descriptive situational problems to test how well you can apply learned concepts and ideas. Therefore, it’s always advisable to take a break upon finishing a section of the PMBOK Guide. Reread the section at least three times to understand it better.

A thorough familiarization with the PMBOK Guide will help you understand all the knowledge areas, processes, concepts, and formulas integrated with attaining a PMP certification. PMBOK gives you the conceptual clarity you need to pass the exam. It’s also crucial to remember the changes made since previous versions.

Tip 2: Get Familiar with Other Study Resources

Studying is more than just reading the PMBOK study guide. Studying for the PMP exam demands dedication, perseverance, and comprehension of how well and effectively you prepare for the exam. PMBOK Guide provides facts behind processes, whereas additional resources can help you pass the scenario-based PMP questions.

There are various study resources tailored to your learning needs and to read through, such as visual resources (graphics and video), listening resources (podcasts and books on CD), and softcopy/ hardcopy reading resources (books and online content).

All the resources help you develop a personalized study plan for PMP. Published and online PMP study guides come in different styles; hence review and select the best resource that works for you.

Tip 3: Leverage Your 35 Contact Hours for Project Management Training Wisely

It’s a prerequisite to have 35 hours of project management education before you take the PMP exam. But you may not get an ideal clear slot of undisturbed study. Therefore, use every chance that you get, either small or big.

Try math questions when you have a short time. Solving problems is progress instead of doing nothing. 35 hours can be a valuable learning experience. Here are tactics to get the most out of the 35-hours study;

• Build a strong foundation: Use your study sessions to overview all the concepts the PMP exam will test. In turn, you will be able to identify weak areas as you focus on your studies.
• Refresh your knowledge: Schedule your exam while your 35 hours of contact training are still fresh. Formal training courses can aid in refreshing your foundation before test day.

Tip 4: Take Practice Exams

Take advantage of practice PMP exams as frequently as possible. PMP exams are scenario-based; hence the practice questions will aid you in applying theoretical knowledge and identifying the best strategy to tackle them. Evaluate your results and be keen on the questions you didn’t answer correctly. Pay attention as to why correct answers are correct. PMP certification is mainly based on your ability to respond as a project manager rather than memorizing project management.

PMP students can use practice exams like actual tests instead of answering typical questions. Set aside 230 minutes and work through a set of questions, systematically answering questions or marking for further perusal. Repeating the process severally allows aspirants to get exam experience before taking the actual exam.

Answering the practice questions within the four-hour block allows you to understand the pace required to answer the 180 questions. You can have an average of 1.3 minutes to answer each question. Practice mock exams are highly valuable in PMP because they integrate a relatively random mix of question topics.

Taking PMP practice exams is an excellent way to benchmark what you know and need to know to get PMP certification. You can note your current understanding by developing a personalized study plan.

Tip 5: Strategies for Memorizing and Understanding

A study strategy is a clearly-written statement you will follow to learn project management concepts. The PMP exam will test how well you can apply learnt concepts, principles, and ideas; therefore, develop a study strategy that suits your schedule and draft it down. Treat your study strategy as a project or roadmap for your preparation.

Clearly define your goals and plan on how to achieve them. Stick to your plan, and don’t stop studying until the final day before the exam. Subdivide your sessions into mini-sessions of about 30 minutes long. You can try varying study styles and test-taking approaches depending on what suits your comprehension. Here is an example of a study strategy:

• Monday and Tuesdays: Spend 1 to 1 ½ hours reading sections of the PMBOK Guide
• Wednesday and Thursdays: Spend 90 minutes answering questions in the Q&A section on the PMA website, especially on complex sections
• Fridays: Take a mock exam from the PMA website
• Saturdays: Review mock exam answers and adjust the study plan for the coming week

Tip 6: How to Remember PMP Inputs and Outputs (ITTO)

You need a PMP exam prep study guide to understand inputs, tools, techniques, and outputs. ITTO questions will test your knowledge of the tools and techniques used in project management. Instead of memorizing, work on understanding the relationships between ITTOs.

Tip 7: Know your Processes, Process Groups, and Documents

The PMBOK guide contains 49 processes, five process groups, and ten knowledge areas. Update your study to the latest guide edition to learn about the new processes. Master the processes fully and understand how to apply them in real project situations.

Use the PMBOK Guide to memorize the project management process group and knowledge area mapping matrix. Learn the documents created while initiating and planning phases. The PMP exam will test your ability to identify relevant content and leave out insignificant information. You may be asked to identify a chart where processes belong in the knowledge area.

Tip 8: PMP Formulas to Memorize

There are about 50 PMP formulas you need to know/ memorize. The PMP exam features formula-based questions that require more than just calculating a value. The formulas range from simple averages to more complicated probabilities and depreciations.

Reduce the pressure of memorizing and recalling the formulas by writing out formulas and charts at the very beginning of the exam. This will allow you to refer back to the information on demand during the exam.

You need to use the right formula to reach the correct answer. Thus, you can use the PMP memorization quiz sheet to test how fast you can write out formulas from your memory.

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Prep for PMP Exam Day

• Keep your anxiety in check
• Know your testing center
• Develop a PMP Exam Preparation Plan
• Prepare a PMP Exam Schedule
• PMP Study Notes that Really Make a Difference

Keep Your Anxiety in Check

Anxiety and apprehension are normal before and on exam day itself. When preparing, focus on understanding the concepts thoroughly to quell your unease during exam taking. Although exam day can be slightly different from mock exams, don’t get overwhelmed.

To counter anxiety, prepare thoroughly, practice answering questions, and plan how to use your time to be as efficient as possible. Some questions will be easy and others complex, but don’t lose confidence no matter what happens.

Know Your Testing Center

You can opt to take the exam using Pearson VUE. On VUE online proctored testing software, schedule your exam at Pearson VUE Testing Center. Administrators at Pearson VUE monitor students keenly to prevent misconduct and ensure ethical test-taking. Review all the test-taking guidelines and identify the dos and don’ts before exam day.

Develop a PMP Exam Preparation Plan

Your mantra for PMP should be study-practice, the questions-analyze-revise-practice. Therefore, you should treat PMP preparation activities like a project plan. The best way to develop a preparation plan is to baseline your project management knowledge against PMBOK Guide.

Identify your areas of strengths and weaknesses and relate them to the PMBOK Guide. The relativity provides feedback on where to polish your understanding and areas that require extra effort/ serious study.

Continuous evaluation of your study progress allows you to identify what you know and need to know to pass the exam. In addition, it’s good to adapt the guide’s chapters as part of your PMP Exam study plan.

Prepare a PMP Exam Schedule

As a PMP aspirant, make studying a priority and stick to it. Treat the PMP exam like a project. Develop meaningful milestones and a realistic schedule for implementing your study plan. Ideally, plan the work and work the plan.

Identify what you will study, when, and for how long. You can revise your schedule to fit the circumstance. Successful PMP exam candidates incorporated creative ways to prepare for the PMP exam. For instance, listening to PMP podcasts during breaks or when commuting.

Studying for an hour or two is usually more effective than devoting extended time on weekends. The daily individual study combined with weekly group study on weekends has shown to be very effective. Develop a schedule that you can maintain and close the knowledge gap. Remember, it is better to reschedule your exam than to rush your studying and avoid not passing.

PMP Study Notes that Really Make a Difference

Noting down things whenever you study can quickly help to understand things better. Project management students use the PMP brain dump to revise their exam preparation. Brain dumps are notes written out severally during revision.

A brain dump is imperative during PMP prep because the act of writing enhances the recall of ideas. You teach your brain to remember facts and concepts. Thus, you can easily remember them during the actual test.

Reading the brain dump notes helps you retain the information. Picture your notes in your mind whenever you meet a question that needs a formula from your sheet.

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Best PMP® Certification Study Guide Materials

Study guide materials are essential tools for attaining PMP certification. Study materials come in the form of electronic devices and hardcopy books. Select a study material that you enjoy using that fits your learning preference. 

Here is a list of tools to study regularly and achieve PMP credentials;

• PMBOK® Guide
• PMP Preparation Books
• PMP Exam Courses
• PMP Exam Simulators and sample questions
• PMP Study Guide Materials & Exercises
• PMP Podcasts
• PMI Process Group and Key Formulas
• PMP Forums and Websites
• PMP Flashcards

PMBOK® Guide

PMBOK is an essential preparation tool for the PMP exam. PMBOK is the most popular study material that every PMP aspirant must study. PMBOK isn’t just a book for you to read. Instead, you should study and fully understand its contents, including;

• Knowledge areas
• Process groups 
• Project management processes and how they are interrelated/ interdependent

PMP Preparation Books

The PMP preparation books are also known as PMP study guides. They are reliable complementary books to the PMBOK Guide. The preparation books are structured the same way as the PMBOK Guide, but they are accessible in extensive language.

PMP preparation books explain project management concepts in ways that are easier to learn and understand. They also cover extensive topics which aren’t described in the PMBOK Guide. Using at least one or two of the available prep books is advisable because different authors integrate varying approaches.

Carry out sample reading before you decide which prep book fits your approach. For instance, Rita’s PMP entails a more scientific approach, whereas Head First’s PMP is ideal for creative thinkers. Examples of PMP prep books include;

• Head First PMP
• Achieve PMP
• PMP Deluxe Study Guide
• Project Management Workbook

PMP Exam Courses

Different PMP aspirants undertake PMP training courses in different ways. You can attend an online course, study in a classroom, or self-study with an instructor. Opt for the PMP exam course that will give you at least 35 contact hours. 35 contact hours are a requirement for a PMP application.

PMP Exam Simulators and Sample Questions

Professional Online PMP Exam Simulators and mock exams are essential tools to help you shine a light on your weaker area. Taking sample questions through simulators will aid you in assessing your readiness for the actual exam. There are tons of free questions online, but you need to be cautious about the resources of Q&A.

Beware of bad quality, misguiding, or wrong sample exams. You can invest some dollars and sign up for professionally created simulators or use the trial version of the PM Exam simulator.

PMP Study Guide Materials & Exercises

PMP exam-focused exercises are ideal for students who learn by doing. Using exercise books enables PMP students to practice and learn at their own pace. You can engage in learning tools like crossword puzzles.

PMP study guide materials and exercises like PMP study guide 2023 focus on the specific exam structure knowledge that a PMP aspirant needs to know to pass the exam. You not only need to comprehend project management concepts but also need strategies to take and prepare for exams. The guide materials will help you learn the following;

• How to develop a strategic study plan
•  What to expect on exam day
• Commonly misunderstood questions
• Strategies for answering questions correctly

PMP Podcasts

PMP podcasts are ideal for PMP exam preparation and are available in the form of audio or video format. Thus, it is easy to carry the podcast around. You can easily listen to or watch it wherever you go. Podcasts are so elaborate that they fall into PMI’s category for distance learning.

PMI Process Group and Key Formulas

Study guides for PMP formulas are imperative tools to help aspirants learn and understand math and related formulas involved in the PMP exam. The study guide will help you review the procedures in a way that is easier to recall, even under pressure. Understanding the key processes and formulas leads to successful project management.

Understand the 49 processes as organized within the PMBOK Guide. An example of a formula study guide is the PMP Exam formula guide by prepcast-crew. The guide provides a comprehensive list of exam formulas and describes the conceptual context, detailed result interpretation, and several examples of formulas.

PMP Forums and Websites

You can find a lot of PMP information on internet forums. These forums allow you to chat with other PMP aspirants, ask other students about their exam preparation, or ask for advice from seasoned PMPs. You can join groups with many experienced PMPs and aspirants in the same situation.

Joining the world’s biggest LinkedIn group, such as “I want to be a PMP,” can help you gather many project management articles, templates, presentations, and webinars.

PMP Flashcards

Flashcards are valuable materials that allow you to study and memorize the concepts you need to know for the exam. It is easy to carry around the flash to test yourself during your spare time. Alternatively, you can use electronic cards on your phone or tablet.

The PMP exam is challenging and demanding, but with the right combination of effort, dedication, and guidance, you can easily approach and tackle the PMP certification exam. Remember to select PMP prep materials to help you achieve the PMP target.

Bottom Line

Everyone learns differently and no study plan is perfect. Even if if you implement just a few tips from the PMP exam study plan outlined above, you should be able to maximize your chances of passing on exam day. Best of luck on the exam!