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In some of my recent communication I began asking people what they need to make their PMP® preparation easier.

PMBOK-6 based exam is round the corner and the mad rush for Prometric exam slots has begun. In view of this, it only makes sense for me to do everything possible to help people study faster, smarter, and with less stress.

Birken suggested, Flashcards.

Yes, using flashcards is a smart way of studying. We went a step further to make it even simpler and faster to study with Flashcards.

PMP Smart Flashcards.

Research has proven that a technique called Spaced Repetition – a way to repeat information with a frequency that is inversely proportional to the difficulty level – is a great way to push information into long term memory without taxing the brain. [continue reading…]

While a lot has been written so far about PMBOK 6th edition, and NOW is the time you really should be bothering about it if you are planning for PMP exam in 2017 and beyond.

PMBOK 6th edition guide will be unveiled in little over a month from now, and PMP exam based on PMBOK-6 is just a couple of quarters away. You need to decide whether you want to rush in and take your PMP certification exam before the new exam kicks in. Or not.

This article helps you decide just that.

Impact:

• PMP^® will be updated on 26 March 2018 to reflect new content in PMBOK^® Guide – Sixth Edition.
• PMI-ACP^® will be updated 26 March to reflect new content in the Agile Practice Guide.
• CAPM^® exam will be available as a pilot from 12 March – 20 May. The new exam will launch on 21 May.

Here’s a strategy guide to help you pass PMP exam before the new PMP exam kicks in.

Here’s what you can expect in this 2-part series –

• Understand why PMBOK is changing, what is wrong with PMBOK-5?
• What exactly are the changes being introduced in PMBOK-6? New Process Groups, new Knowledge Areas, new processes?
• When will PMBOK-6 based PMP exam come into play?
• A mini-guide to help you decide whether you want to aim for PMBOK-5 based PMP exam or wait till PMBOK-6 based exam comes into play
• If you wish to get your PMBOK-5 based PMP certification now, I give you the plan to do it in next 6 weeks or so and tips to avoid last minute rush at Prometric test center!
• And if you decide to wait for PMBOK-6 based exam, I’ll share how to go about it.

Phew, that’s quite a mouthful.

But then I intend to make this guide the only source you’ll need this point onwards to get your PMP. So there is a lot of research that has gone into making this guide, and you can even download a PDF version of this guide at the end of this series.

There is lot of confusion in the minds of PMP aspirants with regards to PMBOK-6 based PMP exam and I am looking to get this guide to as many of them as possible. Help me in this please. Please take a second and share this article using one of the social buttons on the left side bar. Thank you!

With that said, grab your favorite drink (I got my hot cuppa hot Coffee!). Let us dive straight in. [continue reading…]

This is the concluding part of the 2-part series on PMBOK 6th Edition based PMP Guide. In the Part-1 of this series, we understood why PMBOK 6th edition is being introduced by PMI. We also saw, just for the kicks, how changes are introduced in PMBOK guide. Also we understood the exact PMP exam changes introduced in PMBOK, which are significant.

As promised, I will share in a bit the 6-week plan to go from ‘wanting to be a PMP’ to actually getting PMP certificate in hand!

Click to understand PMBOK 6th edition changes in a nutshell.

Now the million dollar question is,

When Will PMP Exam Changes Come Into Effect?

This is where your planning neurons would begin to fire connections like crazy.

Answer to this question will help you decide whether or not to take PMP exam now, or not. Let me tell you, if you want to take the exam now it is definitely possible to do it in next 4 to 6 weeks. And I’ll give you a plan in a bit.

But here is the important point you need to keep in mind.

PMBOK is only a guidelines document and not the 100% study resource convering all of the PMP exam syllabus. PMI recognizes this fact clearly.

But, but but.. if you are taking CAPM exam, then PMBOK would be your 100% study source.

Yes. This means you need to research and pick one or two other study resources, apart from PMBOK of course, to cover entire PMP syllabus.

Alright. When will you get to see the new PMBOK guide?

PMBOK 6th edition pdf is named as PMBOKGuideAgilePG.pdf (tells you the shift towards Agile) is available right now.
If you are a PMI member you can get the soft copy for free. If not, you can get your copy from here.

PMI says that the PMP exam based on PMBOK-6 will come into effect in Quarter-1 of 2018.

The EXACT date is  not announced at the time of writing this article, it can be any day between Jan-1 to March-31, 2018.

For now, for your planning, just consider the date to be Jan 1, 2018.

Watch this space to know the exact date on which new PMP exam will come into affect.

If you want PMP exam based on PMBOK-5, you need to take it before December 31, 2017.

“Why should I want to take PMP exam based on PMBOK-5 Now?”

Any change brings with it some amount of chaos.

You know that PMBOK is not 100% resource for PMP exam, but for the sake of reference let us say ‘PMBOK-6 based PMP exam’. So, PMP exam based off PMBOK-6 will bring with it uncertainty about nature of questions and difficulty of questions. The general passing percentage may take a nosedive.

It will take some time for the dust to get settled, before people that have taken the new exam will share their wisdom and you get a sense of what to expect in the new exam. Even Simulators would have questions representing the real exam questions.

This may take at least 3 months, if you wish to go into the exam hall with some certainty, say sometime in Q2 of 2018. That is roughly about 7-9 months from now.

But if you can’t wait that long,

• or if you can’t wait to manage your project in a professional way,
• or if you are looking to change your job,
• or if you are looking for that promotion or raise in the upcoming appraisal,
• or if you are simply thirsty for project management knowledge,

..and so need to get your PMP at the earliest, here’s a plan you can use! [continue reading…]

My PMP test preparation started in 2014, and then it took its own incubation time to bear fruits. If you did start your prep sometime in the past and you are yet to give your exam, know that most of us go through a similar experience.

A Slow Start to PMP Test Prep is Quite Okay!

PMP exam is an important milestone in a project manager’s career, and for most of us it is not smooth. Preparing for a certification exam along with a busy work schedule and family to manage is often tough balancing act.

Do not stress about the delay, if that’s the case with you. As long as you are on the right path and are making progress, it will only be a matter of time before you reach your PMP goal.

All that you need to do is prepare a plan based on milestones – which you may never get to follow 100%, and this is okay 🙂 – refine and rework it as you go along and reach the goal.

This is definitely possible. In this post I am going to show how I did it. I hope you will find a pointer or two that may help in your own preparation plan.

Also Read: My Secret Sauce For 5-P Score in PMP Exam, by Anurag Kajra, PMP

PMP Test Planning

I began my preparation towards the end of year 2014 and got my PMP certificate a month ago. This was my first attempt and I was quite elated when I saw ‘Congratulations’ on the screen.

I did my 35 hours of PMP training in the end of year 2014 and early part of year 2015. Although I was strongly advised by our PMP trainer to attend the exam inside of 3 -4 months, my workload did not allow this to happen.

Since my job involves traveling and being at job-site most of the times, it would leave me too exhausted by the end of the day to focus of anything. At one point I had almost given up the thought of getting certified.

But then something in me told me to hang in there. [continue reading…]

Anurag Kajra is a seasoned project manager working with Ericsson, and he decided to take up PMP test to grow futher in his career. He aced it with perfect score – Proficient score in ALL 5 domains!

In this post, Anurag spills the beans on what it takes to ace PMP like a pro. No matter where you are in your run up to the PMP exam, you will find something of value in this post.

Read on..

-Shiv

Basic Preparation for PMP Test

I primarily focused on Rita Mulcahy’s PMP prep book as I firmly believed that this is the Bible of the PMP Exam. So much so that I studied it 4 times thoroughly!

Apart from this there was another book I considered important: Head First PMP.

This is a brain-friendly book that gave me excellent examples of application of PMP concepts in real-world. I understood how PMBOK processes can be applied in the context of a real project more from this book than any other PMP study resource.

Also Read: The Complete PMP Exam Prep Guide – Get It Before PMBOK-6 Kicks In 

Additional PMP Study Resources

I realized early during my preparation planning that a good Simulator that mimics the real exam should be an essential part of prep plan.

I used Rita’s PMP exam simulator for almost a month.

During this time I cleared about 4500 PMP mock questions. [continue reading…]