8 Tips to get your PMP Certification

As a PMP Certified Project Manager since 2013, I had many people come to me to ask for tips and advice on how to achieve this credential. Of course there is no magic formula and anyone that tells you anything different is probably trying to sell you some course or "study package". Let's be honest, there is no shortcut to achieve solid knowledge, and becoming a PMP relies exactly on this: solid knowledge.

That being said, I do have a few tips to give anyone looking to achieve a PMP credential that, although it doesn't involves any shortcuts (or magic formulas), for sure will put you on the right direction. It's not an easy road, it does take a lot of effort and dedication, but it can be done.

Everybody has their own way of doing things, specially when it comes to acquiring and absorbing knowledge, but those tips are more of a high-level, to help you get organized and define your clear path toward success.

1. Join a PMP Preparatory Course - Yes, first and foremost, join a PMP Preparatoty Course. You will need the "official training hours" anyway, so the best thing to do is take a course as soon as you decide to pursue the certification. This will give you a better understanding of the whole PMBoK, how PMI operates, what are the requirements for the PMP certification and will help you get yourself organized right from the beginning. The best place to start looking for a GOOD course is to reach out to your local PMI Chapter. Usually local chapters have their own PMP Preparation Courses or will at least provide you a couple of recommended local vendors. This will also give you the basic tools for the next tip.

2. Create your own PMP Project - The best way to approach the PMP Certification (or any certification for that matter) is to see it as a project itself. Create a Project Charter, a WBS, a Schedule, plan your Budget (which must include all costs involved, even extra books you will need) and create your milestones (disciplines you need to have mastered along your schedule, so you know you are on the right track).

3. Read the PMBoK - The PMBoK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) is the core book of PMI's Project Management Methodology. I know it's a huge book and there is lots of information there. Nobody said it would be easy, but you do need to read and go through all the knowledge contained on PMBoK. At least once, ideally twice. It took me more than a year to be fully prepared to take the exam and most of that time was spent reading the PMBoK. I read it once right after my preparation course, another time a few months later and I went through it a third time, attacking only my weaknesses. There is no way for you to actually master PMI's methodology without having PMBoK's knowledge on your bloodstream.

4. Read Exam Preparation Books - Although PMBoK is the MOST important book regarding PMI's methodology, it is not focused on the Exam itself. For this, and to get access to important tips and preparation techniques, I really do recommend reading a few other sources. There are several and one of the best (if not THE best) one is the famous "Rita's Book" (Rita Mulcahy's "PMP Exam Prep"). Whatever is your choice, do take some time to go through other sources, and work on their practice questions whenever you can. That brings us to the next tip.

5. Practice Exams - Your Preparation Course, as well as any Exam Preparation Books will probably provide you with a collection of preparation questions and exams. If you can, gain access to some online tools as well, which provide you simulated exams (with time control and everything). There are some phone apps that will shoot you random questions along the day (or you can open it and get some training while you wait on the bus or train). The important thing is to use whatever time you have to spare to test yourself and use those practices to identify your weaknesses, so you can focus your study time where you need the most.

6. Join the Community (and Discussion Boards/Forums) - You don't have to be certified to become a member of your local PMI Chapter, so I recommend that you do as soon as possible. Join the community, take part on online discussion boards and forums, attend in-person events and take every opportunity to absorb knowledge not only from books, but from people as well. Also, feel free to create your own study group in the office, invite other people that are also pursuing this certification, and colaborate with others to further develop your knowledge and comprehension of all things PMI.

7. Create an Exam-Day "Game Plan" - The day of he exam is very overwhelming and because of this, you need to minimize any anxiety or sources of pressure on that day. Plan ahead, think about all the things you will need on that day, do some test runs on the way from your home to the exam location, know how long it will take you to get there, plan to arrive at least one hour before the exam, avoid ingesting any risky food or drink on the 3-4 days before the exam, wear something confortable and prepare for any surprises. Most of all, try to keep your calm and do a quick review of risk formulas and other critical things before the exam.

8. Manage your time during the exam - It's a very long exam, with a lot of questions and not much time for each one, 200 questions on a 4 hours time. In average, you will get a little more than a minute per question (even less if it's paper-based exam, like I took), so you do need to manage your time accordingly. Some questions will take you just a few seconds to answer, while others will take you 2-3 minutes to calculate, and you will still need time to transcript all the answers to the answer sheet (if you're doing paper-based). In case you need to transcript the answers to an answer sheet, know that this takes 30-40 minutes (and this must be also completed INSIDE the 4 hours limit), so plan accordingly and start transfering your answers as soon as possible after the completion of the third hour of exam. I've seen more than one person fail the exam because they didn't have time to transcript the answers (I even saw a guy that assumed he would have 30 extra minutes after the 4 hours to do the transcript). So controlling your time on the exam-day is of extreme importance.

Well, those are just a few quick tips for you who is thinking about taking this important step on your career. Being a PMP is very rewarding, and acquiring the credential is just the first step. After, you will still need to keep it! But that's a matter for another article, so come back soon for some more tips on how to ensure you have enough PDU's to renew your PMP certification every 3 years!

I hope you enjoyed and that this article helps you to become a PMP yourself!