Your guide to Project Management Professional (PMP… · Your guide to Project Management...

Your guide to

Project Management Professional

(PMP)® Credential

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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GUIDE TO THE PMP® EXAM

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 (R.E.P.s), meaning that they have been

approved by PMI to issues PDUs for their courses. HAU offers GBMC’s project management maturity-

based training curriculum in Greece.

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.

“PMI”, the PMI logo, “PMP”, the PMP logo, “CAPM”, the CAPM logo, “PMBOK”, the Registered Education Provider logo, are

registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

http://www.bmc-global.com/

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Table of Contents

Project Management Professional (PMP)®

Getting certified

Step 1: Pre work study

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

Quick Facts about the PMP® exam

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Project Management

Professional (PMP)®

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 790,000 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.

PMP is PMI’s flagship professional certification for Project Managers.

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Am I ready for the 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 Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition 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 Certification”.

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project

Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page 3.

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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's degree 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

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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 a client (and not an employer), you fill in their contact details respectively.

Be careful with time spend in overlapping projects. Each month you have

worked in overlapping projects counts only for ONE project.

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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® Guide. 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

PMBOK® Guide 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.

Pre Work Trainning Studying Register and Go!

Study the PMBOK® Guide

Search the web for

free sample questions Search the web for

certified trainers and Education providers

certified by PMI

You may select from

a number of self-study or instructor-

led e-learning programs courses, or

select a classroom course

Plenty of that will be

needed no matter how experienced you

are!

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Step 1: Study

A Guide to the Project Management Book of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) -

Sixth 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. (see what changed in the Sixth Edition compared to the

previous one on Page 18)

The first thing you have to do to start preparing for the test is to acquire the

PMBOK® Guide. 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® Guide 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® Guide, 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® Guide 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.

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In brief:

Get the PMBOK® Guide.

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® Guide, 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® Guide 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® Guide.

Yes, PMBOK® Guide 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® Guide 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® Guide, exercises, and at least 500 sample questions and many

examples.

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… gives you access to PMTetOnlineTM, 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® Guide 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.

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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.

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In brief:

Make a time schedule of your efforts to be ready within 3 to 4 weeks

tops

Start with the theory

Review PMBOK® Guide 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

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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! (sorry…).

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

test 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.

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This is a timeline of the certification process divided in 2 phases, as indicated

by PMI in the PMP Certification Handbook:

Phase 1: Application and Exam Phase 2: Certification maintenance

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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®

exam

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

€340 for members (PMBOK® Guide e-copy included)

€315 reexamination for non-members

€230 reexamination for members

Fees are paid to PMI

(Membership fees: abt $120)

The exam is based on Project Management Institute’s, “A Guide to the

Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, as

of March 25, 2018

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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

Total Nr of Scored Questions

175

Total Nr of Unscrored (Pretest) Questions

25

Total Nr of Questions 200

175 questions are distributed among the 5 domains and 25 questions are

going to be dispersed throughout the domains as pretest questions and are

not going to be scored. PMI uses these 25 questions to monitor their

performance and test quality before they are included in the final databank

of the test 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.

http://www.prometric.com/PMI/default.htm

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What you should know about

the changes made in the

PMBOK® Guide - Sixth Edition

What is PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition?

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) is PMI's project management resource which provides a framework that compiles all the essential principles and practices on project management. PMI certifies project managers with the CAPM and PMP exams which are aligned with the current PMBOK® Guide - Sixth Edition.

Is the PMBOK Guide - Sixth Edition released and when will

the CAPM and PMP test will be taken according to this edition?

Yes, PMI released the PMBOK® Guide - Sixth Edition on September 6, 2017,

and CAPM and PMP tests will be aligned with the new edition after March

26, 2018.

What has changed with the new edition?

First of all, if you are new to this test, never read before the PMBOK® Guide

and you are now considering to take the test with the new edition, there is

no need to bother yourself with the changes. In a nutshell, what changed is

that the Agile part is more solid and integrated throughout all knowledge

areas, some terminology has changed and a few processes have been added.

The new edition is also designed to reflect the technical, business and

leadership aspects of the certification which are also integrated in the

certification renewal process. So, if you are now getting ready to study the

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PMBOK® Guide, go ahead with the new edition you will get certified as per

the latest standards which are going to be relevant for the next 3 to 4 years.

If you already had some experience with the PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition,

but not ready yet to go and take the test, skip to the new edition, you will

need some further study as there is new content added and have in mind the

following changes:

1. Agile concepts included in all Knowledge Areas. There are now new

inputs, tools and techniques and outputs related to agile methods and there

is a separate appendix on Agile environments.

2. New chapter on Leadership. PMI stresses competences and skills that

projects managers should have and should be aligned with PMI’s triangle:

technical skills, business and leadership.

3. Knowledge areas, Terminology and processes updates:

Knowledge area

Human Resource Management Knowledge areas has been renamed to

Resource Management, indicating that project managers not only

manage people but also manage all tangible and intangible resources

within a project.

Time Management has been renamed to Schedule Management.

Processes:

Plan Stakeholder Management process to Plan Stakeholder

Engagement

Plan Human Resource Management to Plan Resource Management

Control Communications to Monitor Communications

Control Risks to Monitor Risks

Control stakeholder Engagement to Monitor Stakeholder Engagement

Perform Quality Assurance to Manage Quality

Note: There is a considerable shift of behaviors from “controlling” to

“monitoring” showcasing PMI’s attempt to picture Project Managers as

people who are working with people, stressing leadership qualities, instead

30


of authoritative figures who control people. However there are processes

that withhold the verb “control” for good reason such as: control schedule,

control quality, control procurement, control resources.

4. 3 new processes and 1 process removed

New processes

Manage Project Knowledge. Here PMI pinpoints the importance of

including lessons learned behaviors in the daily routine of a project

manager.

Implement Risk Response. There was a gap between the 5 planning

processes and the one monitoring and controlling process in Risk

Management Knowledge area, which was somehow entertained by

the Direct and Management Project Work. Now with this addition risk

in project is more reasonably managed.

Control Resources. With this new addition assessing actual vs planned

usage of equipment, material etc becomes clearer.

Removed process

Closing Procurement is removed and the activities involved in this process

are now part of Close Project or Phase process.

5. The new edition provides more content on ITTOs (Inputs, Tools and

Techniques and Outputs). Now every ITTO has also a Lessons Learned

component, therefore more stuff study.

6. Around 20% more effort is needed to study the new edition. Almost no

content has been removed from the PMBOK® Guide - Fifth Edition, on the

contrary more content has been added and /or revised. There is new

content, considerable content on Agile practices and more elaborated

content on ITTOs to study.

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Take a look of a broad overview of changes in PMBOK® Guide - Sixth Edition vs the PMBOK® Guide - Fifth Edition

PMBOK® Fifth edition

PMBOK® Sixth edition

Knowledge Area Project Time Management Project Schedule Management

Knowledge Area Project Human Resource Management Project Resource Management

New Processes added

1. Manage Project Knowledge (Section 4.4)

2. Control Resources (Section 9.6) 3. Implement Risk Responses

(Section 11.6)

1 Process Removed

Close Procurements (Section 12.4) Close Procurements added as part of Close Project or Phase

1 Process Shifted Estimate Activity Resources

Process was in Project Time Management Knowledge Area (Section 6.4)

Moved to Project Resource Management (Section 9.2)

Name Changed Perform Quality Assurance (Section 8.2) Manage Quality (Section 8.2)

Plan Human Resource Management (Section 9.1)

Plan Resource Management (Section 9.1)

Acquire Project Team (Section 9.2) Acquire Resources (Section 9.3)

Develop Project Team (Section 9.3) Develop Team (Section 9.4)

Manage Project Team (Section 9.4) Manage Team (Section 9.5)

Control Communications (Section 10.3) Monitor Communications (Section 10.3)

Control Risks (Section 11.6) Monitor Risks (Section 11.7)

Plan Stakeholder Management (Section 13.2)

Plan Stakeholder Engagement (Section 13.2)

Control Stakeholder Engagement (Section 13.4)

Monitor Stakeholder Engagement (Section 13.4)

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Get ready!

Think positive!

Good luck!

Celebrate success!

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Your project management

training partner

│ 18 years in project management training and development

│ 150+ training programs

│ 500 trainees every year

│ 100% success rate in certifications

│ 12 annual project management conferences

International co-operations (PMI, IPMA, IIBA, GBMC)

Hellenic American Union offers its project management training services in co-operation with

Global Business Management Consultants (GBMC), an elite project management consultant

group operating worldwide.

Hellenic American Union is also a PMI Registered Education Provider.

http://projectmanagement.hau.gr

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For more information on our PMP® prep courses, please visit our site

http://projectmanagement.hau.gr

call us

210-3680907

or send an email to

[email protected]

Hellenic American Union Center of Excellence in Project Management

Ελληνοαμερικανική Ένωση – Massalias 22, 10680 Athens, Greece

http://projectmanagement.hau.gr, www.hau.gr, [email protected], tel: 210-3680907

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