Mastering the PMP Test: Key Strategies and Tips for Success

Project Management Institute (PMI)®’s most widely recognized certification type is Project Management Professional (PMP®). A project manager job title is not required to begin the PMP application process, but 36 months of documented project management experience and education is. For those with less experience, PMI’s Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) is an entry-level certification for project practitioners.

Upon PMI’s approval of your PMP application, you simultaneously receive the information to register for the Project Management Certification exam. A PMI-approved PMP test center near you may not have an immediate certification exam opening. Use the time leading up to your scheduled PMP test date to prepare.

Understanding the PMP Test Structure

The PMI® manages the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam as part of global standards for the profession of project management.As of 2024, the PMP exam is constructed of:

• 230 minutes (3 hours 50 minutes) with two 10-minute breaks
• 180 questions – a combination of multiple choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank

The PMI reports that the successful PMP exam taker has completed, on average, 35 hours of prep work. PMI’s sample PMP certification exam reference sheet provides examples of what to expect. The 180 questions cover traditional and Agile project management across three domains:

1. People (42%): leading and building teams, managing conflict, supporting virtual teams, mentoring, and other related topics.
2. Process (50%): Potential topics in this domain include managing budgets, scheduling, managing change, and determining the best methodology for the project.
3. Business (08%): General business acumen, including, but not limited to, compliance, delivering value, and supporting organizational change.

Prospective PMP Certification holders can take the PMP exam up to three times within a year to earn a passing score.

PMP Exam Question Types

About half of the PMP test questions test knowledge of traditional project management (waterfall), and the remaining questions assess understanding of Agile or hybrid approaches. PMP exam question types include:

PMP Exam Question Type: Multiple Choice

The multiple-choice question has one correct answer and three incorrect answers (distractors). The correct answer is often the most obvious, but it’s only sometimes. The distractors are usually more complicated or less evident than the correct answer; however, they can sometimes be nearly identical to the solution. Remember, since there is no penalty for guessing, you should answer all questions.

PMP Exam Question Type: Multiple Response

Multiple-response questions make up roughly 15% of the PMP exam. You are given a scenario and then asked to choose the best responses from several possible answers. There may be more than four choices and more than one will be the correct answer.

These can be tricky because they require you to use all the information provided to select your answer choices. These questions are often formatted in a way that is only sometimes obvious what the correct answer is. However, review each option carefully and understand how each one works with other options. In that case, you can select which ones provide more correct information than others. Multiple responses- multiple answers are required to achieve the best solution (you cannot just choose one).

PMP Exam Question Type: Hot Area

A hot area question requires clicking on a graphic to select your answer. As with other questions, select the best area that meets the response requirements.

PMP Exam Question Type: Drag and Drop

With drag-and-drop questions, you must place items in a particular order by dragging them. These questions will ask you to arrange pieces/parts or lists chronologically. For example, you may have multiple project phases descriptions that you need to put in order according to their lifecycles. They also lend themselves to testing vocabulary and terminology.

PMP Exam Question Type: Fill in the Blank

Fill-in-the-blank questions may occur on the exam in multiple ways. For example, the text of a multiple-choice or multiple-response question may contain a blank filled in by your selections. Actual fill-in-the-blank questions will have a paragraph or table missing some information and a box for you to enter that missing information. You must fill in the blanks with your answer to complete the question. For example, you might be given a table of information and then expected to type in the row number of a row meeting specific criteria.

How Long Does It Take to Prep for the PMP Exam?

The PMP certification exam isn’t one where you can rely on luck or guessing to pass. One survey of 100 PMP® holders asked how long they studied, and the answers ranged from a week to 6 months! The conclusion was about two months of 2 – 3 hours of daily study (roughly 90 days x 2.5 hours = 225 hours). Experience and learning capacity influence a candidate’s time to study, but 30-40 hours is a general estimate.

How Do You Prep for the PMP® Exam?

The Project Management Academy PMP Certification Study Guide includes excellent advice for the aspiring PMP exam taker: Allow Sufficient Time to Prepare. Your PMP exam preparation should consist of the following:

• select a PMP® Exam prep course from a PMI Authorized Trainer
• review the PMP® certification requirements from PMI (passing the exam is only one part)
• create (and stick to it!) a study schedule that includes review materials and practice exams
• manage your exam prep schedule with time for study, prep course, practice exams, application, and exam day

Remember, the PMP exam tests are not your project management abilities but your knowledge of PMI standards and recommended practices. Project Management Academy instructors have seen a consistently higher exam pass rate for students with a plan for each component, regardless of their project management experience.

Study Strategies for the PMP Test

For content preparation, use a combination of resources, including the official PMI PMP Curriculum and all Project Management Academy Tools.

Complete a PMP exam prep course.

Completing a PMP prep course is essential for project managers seeking to gain their PMP certification credentials.As a Premier partner of PMI’s Authorized Training Partner (ATP) Program, Project Management Academy teaches the PMI Authorized Exam Prep course materials with exclusive lessons to ensure PMA students deeply understand the content and are prepared to pass the PMP exam.

PMI does not publish the passing score for any of its certifications. Consistently scoring core 85% or better on practice significantly increases the probability of passing the PMP exam.

Where to find PMP Exam study materials

The Project Management Academy provides many free PMP exam prep resources in support of learning project management process and areas on the Project Management Resource Center:

• Free PMP exam questions
• Project Management news and articles
• Terminology puzzles

Being a Project Management professional goes beyond earning PMP certification status.Join PMAccelerate for exclusive access to training, discounts, jobs, tools, and professional development opportunities to boost your skills, job impact, and career prospects.

Free PMP Exam Practice Questions

Project Management Academy’s free PMP exam practice questions are based on relevant topics from the A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). On the public website, 50 example PMP exam questions are available to help prepare for the exam.Project Management Academy students who purchase the PMP exam certification course can access an additional 2,000 questions using online PMP exam simulator software.

PMI Resources to Use to Prepare for the PMP Exam

Project Management Institute (PMI®) publication of  A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®Guide) is a crucial resource in PMP exam prep.

The PMBOK® Guide 6th edition outlines five process groups, ten knowledge areas, and 49 processes. Use a Project Management Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping matrix to enhance understanding of their interconnectedness.All ten knowledge Areas and all five Process Groups listed in the 6th Edition PMBOK are examinable.

The PMBOK 7^th edition builds on the foundations in the 6th to enhance your skills as a modern project manager who may need to apply different project management methodologies for various projects. The PMI created a “clickable reference guide” for the performance domains supporting the seventh edition.

Refer to the PMI®’s handout comparing the 6th to 7th edition PMBOK® Guide for a point-by-point comparison.

The best way to find out what could be exam content is to understand the PMI’s PMP Exam Content Outline.

Test-Taking Tips and Techniques

Preparing for the PMP exam can be daunting, but with the right strategies, you can maximize your chances of success. In this section, we’ll share expert tips to help you navigate the exam effectively, from mastering the PMBOK Guide to leveraging practical study techniques. These insights are designed to enhance your understanding, boost your confidence, and ensure you’re fully prepared to excel on exam day.

• If you are taking the exam at a testing site, make sure you have gone to the center before the test day to check your directions and remove any worry about how long it takes to travel, knowing where to park, or finding the testing building.

• If you are taking the exam in a virtual setting, remove distractions, have a clear work area, and meet all the online exam technology requirements, including video and audio connection for the proctor.

Expert Tips for Passing Your Exam

1. Focus on the Question Sentence: Always answer the specific question being asked. While it seems simple, concentrating on the exact question sentence helps to filter out irrelevant information. Carefully read the entire question and all the answers to ensure you understand what’s being asked.
2. Read Carefully: During practice exams, you might miss questions even when you know the correct answer. This often happens due to not reading carefully. Make it a habit to read every word in the question and all the answer choices.
3. Pace Yourself: Be aware of the number of questions and the total time available. Use the clock on the exam screen to monitor your progress. Ensure you’re on track to avoid rushing through questions at the end, which can lead to mistakes.
4. Avoid Marking for Review: Answer questions as you go. If you guess, trust your first instinct. Reviewing and changing answers often leads to second-guessing and mistakes. Change an answer only if you realize a mistake, have an “Ah-Hah” moment, or another question provides the correct answer.
5. Trust Your Gut: If you’re stuck between two answers, try to vividly imagine each one as the correct answer. Often, you’ll feel that one option is wrong. Trust this feeling, as it can be more reliable than recall in such situations.
6. Don’t Guess Randomly: For difficult questions, use grammatical and linguistic cues to eliminate incorrect answers. Always means always, never means never; “is” is singular and “are” is plural. An educated guess after eliminating wrong options still counts.
7. Consider “All of the Above”: If at least two answers make sense, and there’s an “All of the Above” option, it’s often the correct choice. This is common in exams like ITIL, COBIT 5, and PMI.
8. Schedule Breaks: For longer exams, plan a break if time allows. This is crucial for four-hour exams like PMI, less so for shorter ones like ITIL.
9. Practice Spaced Study: Avoid cramming. Break your study sessions into manageable chunks. Most people have 2-3 good hours of comprehension daily, so take regular breaks to maintain focus and retention.
10. Avoid Overthinking: If you think a question is a trick, you might be overanalyzing. Most trick questions are straightforward but misunderstood. Stick to the facts presented and avoid assumptions.
11. Ignore “Funny” Responses: These are usually incorrect.
12. Use True-or-False Technique: If struggling, rephrase each option as a true-or-false question. Eliminate options that are not clearly true.
13. Predict Before Choosing: Try to answer the question in your head before looking at the choices. If one matches your response, it’s likely correct.
14. Don’t Aim for Perfection: Understand that scoring 75% is a good grasp of the subject. Exams like ITIL, PMI, and COBIT require 65-70% to pass. Don’t panic if you encounter unfamiliar questions. Use your knowledge and reasoning to find logical answers.
15. Eliminate Least Related Options: When two answers seem correct, choose the one most directly related to the question.
16. Watch Out for Distractors: These are misleading options designed to throw you off. If a term in an answer seems unfamiliar, it’s probably a distractor.
17. Ignore Patterns: Don’t worry if you pick the same answer choice multiple times in a row. Patterns are coincidental.

By applying these expert tips, you can improve your focus, pacing, and accuracy, leading to better performance on your exam. Good luck!

Post-Exam Steps

The PMI’s authorized training center partner, Pearson VUE, will tell you the examination results within a few minutes of completion. In addition to a pass/fail report, you will be given a list of areas in which you were proficient (or not). However, you must be informed which questions you answered correctly or incorrectly. If you do not receive a passing score, carefully review the provided feedback to incorporate it into your preparation for your next attempt.

The PMP certificate may take as much as two business weeks to receive. Still, the designation is awarded immediately upon passing the exam.

Conclusion

PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a globally recognized achievement for a project manager. Commit to your professional development, create a study plan that is actionable, measurable, and possible, and most importantly, put that plan into action so that your ongoing professional development efforts are successful.