By Scott Coonrod and Cornelius Fichtner

Do you have as a personal or career goal to obtain your Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification? Are you wondering about what materials might be the most helpful in studying and where is a good place to start?

If you are interested in the experiences and insights of those who have been there and who have recently passed the PMP Exam, there’s a forum you need to explore on The PM PrepCast website. There are comments from individuals like you who are full of questions and concerns, and looking for a place with information and answers. They also share tips and information concerning their study methods and experiences taking the PMP Exam.

Here are some tips and lessons learned from Scott Coonrod soon after he obtained his PMP certification.

Tips and Lessons learned when preparing for the PMP Exam

1. Find others who are also studying to obtain their PMP Certification and review key items in the PMBOK® Guide together. Studying with others is a great support system during the exam preparation process.
2. Go through The PM PrepCast lessons and take notes on the material being presented. Even if you do not go back and refer to the notes later they will serve as a good method for retaining the material.
3. Take the quizzes after each PM PrepCast Lesson. If you feel as if you missed too many answers, you can always go back and listen to the presentation again or review the notes you had taken.
4. Answer many, many, many practice questions. The study guide mentioned below comes with a CD with two 200 question sample exams and an option to obtain a third sample exam.
5. Download free PMP Exam question apps. The great thing about these apps is that many have 25-50 questions each that you can answer whenever you have a free moment.
6. As you are nearing your PMP Exam date create a data dump sheet with key formulas, definitions, and other items you want to make sure you remember for exam day. Practice recreating it; because that is what you are going to need to do on your exam day.

Tips and Lessons Learned related to PMP Exam study materials

1. Read the most current version of The PMBOK® Guide together with others who are also looking to pass the PMP Exam if possible.
2. Include additional study materials like the PMP Prepcast from Cornelius Fichtner, an exam prep video workshop; the “Project Management Professional Study Guide (Fourth Edition)” by Joseph Phillips. This study guide provides you an interactive quiz that indicates not only ‘if’ you answered correctly or incorrectly, but also ‘why’ the answer was correct or incorrect, as you answer each question. Also consider the PMP Exam Prep System from Rita Mulcahy.

Tips and Lessons Learned related to taking the PMP Exam

1. Know where your exam site is. Allow for plenty of time to get to the Prometric Test Center without causing yourself unnecessary additional stress.
2. Remember to have your two forms of identification because you will need to prove who you are in order to take the exam.
3. Do not bring too much stuff with you. You will have to lock everything up because you can’t take anything into the exam room with you.
4. If you are nervous about taking a computer based exam, don’t worry because there is an optional 15 minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam that does not count toward your PMP Exam time. If you are comfortable taking a computer based exam, use this time to recreate your data dump.
5. If you start to feel nervous or overwhelmed, take a few deep breaths, tell yourself “you’ve got this”, and keep going.
6. Answer all of the questions you know and mark those you don’t for follow up. Some questions/answers later in the exam may help you answer those you had marked.

These are just a few examples of the PMP Exam related lessons learned and other tips offered in The PM PrepCast Forum.

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