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  PMP Certification – What is stopping you?

  • June 5, 2019
  • Posted By : admin
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  • "Crack PMP exam" "PMP certification" "project management career"

  PMP® Certification is Tough! But even you CAN crack it!

  You decided to get ahead in your project management career. 

  You have even completed the mandatory 35 contact hours training – either by attending a classroom-based workshop or an online session. 

  Depending on the quality of the workshop attended or the online content, you should be all set to crack the PMP^® certification in less than two months.  Two months, in our opinion is the average time that professionals take to clear the certification. 

  There are cases that we know where highly-focused professionals have cracked it in under a month!

  There are also scenarios where professionals don’t take up the certification at all!

  Well, if the original objective was not a certification, but to grasp the global nature of project management, then it is fine.  But this is true for just about 5% (my guess from having coached over 4500 of them!) of the participants.  Most of them ‘want’ the certification.

  Now the million-dollar question – what stops professionals from taking a go at the certification exam?

  • Is it lack of confidence?
  • Is it fear?
  • Is it because of the language of the PMBOK Guide™?
  • Is it intimidating?
  • Is it lack of motivation?
  • Is it lack of discipline?

  Well, it could be all of the above or something else!

  But how should one approach the PMP^® certification?

  Going back to our school and college days, we all studied very differently for our exams and have been successful.  Similarly, we need to be mindful about the fact that what works for one person may not work for another.  Some are fast readers while some are slow readers.  Some visualize as they read while some contemplate after reading!

  Returning to PMP^® – to add to the confusion and anxiety, we have various books in the market today that claim to have found the ‘mantra’ for PMP certification.  They market ‘their’ way as the only way to success without recognizing the fact people read differently, comprehend differently, retain differently, and apply differently.

  All said and done, we believe that PMP^® is easy if the professionals consider some of the aspects that we have understood and observed from over 5000 participants so far.

  1. Understand and appreciate that project management has its own language like engineering, medicine, architecture, accounting, and others.  You have to learn the language of project management well enough.  Depending on your education, background, and experience you may need to read the PMBOK Guide™ twice or thrice.  But believe me, after you read it once, you get a drift of the structure, content, and the style and you would be very comfortable with it.
  2. Your 35 contact hours is crucial.  Choose your PMP^® Coach wisely – s/he makes a world of difference.  Don’t get carried away by the brand or organization; it is ‘that’ person who should be your prime motivator.  Most online platforms are ‘one-way traffic.’  Remember, you gain a lot of insights by interacting with an expert PMP^® coach.  Just to share an example – while reading PMBOK, it is highly probable that the reader fails to distinguish between words such as ‘review’ and ‘assess’; imagine reading six hundred pages with such a clarity.  An expert PMP^® coach is recommended.
  3. The PMBOK™ is the most important reference book – if someone says it is okay to ignore the PMBOK™, please take it with a sack of salt!
  4. There are a ton of ‘free Q&As’.  Stay away from most of them!  Why would someone offer their effort for free unless their effort is of very little value?!  I have reviewed such free Q&As – to my horror, they lack basic English grammar, forget project management!  Having said this, we do recommend a couple of professionally written PMP^® style Q&As – after a rigorous review!
  5. Should you practise a greater number of questions?  Remember, PMP^® is about your conceptual and application clarity of project management which does not have a direct correlation with number of questions.  What matters is the quality of the question.  From our experience, some really tough questions take almost an hour just for us to prepare!  Our participants have rated our course Q&As as tougher than most that are available in the market.  We take this compliment this with all humility.
  6. What about mock/simulated tests? Yes, we do recommend some of them – but only those that are not free!  We fail to understand this Gold Plating!
  7. Finally, it all boils down to a disciplined approach of preparing at least two hours per day – day after day!  This is required.  Do not make the mistake of enjoying a long weekend hoping to read four hours the following day(s) – this does not work!  In terms of the overall effort needed to crack the PMP^® exam, we have observed a range of 120 hours to 180 hours depending on individual-specific parameters listed earlier above.  There have been exceptions as well!  But it is best to prepare based on your comfort!

  By now, you should be a lot relieved and gearing up to take the PMP^® certification. 

  If you still have any questions, clarifications, or need help, don’t hesitate to contact us – even if you have taken the 35 contact hours from another trainer or organization.

  SRISHA is happy to help in your success story!

  Note: The PMBOK Guide and PMP are the registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute, USA.

  About Author :

  Srikanth PV comes with two decades of global corporate and consulting background across industries with diverse roles including Strategy, Leadership, and Management. Currently, he focuses on driving and creating customer value by building and enhancing organizational portfolio, program, and project management maturity by his impactful consulting and coaching engagements. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of PMI Bangalore Chapter.

  View his detailed profile on LinkedIn at  https://in.linkedin.com/in/srikanthpvpmp

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