Readiness for the Project Management Professional Certification Exam - Tips Revealed!

With the worldwide surge in the demand for Project Management skills, the PMP®, the Project Management certification is the best way to boost your career prospects and credentials.  The PMI has made lot of changes to the Project Management professional exams and the exams are getting tougher.  Many professionals attempt to pass the exam and few anonymous survey results show that at least 40 to 50% of candidates fail to clear the Project Management professional exam in their first attempt.

Let’s imagine you have put lot of efforts to prepare for the PMP exam and getting ready for the exam day. Before attempting the exam, you like to have feeling that your are confident enough to take the exam and you very much assured of a proper preparation for the exam.  How will you acquire the required confidence and assurance of passing the exam with distinction? I would suggest that you shall perform a thorough self assessment of yourself by using the following questions before attempting the exam.

I know how to perform project assessment based upon the available information

I know how to define project scope based on the business requirements

I know how to perform stakeholder analysis using the various techniques mentioned in PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition

I know how to develop a project charter and get approvals from the stakeholders

I know how to define project deliverables based on the project charter

I know how to create work break down structure to manage the scope of the project

I know how to develop budget plan based on the project scope to manage project cost

I know how to develop a project schedule to manage timely completion of the project

I know how to develop a human resource management plan to effectively utilize and manage project human resources

I know how to develop a communication plan for the project to manage the flow of project information

I know how to develop a procurement plan to effectively procure project resources

I know how to develop a Quality Management Plan in order to prevent occurrences of defects and reduce the cost of quality

I know how to develop a Change Management plan to manage changes

I know how to develop a risk management plan to manage risks throughout the project life cycles

I know how to present the project plan to the key stakeholders in order to get approval to execute the project.

I know the various types and uses of organization charts

I know Time, budget and cost estimation techniques including the Earned Value Formulas mentioned in the PMBOK® Guide Forth Edition

I know how to obtain project resources including procurement resources to execute the project plan

I know how to execute the tasks as defined in the project plan to achieve the project deliverables within budget and schedule

I know how to implement the quality management plan to ensure that the work is being performed according to the required quality standards

I know how to implement approved changes according to the change management plan in order to meet the project requirements

I know how to maximize team performance through leading, mentoring, training and motivating team members.

I know the team building and motivation methods

I know the importance of continuous improvement processes

I know how to measure project performance using the tools mentioned in the PMBOK® Guide Forth Edition

I know how to monitor and control the projects using the tools and processes mentioned in PMBOK

I know how to obtain the final acceptance of the project deliverables to confirm the project scope and deliverables were met.

I know how to transfer the ownership of deliverables to the assigned stakeholders to facilitate the project closure.

I know how to obtain financial, legal and administrative closure using generally accepted practices

I know how to distribute the final project report including all project closure information in order to provide final project status to stakeholders

I know how to collate and archive lesson learnt document & project documents in order to update the organization’s knowledge base.

I know how to measure customer satisfaction at the end of the project by capturing customer feedback for project evaluation and to enhance customer relationships

I know how to apply PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct in all phases of the project

I have read the PMBOK® Guide Forth Editionat least 3 times

If your self assessment for all these questions are “Yes”, good, you are ready to take the PMP exam and I’m sure you prepared well and will pass you the exam at the first attempt. If you are able to say “Yes” to 80% of questions, “well”, there is a good chance for you to pass the exam at the first attempt. But I would recommend you go back and read the PMBOK® Guide Forth Edition one more time before taking the exam. Those who say “Yes” for less than 80% of these questions, I would say project management preparation is not a tough task; you sign up a project management class or a  PMP®  prep course; read the PMBOK® Guide Forth Edition couple of times and come back to these self assessment questions before attempting the PMP®  exam.

I would encourage you forward this article to share these tips with your friends and colleagues.

Good Luck!