How to Prepare for PMP Certification Exam in 2024? [with Tips]

If you're serious about advancing in project management, getting your PMP certification is a game-changer. It's more than just a credential—it’s your ticket to better job opportunities, higher salaries, and the skills to handle even the most complex projects with confidence. But let's be honest: the path to PMP exam prep isn’t easy. It requires a solid plan, a deep dive into the PMBOK guide, and a lot of dedicated study time.  

This article breaks down the best strategies to prepare for the PMP exam in 2024, offering practical tips that will help you get certified on your first try. Whether you're just starting out or looking to fine-tune your study approach, these insights will guide you every step of the way.

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Benefits of Getting PMP Certification

The benefits of getting PMP certification include, but are not limited to:

• Global recognition and acceptance
• Better job opportunities
• More chances of promotion within your association as it helps in improved project performance, hence organization also gets benefited.
• Becoming a better project manager. You have great knowledge, techniques and tools to make your project more successful and ultimately it raises your prestige in the organization.
• Chances for collaborating with other project management professionals around different countries, which can certainly increase your chances of professional success and development.
• Getting ahead of other project management professionals, in terms of knowledge as well as its application in the field of project management.
• With a PMP Credential, you can reach out to potential employers from across the globe. You can be in contact with past PMP certified experts through project management discussion boards and forums and thus increase your expertise with knowledge sharing and tips.
• According to the PMI Project Management Salary Survey, Ninth Edition- Project Management Professional (PMP) credential holders in the U.S. earned an average of 22% more than their non-credentialed peers in 2015.

6 Best Ways to Prepare for Your PMP Certification Exam

Usually, most of the successful PMP candidates spend long hours preparing for their PMP certification exam. So, you should make sure that you have plenty of time to prepare for your PMP exam. To help you succeed, you can adopt the following best practices on how to prepare for PMP exam and ensure you're fully ready on exam day.

1. Review the PMP® Examination Content Outline

PMP® Examination content outline is an important document which will help you to do well with your PMP® exam. You should go through this document which is published by PMI® to find the following information:

• Break up of questions as per the Process areas
• List of skills, tasks, and knowledge which are required as per PMI’s Role Delineation study.

Going through this credible document will give you a high-level idea of what all get covered in the PMP® exam. You should go through this once you feel that you have attained a reasonable command on the content covered by PMBOK® Guide or any other study guide which you are referring in order to ensure that you avoid any unwanted surprises while appearing for your PMP® certification exam.

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2. Take up a formal study course offered by any accredited Registered Education Provider (R.E.P)

Project Management Institute (PMI) has approved a few organizations to offer project management training in order to establish a global network of quality education providers to help all the Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential aspirants and credential holders.

Enrolling yourself in PMP training courses is one of the best ways to prepare for your certification exam. The reasons are as follows:

• These courses provide tailor-made PMP study materials and best practices for the PMP exam.
• They give you a quick start in getting a grasp of various project management concepts, formulae, terminology, and other key inputs which help you to prepare for your PMP exam.
• You can also get the 35 contact hours certificate by taking up these training courses which is necessary for you to be eligible for the PMP® exam.

3. Come up with a study plan

You should start treating your PMP® certification as a project and prepare a plan which covers all the activities that would help you to get PMP® certified. But the core element in this plan is to have a well-defined study plan. If you're wondering how to prepare for the PMP exam, you should incorporate PMP exam prep strategies by breaking your study sessions into smaller chunks and creating a study plan that includes timelines to read PMBOK®, practice mock tests, study various materials, etc.

4. Review the latest edition of PMBOK® Guide and self-study books published by other reputable training organizations

No matter whatever reference material you want to study in order to prepare for your PMP® certification exam, the PMPBOK® Guide is the recommended study material for all the PMP® aspirants. The page number 61 of the guide contains a table that shows the relation between 13 Knowledge Areas and 5 Process Groups with 47 processes. It further explains how these are applicable to project management.

As a candidate, you should be thorough with this table and draw this table on a piece of paper in 5 minutes while appearing for your exam. The same can be used as a reference in answering the 200 exam questions. Other than the PMBOK® Guide, you can also review other study guides published by R.E.P.s and other reputable training organisations.

5. Get ready for your exam by practicing Mock Tests

Do you want to check the status of your PMP® certification exam preparation? You can do that by taking PMP mock tests. These can help you to map the gaps in your project management knowledge. You can take a test and review the results to find the areas that you need to work on.

Focusing on answering the questions by sitting at a place for four hours is not a piece of cake. Taking full-length mock tests helps you to prepare for such a physically daunting and mentally straining process. However, it is a very important drill for your PMP® certification exam. So, it’s better to take up these mock tests and prepare well for your big day.

6. Study group

Studying in a group can prove to be quite helpful while you are preparing for your PMP exam prep and certification. Catch up with the like-minded PMP® aspirants to know about new tactics and get benefited in other ways by being a part of the study group. How to prepare for PMP exam effectively is a common topic in these groups, offering valuable insights and strategies. Few of the benefits are as follows:

• Studying in a group is the best escape from the monotony of studying alone.
• You can surely overcome the areas which you are struggling with.
• Helping others will also boost your confidence.
• Sharing project management experiences with others help you to crack the scenario based questions which is the trickiest part of the PMP® certification exam.
• It further helps you to stay on course and helps you to motivate each other in the group.
• The biggest advantage of studying in a group is that it forces you to study on a regular basis and makes the preparation activity a part of your routine.

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Tips and Tricks to Prepare for Your PMP® Exam

You need to study numerous materials in order to prepare for PMP exam and crack your PMP® certification. But do you have access to the right books and materials? Every person has his or her own way of learning. The following strategies are essential for PMP exam prep and will surely help you become efficient in your study, equipping you with all the knowledge you need to crack your PMP® exam:

If you have access to the workshops conducted by PMI then that would be a big benefit for you. This will also help you to receive the bundle of 35 credit hours which are necessary to qualify for your PMP® application procedure. Attending a best PMP bootcamps gives you access to numerous benefits. Few of them are:

1. Review everything which you need to cover on the exam

Everybody is oblivious about what he or she is going to encounter during the PMP® certification exam. Whatever you will find in the exam is sure to be geared from the PMBOK®. This means you should be thorough with the PMBOK® guidelines to get PMP® certified at one go. But the PMBOK® consists of only 75% of what you will see in the exam. What about the rest? You need to seek for a PMP instructor’s guidance in order to fill the gap in learning to qualify your PMP® certification exam.

2. Review how to study for the exam

As discussed, the PMBOK® guide is a great resource for your PMP® certification exam. At times, even if the questions are lengthy with a situational circumstance, you need to bring it down to a rule that needs to be comprehended. Further, there are certain focus areas on which you need to invest more of your study time than others. It is always better to seek guidance from a professional rather than guessing what you should study.

3. Informal questions

If you lack the idea of how to implement cost, schedule, or risk structure, then it’s a great opportunity for you to understand it. You should learn to shed light on practical application using fundamental examples.

You should change your study methods to prepare well for a continuously evolving exam process like the PMP exam prep. These days, this exam is based on PMBOK® Guide 6th edition and is a lot harder than it was in the past. The 4 partially correct choices which are provided for all the questions make it even confusing and raise the level of complication for the candidate.
The following tricks are surely going to help you in shaping up your exam:

• Get aligned with the exam dynamics by spending 30 minutes every day on a free exam simulator.
• Follow the rule of 85%. Keep practicing mock exams until you score at least 85% in all the model exams. This indicates that you are ready to face the PMP® certification exam.
• Another important trick is to understand the ‘ITTO TRICK Sheet of 49 processes’ which you can find in the PMBOK® guide. This will really prove helpful to you in mapping all the processes inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques.
• In order to rightly utilize the 12 minutes after the exam, you need to read and memorize the Formula Trick Sheet. You need to print and paste the same on your desk in order to practice it every day because writing this after 4 hours exam will surely help you to track the questions and save significant time.
• You need to read and memorize the PMPBOK® 6th Edition 49 Process Chart. Print and paste the same on your desk and practice it every day until you can draw the chart within 8 minutes.

PMP Exam Prerequisites and Qualifications

If you wish to become a PMP Certified professional, you need to fulfill some specific experimental and educational criteria:

• When you apply for the certification, you must hold a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent university degree.
• You must have minimum of 4500 hours experience in Project Management under five process groups of PMP namely – Initiation, Planning, Controlling, Execution and Closing.
• When you fill in the Experience Verification Form (s), the projects dates mentioned by you must validate that you have three years of experience of Project Management
• You must show at least 36 non-overlapping months of Project Management Experience that must complete the three year experience necessity.
• You will also have to submit a proof that you have completed 35 hours of Project Management Education.
• You will also have to list the course names, dates and hours of Projects Management training along with details of the institutions, when you fill up the form for PMP certification.

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Here is a video that shares the experience of "Dalai Goutham" who passed the PMP exam on their first try.

How I Cleared the PMP Exam on My First Try!

The video discusses the resources the person used, study plan, the strategies they employed, and the challenges they faced. We hope this video helps you on your journey to becoming a PMP-certified project manager.

The PMP Exam

The PMP certification examination has 200 multiple-choice questions, and you have four hours to complete it. It’s a computer-based exam so you go to an exam centre locally to you to do it. There are exam centres in all over the world so you don’t have to worry about it and you should have no difficulty finding one near enough to you to make it possible to sit the test.

To prepare for the PMP exam, you can choose different institutes that provide training for PMP certification and can help you get a deep insight into concepts of PMP, which will help you become an effective Project Manager. A PMP will open doors to new job opportunities since many companies today ask for the PMP certificate as a prerequisite when they hire project managers. One amongst these is KnowledgeHut solutions. It is very well known in the field of PMP and has groomed several successful Project Managers over the years. With training from experienced faculty, you can be assured of covering all the aspects of this course, both in the conventional and in an innovative manner. Techniques learnt here can help support you throughout your career as a PMP-certified professional.

To Wrap It Up

When you begin with your preparation for PMP® certification, you should remember that attaining the PMP® certification shows your commitment to the profession of project management and demonstrates your credibility to earn more as well as raising the value of your resume above the non-certified professionals. Prepare for PMP exam with these points in mind to help avoid getting discouraged during your certification process.

This blog throws light on a few best practices along with some tips and tricks to smoothly proceed with your PMP® journey. It is important for you to set a standard time for your studies other than having a thorough understanding of the PMBOK® guide. So, start clearing your calendar to fit in your daily study time as PMP® needs a lot of thorough studies and is not an easy path to success.