The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is the world’s leading certification for project managers. There are currently 750,000+ certificate holders worldwide. Because of the certification’s popularity, many employers screen applicants for the PMP certification before granting them a job interview.
The reason why the PMP certification is so prestigious is that candidates are required to learn the methodologies and best practices for managing large and complex projects. The Project Management Institute (PMI) distilled all the project management best practices into a guide called the PMBOK.
The PMP exam is known for its rigor. It usually takes months of studying to prepare, and many aspirants struggle with finishing the exam in under 4 hours. In this article, I’ve compiled 8 strategies that will help you finish the exam on time and pass on your first try.
Test Strategy #1: Don’t Look at the Answers
After you read the exam question, cover up the 4 multiple choices given, and come up with the answer in your head. Then, look to see if one of the multiple choices given is the same as the answer you came up with. The benefit of using this method is that it does not give wrong answers a chance to cloud your thinking.
If the answer you came up with is among the multiple choices, then you can be quite certain that you have the right answer. If it’s not, you can use one of the other 8 strategies to help you figure out the correct answer.
Test Strategy #2: Look at the Answers First
This strategy is the reverse of strategy #1. Without looking at the question, read all of the multiple choice answers given. Then, read the last sentence. Then, read the entire question.
The “Look at the Answers First” strategy is particularly useful for situational questions, where the question is long-winded. Sometimes, there is a lot of irrelevant information given in a situational question, so by reading the answers first, you know what information you should be looking for in the question.
Test Strategy #3: First Impression
If you are unsure of the answer, go with your first impression. Chances are, your first impression is probably right. Don’t change your answer unless you are sure.
Test Strategy #4: Process of Elimination
If you are unsure what the correct answer may be, use the process of elimination to eliminate the wrong answers. With the wrong answers eliminated, your chances of choosing the correct answer increases.
Test Strategy #5: Calculate First
If you have a calculation question on your PMP exam, you should calculate the answer without looking at the 4 multiple choices given. If the answer you got was among the multiple choices, you can be quite certain that you got the right answer.
When you approach a calculation question, list out all of your variables and compare them to your formulas on your “cheat sheet.” Apply the correct formula based on the numbers and variables you are given, and check whether the answer you got is among the multiple choices. You will have access to a Windows-based calculator during your exam.
It is hard to know how many calculation questions you’ll get on your exam because 200 random questions are pulled from the PMI database when your exam starts. The system cannot detect whether the question is a math question or not. Some candidates report that as much as 30% of their exam was calculation questions, while others only got 1-2 math questions. However, most candidates will find that between 5-10% of their exam consists of calculation-based questions.
Test Strategy #6: Calculate Back
If you did not get the correct answer when you used the “Calculate First” strategy, you can try the “Calculate Back” strategy. Looking at the 4 multiple choices given, try to “calculate back” and see which answer you can prove to be correct with the variables given in the question.
Test Strategy #7: Skip
If you don’t immediately know the answer to the question, skip it. Sometimes, some questions in the exam actually provide the answers to other questions. Chances are, when you skip a question, you may find the answer in another question.
At the Prometrics exam centre, you have the option to mark a question for review so that you can remember which questions to go back to.
Because you have 4 hours to complete 200 multiple choice questions, don’t spend more than 1 minute per question during your first go round. You want to make sure you have enough time to finish the entire exam. If the question is taking you too long to complete, skip it and come back to it once you’ve looked at all the questions.
Test Strategy #8: Guess
There is no negative marking on the PMP exam. Before you submit your exam, make sure every question has an answer – even questions you don’t know the answers to. When all else fails, just guess. Even when you guess, you will still have a 25% chance of getting the question right. If you leave the question blank, you will have 0% chance of getting that question right.
