What I Did to Prepare:
1) Sent my package to PMI to get permission to take the test before I studied anything or took any courses. (I work best under pressure). This gave me a three month deadline in which I had to take the test (ie the PMI OK to take the test expired in three months). The first available time that the Sylvan learning center I went to (East Brunswick) had was two months out.
2) Took the IBM 2 day IBM prep course. (Humbling experience in that it showed me how much I needed to learn but was an excellent way to pick up good study materials.)
2 months passed with virtually no studying on my part other than reading the PMBOK Q&A book (#SR23-8396-00 on pubs you should order this) out loud to my PMs over lunch (Thanks for listening and not throwing food!) and studying the Q&A book occasionally over lunch at my desk.
... 2 weeks to go before the test
3) Read each chapter in the PMBOK and took the practice test for each chapter. (I failed about half of the tests),
4) I read the PMBOK glossary.
5) I studied the right answers to the chapter tests and retook each test. ( I passed each one, missing only a couple but was convinced all I had proven was that I had a good short term memory since I had just read the test with the right answers).
6) I waited a day and then took the practice tests again (third time). (I passed each one but not as solidly as before).
7) The day before the test I took the lotus notes practice test that Beth Ann Cyrus and Annmarie sent me twice. The first time I failed, the second time I passed. (Again, I am thinking that all I am proving is that I have a good short term memory).
By now I was very tense convinced that I was not ready for the test and thinking what a waste of money that I had signed up before I was ready. Instead of staying up and studying some more, I went to bed early trying to sleep so I would be rested, not that I got much sleep!
8) I arrived at the testing center one hour early, and read the PMBOK glossary for a second time in the car.
9) Took the test and passed. Morale - we know more than we think we do, my prior PM experience helped out a lot, and studying to pass is very different than studying to get an "A" like we did in college years ago.

What I remember about the test:

1) The time allocation was more than sufficient, I took about half the time allocated. You can mark questions you want to come back to and review them later. I answered all, marked about 70 and reviewed those 70 after I was done. I changed maybe 4 answers, then I remembered the advise to go with first instincts so I stopped changing answers.
2) Lots of questions on earned value, but very little interpretive mostly straight calcs or identifying the right formula, one actual word problem where you had to pull out the data from the paragraph.
3) Lots of situational questions that described a project situation and asked what should the PM do.
4) Know the difference between quality assurance and quality control. Know the kinds of quality charts and tools
5) Not as much memorization on what are inputs, outputs and tools, but some of these.
6) The practice tests seemed harder than the real thing.
7) Lots of questions on leadership styles, what would be appropriate for a given situation.
8) Hitting the button to say I was done was actually harder than answering the questions!
Not sure if this will help any of you, but if I can pass it with the amount of prep that I put in, I know that you can pass it to if you make it a priority. Good luck and if I can help in any way let me know.
Jane Rees
Senior Business Area Manager, Pathmark Partnership
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Merlin Nuss/Kansas City/IBM@IBMUS
Subject: More Notes on PMI Exam Preparation Methods and Exam Information
I sat for and passed the PMI exam on November 13th. I have been assembling my notes over the last few weeks between out of town travel and work. I hope it will be of some help to anyone who has not yet taken the exam. The notes from other people who passed the exam certainly helped me in preparing for my exam. I feel obligated to help as many folks as possible to pass the exam, so I'll pass on what I know and experienced.
REGISTRATION
I sent my application to PMI initially in August using the Option II [Option II is no longer available; Option I is now mandatory] form available on the web site. I filled out the entire form assessing all of the points and including documentation and copies of my degrees, advance degrees, and anything else they asked for on the application. I also put the exam fee on my company credit card and turned in a TEA for the fee.
Roughly three weeks after I sent in the form, I received a letter from PMI approving my application and issuing a authorization number to be used when scheduling the exam with Sylvan Learning Centers. Upon receiving the letter I called Sylvan to schedule the exam thinking that I would be able to schedule an exam on a Saturday in Kansas City in about 6 to 7 weeks. Sylvan indicated that the earliest date that I could schedule and exam in Kansas City would be sometime in December 1998. This was outside the 90 day window that PMI allows to take the exam. My next choice was to take the exam on a Friday. This also met with full schedules for all of the exam sites in Kansas City. Sylvan then offered that Friday exam dates were open within the 90 day window if I was willing to travel to Topeka to take the exam. This was okay with me, so I scheduled the exam for November 13th, roughly 15 days before my 90 day window closed. Sylvan then apprised me of the exam location, the exam time, and what I could bring to the exam site. (Essentially warm clothes and two #2 pencils.)
EXAM PREPARATION
? Get the books: I started my exam preparation by getting the PMI Exam Preparation book set available through PMI for about $200. IBM picks up the cost of these books and they can be ordered through the PMI web site or their phone number. I have had the best luck with the phone number. The original study guide book set was a nine book set, but as of December, the book set was consolidated to a seven book set and the price went up. The set does not include the PMBOK book so order that separately. The price went up on that in December also.
? Take the PMI Class: I took the two day exam preparation class quite early thinking that I would just walk into a Sylvan center and take the exam in July or August. The exam preparation class I attended was excellent. It was taught by one of the PMI employees that assisted in writing the new exam. She was great in going through the class binder and pointing out items she knew to be on the exam. Her notes and direction in preparing for the exam were indispensable. (I shared my binder class notes with all PM's in the Kansas City area). The class was also helpful in that there were a few people from the Kansas City area and the Chicago/Rolling Meadows IL area that were at about the same levels of experience and asked many good questions that were very applicable to our situations. The instructor recommended that we take the exam within two months after the class. I was not able to do this, however, the class binder, the sample questions, the review flash cards, and notes we took in class were valuable resources of information for preparation. I took the exam approximately 6 months after the class but still felt the information from the class was pretty fresh and could recall almost everything by reviewing the class notes. I would recommend finding out when you can get into a PMI class, schedule it, and then try to schedule the exam sitting for approximately 8 weeks after the class if that is possible. That will give you adequate time to review for the exam.
? Attend Study Sessions: Attend PMI exam study sessions via conference call if possible. These are available out of the Kansas City office and proved to be a great support group and good sources of information from experienced PM's and PM's that have passed the exam. You can talk to these people one-on-one about their experiences. These study sessions also forces you into a study routine by reviewing one of the chapters from the PMBOK each week. The people on the call are also great cheerleaders for encouraging you to get the exam taken and put it behind you. The Kansas City call in number is 888-4530-0447, pin# 75209.
? Plan your final study time frame: Once you have the books, you have taken the class, and know when the exam date is for you, you should plan how to spend your remaining time before you take the exam to maximize the use of your free study time in the most efficient way. I had roughly 7 weeks from the time I knew the test date to the date of the exam to do my final preparation. I elected to work each weekday night for 3 to 4 hours and a minimum of 8 hours over the weekend, space strategically to allow you some time away from the books to get some free quality time with your family, get some relaxation, or to do those weekend chores. I laid out a chart of the days I could study and listed for each day the topic or activity I wanted to accomplish that day. Based on my experience and experiences of others that have passed the exam, it seems that 5 to 7 weeks of study or about 120 hours is about the right amount of study time for most people. I spent roughly 130 hours of study time.
? Study method: I used the PMBOK as a guide listing the chapters I wanted to study for that time period. I determined that with 6-7 weeks of study time, I should have 168 total hours of study time available (28 hours per week). I spent 3-4 hours reading and marking each chapter in the PMBOK, the study notes from the IBM PM web site, and the class notes for the relevant chapter and then spent an additional hour taking the sample questions from the class and the study notes. Make copies of the answer sheets provided and be sure to track the time it takes to finish the questions and extrapolate your time out to 200 questions. I kept track of my answers, calculated my score and noted areas that needed more study. I did this for all of the chapters of the PMBOK. I took a two day break and then began on a second round of review where I reviewed the same materials and notes and took the exam questions a second time and recorded scores and problem areas and tracked the improvement in score and time used. The second round of study took 2-3 hours for each PMBOK chapter reviewing all of the same materials. The third round of review was a quick review of each chapter/topic and definitions and took the test questions the third time recording the resulting scores and times. By the third round, I was well within the time limits and well above the minimum scores required to pass. Where the PMBOK or class study binder or study notes referenced one of the special books in the study set, I read the appropriate passages and if needed read the entire book. Near the end of the study time frame, I took the on-line sample test made available by IBM. I passed that exam as well in the time frame required.
? One week before the exam: As recommended by PMI, I traveled to the exam site and visited the site to ensure that I knew the route to the site and was familiar with the setting. I spoke to the proctors and they seemed pleased that I was checking out the location. I asked for and they verified that they had me scheduled to take the exam on the appropriate day.
? Day before the exam day: I took the day off to do the third round of reviewing. I completed this by 6:00 PM, put together everything I wanted to take to the exam site, and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and got a good night's sleep. I was sure to set the alarm to wake me well ahead of the time I needed to leave.
? Day of exam: I woke up early, took care of regular hygiene duties and ate a light breakfast (fruit and toast) and drove to the site. I arrived roughly 30 minutes prior to the time the exam was to begin. I had some reading material with me (Reader's Digest) and tried to relax before starting the exam. The Sylvan Center was giving other exams for other professions the same day so the place was busy and I actually started about 20 minutes late. The proctor ensured me that I still had 4.5 hours to complete the exam.
? The exam: The exam terminals are modern and GUI driven and very easy to understand. Just the same, take the time to go through the exam instructions. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the questions seemed at first ( I went in feeling pretty confident), but was soon challenged by one of those PMI questions that described a scenario and then gave four correct answers and asked for the best answer. Of course, they want the PMI answer. For most of these questions, unless I was sure of my answer, I marked the question for later review. I believe I marked about 64 questions that either asked for the best of four right answers or dealt with "gray" areas where the questions were in a subject area I was not as familiar with. In reviewing these, I believe I only changed 3 to 4 answers.
? Exam Content: The exam I took had
? 8 questions on the Initiation process, The Initiation process questions dealt with feasibility studies, Mgt. responsibilities, ID needs, and project charters.
? 74 questions on planning, The Planning process questions covered cost and scope planning, scope definition, schedule development, risk planning, resource planning (tough area), quality planning, organizational planning, communications and procurement planning, and project plan development including activity definition, estimating, and sequencing.
? 48 questions on execution processes, Execution process questions included quality assurance, scope verification, source selection, information distr., contract admin. (tough area), team development, and project plan execution (also tough area).
? 56 questions on controlling processes, Controlling process questions covered cost control, change control, performance reporting, quality control, risk response control (tough), schedule control, and scope change control (tough).and..
? 14 questions on closing processes. Closing process questions included admin close out and contract close out. Both these areas were tough. Know the difference between administrative close out functions and contract close out functions.
? The Test Process: The room was crowded and initially quite warm, so be prepared to shed clothes if needed. The usual 2 pencils and scratch paper were provided and my personal belongings were locked up. The room was crowded and initially quite warm, so be prepared to shed clothes if needed. The usual 2 pencils and scratch paper were provided and my personal belongings were locked up. Once I completed reviewing the marked questions, I hit the End of Exam button and got it over with. I completed the exam in four hours. Roughly three hours to complete the first pass, I took a ten minute break which was refreshing, and then spent another 45-50 minutes reviewing the marked questions. I had about a half hour to spare. After pushing the done button, you complete a questionnaire from PMI and once that is complete your exam results are displayed. After the "war whoop" upon notification that I had passed, and calming down and apologizing to the other test takers (who were smirking), I took my scratch pad to the proctor who immediately verified the test results and printed a certificate on the spot. I immediately left the test site and took the rest of the day off after relaying the information to my coworkers at my Topeka work site.
Post Exam Reflections: Looking back at the experience, I would say that:
? My study methods were sound, information gathered about the exam from the study conference call sessions was invaluable and really helped build confidence,
? The single thing that helped the most was the taking and retaking of the sample exam questions. The more you are used to the types of questions asked, the more confident you will be when you take the exam. I found that many of the questions on the sample test questions were repeated on the actual exam. There were also a few questions about topics or concepts that were direct excerpts from the study guide reading books.
? I felt confident the exam would be a breeze going into the exam. I quickly found that the exam was harder than the sample questions but found that the intense review work paid off in most cases.
? I found that the formulas for Earned Value and Net Present Value were needed from time to time but if you wrote those down at the time you started the exam or when you got to one of those questions, everything would come back and those questions turned out to be the easier questions on the exam.
? Risk was not as big of a concern on the exam as I had anticipated. Maybe it was because of the drilling and preparation we did for risk. I highly recommend the supplemental reading in the PMI study guide set of books.
? I felt that the exam still follows the PMBOK pretty closely, but a better source of additional information was the PMI class binder and the IBM PM Study Notes.
? I would reiterate what I have heard others say, and that is that the secondary benefit of studying for the exam is that you learn a lot from others who have taken the exam, you learn a lot of things you never knew before, and you refresh your memory about things you may have learned in college or special classes but had just stored that information away for a time when you would use it.
One item that seemed like a new requirement from PMI was that when they sent back the confirmation and congratulations letter after passing the exam, they requested that I complete the PMI application again. Upon closer examination, the Option II application included a Professional Endorsement & Reference form that needs to be signed by anyone who is or was a supervisor, trainer/instructor, or colleague of the applicant and can attest to the applicant's project experience and/or capabilities.
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From: Pearlene Derello
Subject: PMP PMP Exam
I took and passed the PMI exam yesterday in Vermont at the Sylvan Technology Center. You have shared some past experiences regarding taking the test and I wanted to share my experience with you. I am already certified as an IBM Project Manager. Now that I have completed the PMI exam, I will send in the necessary information to PMI to see if I can get my PMP certification.
1. October, 1998 - Signed up for the ESI PMI ONLINE EXAM PREP class offered to us by IBM through the IBM GLOBAL CAMPUS.
? This is a 6 week online course that covers the same information that is in the 2 day PMI Exam Prep course.
? It included all the material that you would get in the 2 day class: study guides, practice exams, PMBOK, etc.
? I found the 6 weeks to be a real benefit because I could study whenever I had time and I felt I was able to absorb more. I had access to an online instructor who answered all of my questions as they came up, I had access to online daily Study Group sessions. These were led by the instructor and covered various PMBOK topics on any given day.
? This course had 8 online tests for each section of PMBOK which I could take as many times as I wanted. The score was returned to the screen immediately after pressing the button to complete each exam. I actually found these ESI tests to be more difficult than the actual PMI exam. This was very, very helpful to me for studying.
? The course requirements included assignments that needed to be turned in to the instructor, which he corrected and returned via e-mail
2. December 1, 1998 - Take the PMI Exam (need to answer 140 correctly out of 200 questions to PASS - they say 60% of test takers pass the exam on the first try) [an IBM informal survey shows that 90% of IBMers pass the first time]
? You are allowed 4.5 hours for the exam. In the U.S., you call any Sylvan Technology Center to schedule a day that is convenient for you to take the exam. This is only after you send in the proper forms to PMI to get qualified to take the exam and pay the exam fee. PMI sends you a letter saying you are qualified and they give you an ID# with a letter which you must show the people at STC when you show up to take the exam.
? There are 4 multiple choice answers, only one correct answer....there are NO "all of the above" or "none of the above" answers. 4 of the questions on my exam said "This problem is for the next 3 or 4 questions" and it asked different questions about the problem presented.
? I was shown to a nice quiet little cubicle with a desktop PC, 4 pieces of scrap paper, 2 pencils and earplugs (in case I wanted to shut out noise). I was told that the test session was being video-taped and recorded. I had to lock my purse and other belongings in a locker. I was allowed to bring in my very simple, non-programmable calculator. Note: The scrap paper must be turned in at the end of the exam with your scratch notes.
? The test program had a tutorial, which was brief and clear. It explained how during the test, you can "mark" any questions that you want to specifically review after you get to the end of the test. The actual program for the test was set up in a nice simple format and it was easy to navigate.
? I was told to get up an leave the test area for a break when I felt it was necessary. I was told to leave the test program running without doing anything (i.e. no putting on hold or pausing). Actually during the 4 hours, I did not take any breaks, I did not eat or drink anything, I was not cold, not hungry and only concentrated on the exam.
? When you are complete with the exam (after doing any review that you want to do), you press "End the Exam" and within a minute, the screen flashes (in my case) PASS, and it indicates the score. Less than a minute, but oh...what a long minute !!! After the screen indicated that I had passed the exam, I left the exam room, and the people administering the exam were waiting for me with an official stamped document indicating I had passed the exam.
Now...About the exam:
? I was fully expecting to have to answer a lot of Earned Value Questions that would require the use of my calculator. This may have been the case on other exams (I heard that there is a test bed of over 1300 questions, so everyone's exam is definitely not the same. I am told that anyone taking the exam on any given DAY will be taking the same exam). Anyway, There were about 5 questions on Earned Value, but they were relatively easy considering the types of questions that could have been asked. Most wanted to know "what is the Cost Variance", "what is the Schedule Variance", "what is the CPI" in the above example. These earned value questions were straight-forward and easy to answer. No trick questions here.
? I had NO questions on PRESENT VALUE, NET PRESENT VALUE or Benefit Cost Ratios. This was surprising, especially since I was really ready for these types of questions.
? I expected questions asking me to show I knew who (Crosby, Herzog, Maslow, etc.) owned different "Quality" theories and principles (ex: Quality is Free, Zero Defects, Cease mass inspection, etc.) My test had none of these types of questions. No questions on Theory X or Theory Y behaviors.
? I was not asked to do any PERT estimates, although I had to know what this is and what it is not, the same with standard deviations ....I had to understand what this is and what it is not, but I did not have to calculate either one.
? What was on the test????
? Lots of questions that explained a "situation" (usually a messy project situation). After they explained the situation, the question was, "What should the Project Manager do next". There were probably 25 of those questions. Unfortunately, in some cases there were at least two answers that were pretty similar and you could only pick one. In some cases, the "real world" may have warranted one response, but they were looking for the PMI response. This made these types of questions difficult.
? There were many questions on the different types of Network Diagrams...what are they, what are they used for, how are they different from others, what do they look like, what don't they have, etc. (PDM's, AON's, AOA, CPM's, GERT's, PERT's). At least 15 of these types of questions.
? RESOURCE questions...There were a lot of these !! Resource Leveling, Resource Loading, Resource constrained scheduling, Resource Leveling Heuristics, Activity Duration Estimating...with resource considerations, Resource Limited Scheduling, Responsibility Assignment Matrix, etc..... I'll admit, if I had known, I would have studied up a little more on what these are and what the differences are, and when to use what for what purpose.
? Stakeholders...who are they, who do they include, who communicates with them, who to favor conflicts toward, etc.
? Management Styles....autocratic, Bureaucratic democratic.......they described a situation and the managers reaction to the situation, and the question wanted to know which style of management the PM was demonstrating.
? Conflict Management.....What's the best way to handle "THIS CONFLICT SITUATION"........avoiding, withdrawing, problem-solving (confrontation), compromise, forcing, etc. There were at least 5 of these questions.
? Communications.....at least 20 questions centering around team building. team building activities, communication blockers, kickoff meeting, collocation, problems with matrix management, weak matrix, strong matrix, balanced matrix, projectized project team, functional project team, etc........ in all of these organizational project team structures, they described a project team and wanted us to tell them which type of team this represented. What are the problems encountered in these types of teams, which kind of power does the PM have in these teams.
? There were lots of questions in the Contract Management (Procurement) area (maybe 10 questions).... RFP, RFI, Bidders Conference, Make or Buy analysis, statement of work, procurement planning, direct/indirect costs (one of these questions listed 4 team related expenses and asked which one is not a direct cost).......The exam wanted to know what these things are, what they are not, when they are used, etc..........How does the contract clause change control system relate to the overall change control system, what is done during contract close-out, what is the difference between contract close-out and administrative close-out?
? There were some questions on the inputs and outputs of the processes, but not as many as I thought there would be. In some questions, the answer was quite clear because only one answer made real sense ...the other three just did not fit.
? RISK management.....What are the three categories of risk response?....expected durations for path convergence, expected monetary value, decision trees, what are the major processes in risk management?.....There were over 10 questions centering around RISK and how to identify risk, how to respond....(ie: what to do in this situation), the tools used for risk quantification, and how to control risk.
? Well, that is what was or was not on the exam......Of course, there was more there, than I am saying here. There were 5 questions that I simply did not know the answer to at all, but of course, I did pick one answer. It took me 2.5 hours to go through the exam on my first pass. Then I went back to review the 53 questions I had marked for review....then with my remaining hour, I went through all the questions again....not to change my answers necessarily, but to make sure I read the questions right....I found two questions where I had miss-read and did not see that little word "EXCEPT" ...that changes the context completely. I corrected these two answers....and I pressed the DONE button !!
? I have heard some people say that they did very little studying, I have heard someone say "only study enough to pass"........I have always needed to study a lot in order to pass a major test. In this case, I was still studying when I walked in the door to take the test. I studied the night before, and I believe even in my dreams the night before. I'm a studier, and it worked for me. READ THE PMBOK (as boring as it may be) ... KNOW WHAT PMI "believes", don't rely on "real-world" answers...or "well this is what I did in this situation".....this is a PMI exam....find a way to take practice exams. In my case, I did not have to write down any of the formulas when I got into the exam room....I knew the formulas inside-out...they belonged to me when I went in for the exam. This only came from studying... Of course, in this case, the formulas were not that helpful because there were not a lot of mathematical type questions. The good news is, I learned a lot during this preparation process, it was not a process just to pass the exam.
Pearlene Derello
IBM Project Manager - Owens & Minor
Several of you have inquired about the PMI exam and I agreed to send out a quick note recounting my experiences. I would like to thank both Michael Kahn and Helen Gregorio (who I have never met), whose advice filled notes I read as carefully as one would read a letter of endearment -- word by word, over and over again to understand every nuance! They were extremely helpful, encouraging and 100% correct. I would like to add a few observations:
? The good news: the questions are actually very straightforward and so are the answers, so if you know the material you will do well on the test. I found some of the practice exam questions to be grammatically awkward and overly hard. The PMI exam had simply stated questions and answers.
? The other good news: if you know the PMBoK, you will do very, very well. I was really stressed because some of the study materials referenced 5-10 text books, some of which were 1000 pages. I only studied the PMBoK, the IBM web page self study guides, and the materials from ESI supplied during the IBM PMI Exam Prep. class. So relax and focus on these materials and if you know these materials you will do fine.
? You don't have to memorize all the lists in the PMBoK, such as the all of the inputs, tools and techniques and outputs. I memorized the list on page 7 and think that it was unnecessary. There are a few items that the ESI materials will encourage you to know for *key* items/deliverables (e.g., WBS, Charter, Project Plan), but the exam I suffered through had no questions about obscure/trivial minutia regarding the myriad of tables. Once again, I had the feeling during the test that it was both valid and fair.
? It seemed as if about a third of the questions had very obvious answers (i.e., you would know these without studying at all), about a third were obvious if you studied the materials, and about a third were hard -- that is, 2 or 3 good answers, so you had to pick the most correct or the most "rah-rah" answer, which is not always easy.
? The first 25 questions seemed much easier, which may have been pure chance, but it may have been intentional (to build confidence).
? I arrived at Sylvan 30 minutes early and had to wait more than an hour, so bring something to do, or something to read.
? The exam time doesn't start until you click on the 'start' icon, so take a few deep breaths, compose yourself and scribble down a few formulas first.
? When complete, you will be provided the opportunity to review any question via a select box type list, so you don't need to 'mark' any/every question where you have some doubt. In review mode you can 'page through' every question, or press 'Esc' and return to the summary list.
? Since you can not bring anything into the exam area (other than a simple calculator) and this center served nothing other than water, you may wish to bring a thermos of joe or tea or juice and keep it in your locker, which you can access during your clock-still-ticking breaks.
? I recently received a copy of a Lotus Notes DB/App with self study questions which I did not find very helpful, so I didn't use it.
? Attend the PMI prep exam about 2-3 months before you will take the exam, since the main focus of the class is to help focus areas of interest, and not to instruct facts.
? I began 2-3 months ago by studying the PMBoK, the ESI binder (not the flash cards) and the IBM study guide notes. Then I took a mini exam (10-20 questions) from the ESI materials, graded it and *then* studied the PMBoK chapter. After recording my scores I focused on the areas I did poorly on. Then I repeated the process for all 40 questions: chapter exam, study the chapter, next exam, next chapter, etc. I repeated this using the IBM study guide questions. Finally, I repeated this entire process, again, section by section.
? To summarize, I believe the exam questions were straight forward, the time allotted more than enough, and the difficulty not nearly as hard as I feared. Know these 3 sources, and you will do fine.

Regards,
Brian
IBM Global Services, Project Office Manager @ Chiron bmell@us.ibm.com
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Passing the PMI exam is one of the requirements for IBM PM Certification. Yesterday I sat for the exam, and passed. Some brief notes that may be helpful to those planning to take the test follow. Notes are based on my personal studying and test experience. If you have questions, please feel free to give me a call, or please drop me a quick note. Regards, Helen
Study Materials:
1. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
2. Documents received from the 2 day 'PMI Prep Class':
a. PMP Exam Practice Test and Study Guide
b. PMP Challenge
c. PMP Exam Prep Binder
3. Study Notes on the IBM web site (w3.project.ibm.com)
4. Quality Management for Projects and Programs (book by Lewis Ireland)
Supplement with your PM instincts and past experience....remember, don't be too caught up in IBM lingo. The PMI test is not an IBM test; you need to know PMI terms, practices, etc for at least the day of the test...
Re education: I took the PM Fundamentals class (21788 on MSE) in July, and the PMI Prep Class (N2504) in mid August.
Hints (based on the questions I had on my exam):
1. Exam has 200 multiple choice questions, each having 4 choices. The old exam had 5 choices; with the new format, there is less focus on pure memorization, and more emphasis on solving business problems. For example, you take a new job as a project manager on a project that's in trouble (cost, schedule, or customer sat problems), based on the 4 choices given, what would you do first. That kind of problem.
2. Know formulas cold: Earned value, number of communication channels, etc. There were at least 15 questions on Earned Value.
3. Know PMBOK cold.
4. Test had several questions on creating a network diagram and determining critical path. You need to draw the diagram, and then answer the questions that follow.
5. Many questions on use of Change Control, and use of Communications Plan. Again, questions were based more on solving business problems, than answering pure PMBOK memorization questions.
6. There were a few questions comparing Contract Closure with Administrative Closure. To be honest, I didn't focus my studies on that, so I was not confident on those questions.
7. Know definitions listed at the back of the PMBOK. Remember, forget your IBM terminology for at least test day.
8. Know Risk calculations (using decision trees, Expected Monetary Value, etc.) and Categories of Risk
9. Know Mazlow's needs, Leadership Styles, Motivation Theories, Sources of Authority/Power, Conflict Management, Team Building, use of Kick-off meetings. The Study Notes on the web site are a good study source.
10. Time Management: Focus was on use of crashing and fast tracking for reducing project duration.
11. There were a few questions on contracts, types of contracts in relation to risk to buyer or seller, and general procurement questions.
12. There were questions re quality (use of CIP, the 'ibilies' such as availability, costs of conformance, control charts, standard deviations, tools, audits, etc). Know the difference between quality planning, assurance, and control.
13. Several questions on costing estimates, types of costs, etc. Again, know Earned Value cold. There were a few word problems re Earned Value. From the text in the question, you need to determine BAC, BCWP, and ACWP, and then calculate CV.
14. The above list is not all inclusive, but it gives you a general flavor of the types of questions on the exam I sat for. My understanding is that the exam is modified daily, so the folks taking the test today will have different questions than the test I took yesterday.
What was not on my test (questions I had expected);
1. There were no questions on how to calculate seller price based on different types of contracts.
2. I expected many questions re the inputs/techniques/outputs of each phase; there were only a few questions.
My recommendation re studying:
1. Complete the paperwork on the w3.project.ibm.com web site to apply for the test. Submit to PMI using procedures on the web site. If they accept your application, you will receive a note with a letter of eligibility number. Then you have 3 months to take the PMI test (for the first time). Note: 60% of the folks taking the test pass on the first attempt. Then call the 800# referenced in the acceptance documentation, and schedule the test at Sylvan. Give yourself at least one month to study (I studied for 6 weeks).
2. Bring a simple calculator. Questions used straightforward math, but if you are like me, taking a test is stressful, and having the security of a calculator was important.
3. Bring snacks or drink and leave in your locker. During the four hour test there are no scheduled breaks. You can leave the test room by notifying the proctor. I took one break at the halfway point. At about test question 185, I still had plenty of time left to finish the exam, but found I was not concentrating well, so I took another break, and had a snack. Came back refreshed, and much more confident.
4. Re the test/facilities, etc. I took the 4 hour PMI test at the local Sylvan Technology Center in White Plains, NY. My test was scheduled for 11:30; I needed to be there 30 minutes before. This time is needed for the test proctor to verify your eligibility (bring your letter from PMI), your IDs (two forms, one of which needs to be a picture ID), and store all your belongings in a locker. I walked into the test with a sweater (just in case), a watch, and a simple calculator. Pencils and scrap paper are supplied. The proctor gives you an orientation to the computer, and a tutorial is available for taking the test on-line. And then when you are ready, you press the button to begin the exam.
5. As soon as the test started, I wrote down the Earned Value formulas on the scrap paper. Then I started the 200 questions. My strategy (which I did not deviate from during the test), was to answer each question in the sequential order in which the questions were presented. I left no questions blank. Note: other folks may use the strategy of answering only the easy questions first, and then going back and working on the hard questions, but I wanted to know that when I answered the 200th question, I was done. You can go back and forth within the test, and mark questions that you definitely want to review again.
6. Another strategy I used was to work backwards in some of the math problems. For example, there was a question re renting or leasing equipment, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. So I took each of the 4 answers, and worked backwards to determine the correct answer.
7. After about 3 hours I had answered the 200 questions. I then spent 30 minutes rereading each of the questions, and my answers. I changed 2 answers (follow-on questions gave helpful hints for those 2 questions). And then I pressed the END EXAM key, and after about a minute, my score was flashed on the screen. I collected up my belongings, received a note from the proctor congratulating me on passing the exam, and immediately called my husband to share my good news. (Preparing for the test is a family effort... knowing the local take-out numbers is essential!).
I am happy to have this requirement behind me, and plan to take a break before I start the next phase of the IBM certification process (preparing the IBM package).
Now back to work... Good luck!
Regards,
Helen
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From: Michael Kahn/Denver/IBM @ IBMUS
Subject: PMI Exam - More Helpful Hints
I took (and passed) the PMI test on Monday and would like to share my thoughts with the group. Hopefully they will help to target your study and manage expectations for when you get into the testing room. By the way, the room does NOT resemble a medieval torture chamber, except for the "rack" in the corner. :-)
First, I think that Helen Gregorio did a great job of summarizing, and my experience was very similar. I will focus on those areas that really stood out for me, or where my experience was different from Helen's.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact me. I am more than happy to discuss the experience, especially if you think that it will help in your preparation.
My study consisted of the every-other Monday PMBOK review sessions we had in the office in May/June, attending the PMI prep class in early August, practically no time between then and mid-September, then about 20 hours total in the last 3 weeks, most over the last few days before the test. My major sources of knowledge and study: 1) EXPERIENCE and common sense; 2) Practice tests from the prep class (I took each one at least twice); 3) PMBOK Glossary for terminology; 4) the rest of the PMBOK; 5) notebook from the prep class; 6) IBM web page summaries and sample questions. I did NOT use the "flash cards" from the prep class -- it just didn't fit my style, nor did I do any additional outside reading. All of the sources I used are important. I realize the PMBOK is fourth on the list, but you need to know it very well!!!!
Looking back, I would have spent more time with the IBM web page summary, as I think it was an excellent condensed view of all of the information. As I reviewed the written materials (PMBOK and class book), I condensed the entire document twice: once by highlighting on my initial read, then again as I reread my highlights I took notes on key topics and reminders. At the end, I had about 12 pages of condensed material. I then read my 12-page summary and tried to let my mind wander to additional definitions, related topics etc, as well as cramming the obscure facts into short-term memory.
Comments on the test, in no particular order:
1) Test Logistics -- be prepared for a random sequence of questions. They are NOT sorted by major process area (Initiation, Planning, Execution, Control, Closure) nor by focus area (time, cost, scope, quality...)
2) Test Logistics #2 -- you can NOT jump around from question to question during the first pass at the test. There is a "previous" and a "next" button, but there is not a "go to Question # X" option. Once you are done with the first pass, and are in review mode there is much more flexibility and capability to jump around.
3) The "tone" of the questions was much kinder/softer than those in the sample PMI exams from the 2-day prep class. I thought that they were more like the sample questions from the IBM web page.
4) There were several questions that start with "use the following information for the next 3 questions...." The information is repeated for each question, but I felt that it was sometimes unclear on #3 whether the changes for #2 were included in background for #3 or not. READ these carefully.
5) About 20 questions were of the "You are the PM in the following situation...... What do you do first?" genre. Followed by four GOOD answers. Think about what PMI thinks would be the BEST answer. These are good real-world analysis questions, not just "memorize/recognize the right fact and spit it back" questions. (OK, to be frank there were usually only three good answers, and one really silly one.)
6) As expected, there were several (8-10) questions on Organization types -- Projectized vs. Functional vs. Matrix (all subtypes)
7) Content surprise #1 -- lots of questions (5?) on Conflict resolution styles. "In this situation, which style is best?"
8) Content surprise #2 -- lots of questions (5?) on the difference between Administrative Close-out and Contract Close-out
9) Content surprise #3 -- NO questions on Quality theory and fore-fathers (Crosby, Ishikawa, etc...). I don't know if you should count on this as well, or if I just got lucky here. Don't forget that the actual test questions change day-to-day.
10) The testing center emphasizes that they do not allow food or drink of any kind in the room. Don't know if they enforce it or not, but I did get away with LifeSavers. (Please don't tell.)
11) Test logistics #3 -- the screen displays text only. So there were not any pre-drawn network diagrams. There were a few questions where they describe a diagram ("Task 1 is 1 month. Task 2 starts at the end of Task 1, and lasts 2 months...."), which I then drew to have the picture available in my mind.
12) Earned Value questions were very basic. I felt they could have been made much harder. The questions were of the "BCWP = X, ACWP = Y, BCWS = Z, what is the CV?" type. sometimes the numbers were hidden in text instead of given to you straight out. What I did on these was write down the key formulas the first time I got a question, and double-checked accuracy in my own mind. Then for each question that came up later, I just plugged the numbers into the formulas and did the math, without worrying about if I had the formula right. A great hint that I used to remember the formulas: they all start with BCWP. From that, knowing a plain English definition of the formula takes over to figure out what the other variable is, and whether you subtract or divide by it.
13) Often, but not always, key words such as EXCEPT, NOT were printed in uppercase for emphasis. This helped, but do not rely on it, because these words were not emphasized in about 20% of the cases where the appeared.
14) Test logistics #4 -- Good online tool to "Mark" questions for later review. Then at the end there is an option to "Review all marked questions" Do not bother to try to keep a manual list of ones that you want to look at again later, just mark it. However, you might want to jot a note as to WHY you marked it. At the end of the test my brain was a little mushy, and I looked at the questions and said "Yup, it is still hard" and had to recreate whatever thinking I had done on the first pass.
15) Test logistics #5 -- they told me to get there 30 minutes early. Overkill. I spent 20 minutes getting nervous and "waiting for the computers to come up" before I got out of the lobby. Go with what makes you comfortable, but 30 minutes is not necessary.
16) Test logistics #6 -- at the end of the test, there is a "click here to finish your test" button. Don't think about this, JUST PRESS IT. It's kind of like jumping off of the high diving board. You have already done the hard part of answering 200 questions, sweating the ones you weren't sure of, and looking at your "marked" ones over again. Once you are comfortable with 200 answers, move on!!! Don't rethink a lot of answers, don't "give it just one more pass through the questions", just press the stupid button and get your score!
17) Timing -- I spent about 3:15 taking the test first pass through, and another 20-30 minutes reviewing my marked questions (about 20). I did NOT do a second complete pass of all 200 questions. I did the "read it twice, answer it once" approach the first time through, and even tried to think about the answer BEFORE I looked at the options, so I did not fall into the "that looks good, so does that, and so does that. Now what do I do?" trap. I spent a total of 4 hours from entering the testing room until walking out the door. This included the time for the post-test evaluation/feedback tool and a few head-clearing and restroom breaks. Time was not a constraint. It was only a factor due to the tiring nature of 4 hours sitting in one place.
In short: stressful preparation, somewhat nerve wracking, but LOTS of good information. I learned a lot of things that I did not know, and believe that the entire exercise was valuable for building skills. The study was more valuable than the test itself. But without the test to serve as a motivator, many of us (me included) probably would not have made the time for the learning experience.
Let me know if you have questions, or if I can be of any help. Next step for me: Certification Package. Mike
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