Project Management Blog

Dr. Poplos’ Ten Step No-Nonsense Guide to Passing the PMP or CAPM Certification Exam on the First Attempt

I have been using this information in all of the PM classes I teach. I thought I would share it with all of you.

Step

Action

Strategies

One	Identify Your Gaps	Review course materials Identify areas that were new to you Identify areas that were difficult
Two	Identify resources to fill your gaps	Find a friend Find a web resource Find a printed resource
Three	Review weak areas defined in Step One	Build a chart with three columns 1.     Gap 2.     Resource 3.     Response
Four	Take practice exams	Find them on the web Buy them on the web Find them in textbooks
Five	Identify wrong answers	Add them to your chart as gaps
Six	Retake exams	Repeat until you achieve a score of 90% or better Schedule exam date at end of this
Seven	Build a “cheat sheet”	Create a study chart EV formulae Troublesome definitions
Eight	Review “cheat sheet”	Repeat even on test day
Nine	Reconstruct your “cheat sheet” in the exam room on blank paper given to you by Prometricã	Refer to this during the exam
Ten	Bask in the glow of a successful exam event	Brag to friends

What's New in Project Management

PMI is about to issue two new standards - one for Program Management and one for Portfolio Management. These appear to be very similar to the long-heralded PMBOK, but adapted to Programs (groups of connected projects) and Portfolios (an organization's entire collection of projects and programs). I've read both in draft form and participated in the development of the Portfolio standard. They seem to be fairly concise. BUT ...

Are these two documents the first step in developing new certifications?

Will they further dilute the prestigious PMP?

OR

Will they be used by the industry to track a career path for project managers?

Clearly, the latter is the preferred route. Long needed in the project management profession is a common career path. Maybe having standards that track to a path will help that process. As I see it,:

CAPM - for the beginner

PMP - the career professional

Program - the the sub-enterprise level PMO type

Portfolio - for senior PMs in PMOs

What do you think?

I'd like to hear your responses.

Chuck