Nobody starts to prepare such a certification with the intent to quit along the way. And even less PMs who are by definition strong, hard at work, sound, and who hate to fail. Nevertheless when I mention the topic with some of my PMI colleagues who became trainers in project management, they mention significant drop rates along the way. So, the question is upon us, why? And especially, how avoid such a waste of time, if it is one, but it is not always the case as we shall see later on.

some participants underestimate the difficulty

The PMP certification is relatively hard and difficult. Sin of pride? The future PMP is often already very experimented. He lead to a successful conclusion quite a lot of projects of diverse sizes and maybe in several companies and different domains. He is confident about his capacities, skills, will, and it is not necessarily a bad thing. The issue is not to under estimate the amount of work to be carried out to get prepared. My own recollection is that it is indeed one of the most difficult tests which I have ever taken. Naturally, there will be always persons who will ignore the warnings and who will think that the trainers exaggerate. For example, the participants who were rather fortunate in their initial studies and made for example successful bets on the subjects of future exams, will be at difficulty with the certification. They can go as far as taking the test the first time simply thinking that they will always easily distinguish the correct answer in a test with multiple choices. It is not the case. There are very often at least two plausible or possible answers because PMI wants to be certain that the person understands the difference between these answers and chooses the best. Only a serious preparation will allow you to make such good choices.

The participants who work in organizations which use PMI start with a slight advantage, but will they know how to preserve it?

The use of the PMBOK and the PMI processes in your organization gives you a sure advantage. You understand already how much and how the processes of project management are integrated to be effective. The company in which I worked when I took the PMP test, NCR International Corporation, uses the principles and the process of PMI. The training courses allowed me to formalize this practical knowledge by adding the theoretical bases. I also encountered certain domains where I needed to further study such as suppliers and contracts management. Thus, if your organization already follows the processes and the best practices of the PMBOK, you have acquired without realizing it a good portion of the knowledge required and can answer easily many questions of the test. It does not mean that you can pass the exam without preparation nor work. It does not mean either that a person cannot learn these processes if their organization does not use them daily. In this case, it will simply be necessary for you to make the necessary time and effort to become an expert of the project management processes proposed by PMI.

Develop a solid work plan

Most of the students who took the PMP will tell to you that a work plan which follows the diverse process of the PMBOK and their definitions is very useful. As there is a lot of ground to be covered, it is particularly interesting to establish how you will estimate your progress. Thus, it is necessary to include practice tests with questions similar to those of the PMP exam. If you have the chance to be a part of a group of persons who prepare together for the examination, you will want to test one another. It will motivate you and will strengthen your links with your classmates. The training companies also propose sets of test questions. The most interesting part of the courses face to face is often the correction of these training tests with the professor who will explain why only one answer was best. In this phase, do not try to counter him, it is of no interest. It is necessary to open very widely your ears to understand the logic of PMI. The questions where you have made the errors in the study phase can become your assets the day of the real test. Your progressive work plan of study will have to lead you to learn the five groups of processes and nine domains of knowledge and recall each of them, that is imperative for the test. This plan should also allow you to confirm your availability for the necessary efforts. If it is not the case, maybe should you simply focus your work on the sectors in which you have the greatest gaps to get short-term benefits from your training classes without going for the certification.

To know, about the test

The test with multiple choices answers of PMI will often provide you with a scenario and ask for an answer. The formulation of the question is very important to understand what the examination tries to know. So, read the question attentively several times, at least 3. Then read the proposed answers. Certain long questions of this type may confuse you by the quantity of information and data which are presented there, some useful, others not. In order not to get lost, one of the best suggestions for these questions is to begin by reading the question. You will then identify more easily the most important data of the scenario when reading it. This will allow you to find the answer quickly. You need to practice this before the test so that it becomes an automatism.

The test environment can be intimidating. I passed, for my part, on paper form. Finding yourself in a test room with several dozens of other candidates, one per table, without any document, with supervisors and limited timed (4 hours) is puzzling when you took your last examination more than 15 years ago. The certification on PC is I think less intimidating from this point of view even if certain sites are equipped, I believe, with video cameras which will film you from A to Z during the test.

It is perfectly understandable that you are nervous when passing a certification of an international level. But, honestly, most of the project managers whom I know have an excellent resistance to stress and if you are prepared well, you will not fail. This is only a test after all!

Please remember that it is the preparation for the examination which really brings you value (new skills, theoretical bases, reflecting on your practices, repeatable processes), the certification is only a recognition (eventually rewarded in cash on future jobs).