The PMP Certification is not just another exam, compared to other certification exams it measures not just the knowledge but the experience and exposure just the same, professional conduct also serves as basis in passing the exam.
Here are 10 things to know about the PMP Certification Exam.
- 200 items – the exam is composed of 200 multiple choice items with certain percentage assigned to each process group (Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, Closing).
- 25 of the 200 items are not scored – these are called pre-test questions; these questions are placed randomly in the exam and you cannot distinguish them from the scorable items.
- 4 hours – the exam takes 4 hours with no scheduled breaks, you can take you break anytime but the clock will continue running.
- You can go back – as opposed to other exams that will not let you step back to previous items, the PMI exams lets you go back and review your answered and unanswered items until you finish or ran out of time.
- Situational questions – most questions are situational, it measures your real-world experiences in project engagements.
- Tricky questions– exam questions are very tricky, some are short questions, some are very long even going multiple paragraphs per item.
- Taken from huge database of questions – the questions are taken from a pool of questions. At the time that you start the exam, the system pulls questions from the database given the percentage distribution as discussed in item #1. So, you and your friend may take the exam at the same time yet different sets of questions will be provided.
- Can be scheduled at your convenience – the exam does not have a fixed schedule, once your eligibility application is approved you have 1 full year to schedule your exam at your most convenient time in any Prometric center (you will be provided instructions on how and where to schedule your exam once you pass the eligibility process). I suggest scheduling it on a holiday if you will (yes, they are open on holidays) to go away with all the stress and hassles of travelling and traffic on a normal workday giving you a fresher start when you seat for the exam.
- Cost $550 – this is the exam fee for non-members, for PMI members it is $405. The membership is $129 for new members and $119 for renewal, local chapter membership is also available as an option for $20.
- 3 chances – just an additional information, in case you fail on your first try, there is a 2nd and 3rd try available with lesser fees (2nd try – $275 for members, $375 for non-members, 3rd try $150 for members, $300 for non-members) but note that this will need to happen within the year of your eligibility approval. In case of yet another failure, applicants are banned for one-year to take the exam and will have to re-apply for eligibility for a fresh new cycle.