12/22/2017 How to Pass Your PMP Exam in 30 Days

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How to Pass Your PMP Exam in 30 Days MPUG HIGH FIVE VIDEO TIP

Written on March 29, 2016 by Cornelius Fichtner Set Date Formatting By Project
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Preparing for the PMP exam takes time. While I don’t typically
advocate a fast approach, sometimes there are “legitimate”
reasons that require you to sit for the exam that quickly.
Perhaps your employer has established this deadline for
contractual reasons; perhaps you have found a highly
desirable open position you would like to apply to but need the
PMP for highest quali cation; or perhaps you signed up to
take the exam nearly a year ago but procrastinated and now
you only have 30 days left before your eligibility runs out.

If you’re asking yourself where to start if you need to pass the PMP® exam in 30 days, you’ve come to the right
article. Be patient, stay calm and continue reading. Preparing for the PMP exam will take daily dedication to
studying and understanding the material. But remember! You can do anything for 30 days.
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What follows are key steps, processes and resources that — along with your dedication — will allow you to
prepare for and pass the PMP exam in 30 days (or less). Let me begin with some general thoughts on how to get
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started.
and how-to's from the most trusted source.
Make Sure You’re Eligible View the archive.

Ready to get your PMP done in a very short period? First, make sure you’re eligible to become a PMI®-certi ed Please enter your email address here:
project manager.

Do you have a high school diploma, an associate degree or the global equivalent of these? Then you must have a
minimum of ve years (60 months) of unique, non-overlapping professional project management experience of Submit
which at least 7,500 hours must have been spent leading and directing project tasks. (Non-overlapping means
that if you managed two projects in the year 2006, then that only counts as 12 months and not as 24.) Do you
have a bachelor degree or its equivalent in your country? Then you must have a minimum of three years (36
months) of unique, non-overlapping professional project management experience of which at least 4,500 hours
must have been spent leading and directing project tasks. In both cases, you must also show that you have had
35 contact hours of project management training. The good news is that all project management related training
from your entire life counts. So, if you are 30 years old and you took a two-day PM class when you were 21 years
old, then you already have 16 contact hours. (One contact hour is equivalent to one actual hour (60 minutes) of
training or instruction received.)

Set a Plan

Now set a preliminary plan. A key thing to remember during this process is that attaining the PMP certi cation
shows your commitment to the project management profession and demonstrates credibility allowing for higher
salaries as well as raising your resume above non-PMP certi cation holders. So don’t get discouraged during
this process.

After you’ve veri ed your eligibility to sit for the test, don’t panic. Relax. Take a deep breath. Focus. Then start
clearing your calendar to allow for su cient daily study time, and understand this will not be an easy path to
success. In addition to studying A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), you
will also bene t by reading through lessons learned from others who have prepared (and passed) on a “fast
track” method.

My article, Creating Your PMP Study Plan — The Complete Guide, provides a clear process with 11 best practices
to create a customized study plan. The article also provides PMP study plan templates to help you get started.
It’s important to design a study plan that best ts your learning style (visual, auditory or tactile). Do you learn
best in groups or individually? Knowing your learning style is important to understanding how to approach your
studies for the PMP exam.

One method you could establish as a framework for your study time is to divide your available study window (in
this case 30 days) by the percentage for each of the ve domains on the test. This table demonstrates:

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12/22/2017 How to Pass Your PMP Exam in 30 Days

Domain Percentage on Test Study Time

Initiation 13% 3.9 days

Planning 24% 6.2 days

Executing 31% 9.3 days

Monitoring and Controlling 25% 7.5 days

Closing 7% 2.1 days

Within this 30-day window, you will also need to take practice tests — perhaps at the 15-day, 21 day and 29-day
marks — or even more often. I cover some good mock tests in this article. To learn more about the exam
content, visit the PMP Examination Content Outline on the PMI® website. If you total these days up, you get 29
days, which allows you one optional day that you can spend on review.

Down to 10 Days?

If you’re down to 10 days and you’re far from ready to tackle your PMP test, about the only real approach is to
attend a PMP boot camp. There are two major disadvantages with a boot camp:

The expense (usually in the range of $1,500-$2,500); and

Your ability to absorb the material (memorization vs. true learning).

The advantage offered by PMP boot camps is speed. Most boot camps are three to ve days long, and the PMP
test is available on the last day of the boot camp. However, even boot camps do require signi cant “self-study”
prior to and during attendance, which can be confusing to plan for and accomplish when you’re low on time. (For
more on this, check out “5 Reasons Not to Attend a PMP Exam Boot Camp.”)

Need Your PMP Fast? Think Again!

If you have the option to study for more than 30 days, I suggest you take it! Slow down, take your time, and
ABSORB. The best way to pass the PMP exam is through methodical study, review and application.

This additional time will allow you to learn the material in a manner that lets you understand and implement the
standards and theories — instead of relying on memorization to get through the test. This form of deeper
learning enables you to grasp how the inputs, tools and techniques and outputs interrelate. Taking a slower
approach will give you the chance to absorb the information and learn how to apply the knowledge to any of your
projects.

After nearly a decade as a PMP exam trainer, I advocate this slower approach, which grants your brain enough
time to absorb and retain the information for easier recall in the future. The key is to allow yourself a lot of
hands-on practice and review time to become comfortable with the information.

Preparing for the PMP exam takes dedication, endurance and time. The average exam prep time is three to four
months. But if you have a legitimate reason to do it in a shorter period, well, fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be
a bumpy night.

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Tags: certi cation, exam, pmi, PMI certi ed, pmp, PMP Exam, project manager

Written by Cornelius Fichtner

Cornelius Fichtner, PMP is a noted PMP expert. He has helped over 35,000 students
prepare for the PMP Exam with the Project Management PrepCast and the PMP Exam
Simulator.

View all posts by: Cornelius Fichtner

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3 Comments

Interesting article. I appreciate the breakout comparison for percentage of test and approximate time to study
for each domain.

Comment by Mark on 03/29/2016 at 9:37 am

Very insightful instruction. This is exactly the method that I used to pass the CAPM, and will use it again for the
PMP. I am transitioning at mid-career from general and operations management toward IT project management.

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12/22/2017 How to Pass Your PMP Exam in 30 Days
I have an MBA, and have performed project management in a matrix environment for higher education database
conversions and operations projects.

What would you recommend to provide the IT foundation to make this giant leap? I am presently conducting self-
taught courses on Sharepoint, Microsoft Project, and Visio, with the hope of acquiring the Microsoft Project
certi cation rst, then securing an entry level project assistant, coordinator, or assistant project manager
position.

Do you have any recommendations?

Comment by G. on 03/30/2016 at 5:43 pm

It is great idea.
Excellent Method.

Comment by Hieu Ho Trung on 04/12/2016 at 7:32 pm

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