TIPS AND TRICKS FOR PASSING THE PMP® EXAM

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Outline

• Biggest Mistake Students Make when studying for the PMP Exam • 5 Must Know Tricks to pass the PMP® Exam • What is Project Management? An Overview

• Is PMP® Certification Right for Me? • Certification: A Walkthrough • The BetterPM Advantage • Conclusion

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Foreward

• If you’re new to project management and curious about becoming a PMP®, check out our first two sections on the PM job outlook and certification, as well as our walkthrough of the certification process.

• If you’ve already decided that certification is right for you, and you’re gearing up for the exam, our test prep section has plenty of useful tips.

• Finally, in the BetterPM Advantage section, you’ll find a full overview of our products and services, from our outstanding study guides to our unique mobile quiz app.

Whether you’re an experienced manager with several years of projects under your belt, seeking the best in exam prep services, or totally new to project management and looking to learn more about the field, you’ve come to the right place

This guide will offer some tips and information of immediate value, as well as explain how BetterPM can help you meet your professional goals.

• For those of you in IT, be sure to check out our special section on the upcoming Agile Certified Practitioner certification (PMI®-ACP).

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BETTERPM.com!

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#1 Biggest Mistake Students Make

• Knowing which content to prepare for takes experience, and you never know 100% what questions will be on any one exam.

• But one thing we have seen over and over again here at BetterPM is many students become fanatical about remembering every single equation, formula, and process input/output.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE STUDENTS MAKE WHEN STUDYING FOR THE EXAM IS SIMPLE: NOT PREPARING FOR THE RIGHT CONTENT!

• focusing on the technical stuff alone won’t get you all the way to the goal of reliably passing the exam. You also have to put that information into realistic scenarios that may not have clear-cut answers.

• And at BetterPM, we have over 100 scenario based questions to help you do just that! Practice makes perfect!

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5 Tips and Tricks for Passing the Exam

EXAM TIP #1

Some questions are padded with extra information that you really don’t need to find the right answer. With BetterPM, you’ll learn to recognize the fluff quickly, ignore it, and cut to the core of the question.

EXAM TIP #2

Focus your studying on the areas of content where there are the MOST exam questions. Many students over look this and their score suffers as a result.

EXAM TIP #4

EVA (Earned Value Analysis) questions, Input/Output Calculations, and Scenario-based Questions. Know these 3 areas well, and you will be set to an easy PASS on the exam. These are 3 problem areas that sink most students chances of success on the PMP® exam.

EXAM TIP #3You’re given a practice section before the actual exam. Use this time to collect your thoughts, jot down important equations or definitions you want on hand during the exam, and do some Zen breathing exercises, if that’s your thing.

EXAM TIP #5Watch out for answers with generalizations. Terms like always, never, must, and completely often flag an incorrect answer.

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• In a recent Computerworld survey 43% of respondents planning to make new hires sought people with project management skills(1), and in a similar poll by Monster.com, more than half of the respondents were seeking project management professionals.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT OUTLOOK: VERY GOOD!

• Due to this demand, the overall job outlook for PMP®s looks excellent. CNNMoney.com recently reported (2) an expected 16% job growth over for PM positions over the next ten years in expanding fields like healthcare, infrastructure development, and green technologies.

• Agile-themed software development in particular is experiencing explosive growth, with an over 1000% increase over the last five years.

In response to this demand, the number of qualified PMs has rapidly

increased in kind. As of 2015, there are over 640,000 certified project

management professionals – a 50% increase over the last three years1. Collett, Stacy. “11 Hot Skills for 2011.” Computerworld. <www.computerworld.com/s/article/351231/11_hot_skills_for_2011>. 2. “Five Money Resolutions to Make.” CNN. <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2010/01/01/105890483/index.htm>.

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• If you’re considering a career in project management, or you currently work in the field, you’re looking at excellent job prospects.

• On the other hand, certification is probably a good idea. Here’s why:

PM’S WITH PMP® CERTIFICATION EARN ON AVERAGE $100,000 A YEAR

• For one thing, the path to certification greatly enhances your professional toolkit. • It requires extensive study of the PMBOK® guide, the standard industry text for project management, as well as 35 hours of

project-themed training. • You’ll learn a number of management techniques and best practices, as well as how to best apply them. • Due to the degree of mastery required for certification, you’ll also be extremely skilled in them.

• Secondly, this expertise can improve not only your employer’s bottom line but your own as well. • CNN Money ranked earning a project management certification as one of the best ways to increase your salary. • Qualified professionals have proven that they can deliver goals and objectives on time and on budget, and companies will pay

a premium for this proficiency. • On average, PMP®s earn over $100,000 a year (3), and their median salaries are 10% higher than their non-certified peers.

(3) The Value of Getting PMP® Certified.” Global Knowledge. <http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/generic.asp?pageid=2057&country=United+States>.

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Certification: A Walkthrough of the RequirementsCategory One Requirements

• A four-year degree, either a bachelor’s or global equivalent • At least three years of project management experience, with 4,500 hours leading and directing projects

Category Two Requirements

• A secondary diploma, either high school or global equivalent • At least five years of project management experience, with 7,500 hours leading and directing projects. • Note: Job experience needs to be within 8 years of your application. • You’ll also need 35 hours of project management education from a PMI®-approved provider such as BetterPM. • This coursework doubles as preparation for the PMP® exam.

FOR MORE DETAILS, THE PMP® HANDBOOK IS YOUR BEST REFERENCEhttp://www.pmi.org/Certification/~/media/PDF/Certifications/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx

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Tackling the PMP® Exam

• The exam has a reputation for being a beast, and it deserves it: four hours, 200 questions pulled from a bank of thousands.

• The exam will not only test your practical experience, but also demand a thorough understanding of the PMBOK®, the project management “bible”, inside and out.

AFTER YOU’VE SQUARED AWAY ALL YOUR HOURS AND RECEIVED YOUR APPLICATION CONFIRMATION, YOU’RE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE THE PMP® EXAM

BetterPM can make your study time much more efficient. We take the PMBOK®, break it down into sensible, manageable components, and put it in accessible, everyday language. Then we guide you through it. With us, you don’t have to study harder; you’ll study smarter.

As we walk you through the material, we highlight the most troublesome content areas and cover how to troubleshoot them. We regularly quiz you with the sorts of questions you’re likely to encounter on the exam, and once again give you targeted suggestions on tackling them.

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• When it comes to the exam itself, even though no two versions are identical, you can expect certain patterns.

Question domain phases Breakdown

Questions are pulled from the five domain phases of a project life cycle: initiating, planning, executing,

monitoring/controlling, and closing

• Here’s the breakdown of the test content:

Initiating 13%Planning 24%Executing 30%Monitoring/Controlling 25%Closing 8%

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3 Question Types1. Memorization/Recall Prompts

1. Recall prompts, the simplest, usually ask for a specific fact or definition. To prepare for these, it’s really just a matter of memorization; bust out the flash cards. After a good deal of practice problems, you’ll have an idea of what sorts of terms pop up for recall. We also highlight a number of them in our study materials.

2. Problem sets, the second type, require you to perform some form of calculation; the key to these is practice. Logic questions, the third type, give you some sort of a problem or situation to think through. Once you know how to recognize a question type, you can immediately figure out the sorts of strategies to use on it. We’ll teach you how to do this, saving you valuable time on the day of your exam.

3. Logic questions, the third type, give you some sort of a problem or situation to think through. Once you know how to recognize a question type, you can immediately figure out the sorts of strategies to use on it. We’ll teach you how to do this, saving you valuable time on the day of your exam.

2. Problem Sets 3. Logic Questions

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Pay Extra Attention to TheseEVA (Earned Value Analysis) questions

• Require you to recall and use a variety of formulas, and applying them correctly can be confusing. • Memorize these formulas, and on the day of the test, take some time to jot them down on the provided scrap paper for easy

reference.

Input/Output Calculations

• There are 47 defined project management processes you need to be able to perform calculations for, and each has a variety of 2-10 possible inputs, applicable calculation techniques, and outputs.

• For these, it’s a matter of practice makes perfect.

Scenario-based Questions

• These wild card questions can be particularly frustrating, because there’s no easy way to prepare for them. • There’s no single definition or answer to memorize, and you can’t solve them with a concrete equation. • The correct answer is often unclear, but you can usually eliminate some of the options, whittling them down to your best choices. • We’ll provide you with plenty of examples to familiarize yourself with this type of question, as well as some ways to think your way

through them.

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The quickest and easiest path to Passing your PMP® exam...

JOIN OVER 100,000 STUDENTS WHO HAVE STUDIED WITH BETTERPM!

• You can pass the PMP® exam by training from the comfort and convenience of your own personal surroundings.

• Accessing exactly what you need to pass the PMP® exam has never been so easy. • Now with more multimedia content than anyone else**, BetterPM’s streaming and downloadable video, audio

and printed material “hits the mark” on “exactly” what you’ll need to pass your exam. • We do this by leveraging our years of experience with thousands of students… • We know what the “most challenging areas” of the test are, so we highlight and emphasize those areas for you

as you go through the training, making it the most time leveraged and efficient process possible. • Also, for your convenience you can utilize our training within your current routine. You can access our “superior”

training materials in any way convenient for you…. Including mobile devices, computer, iPod, Kindle and more…

This means our process works for you and with you… and doesn’t jerk around your schedule as you train for your PMP® exam as other methods do

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Our PMP® Courses

• No time to login to our training and study today at home? No problem! You can access all of the material (audio, video, print) from your mobile device and read it on the train or listen to a lesson as you drive into work or doing chores around the house.

• If you’re the type of person that likes to emerge yourself in material and wants to test as quickly as possible… BetterPM is perfect for that too.

• In fact, if you do that you will be rewarded for your efforts! • Since you only pay for the material on a month-to-month basis, you only pay for the time in which you access it.

If you test fast, you’ll save money while getting the result you’re looking for. Don’t delay, start preparing today!

CHECK OUT OUR COURSES NOW! www.BetterPM.com/pmp