How Hard is the PMP Credential Exam?

The Project Management Professional (PMP) accreditation powered by Project Management Institute (PMI) is globally recognized. With the certification under your belt, you experience growth in your career, a salary hike, and better career opportunities.

Therefore, the exam is superior and not a piece of cake to crack. The percentage of people cracking the PMP credential test in the first attempt is approx 45-50 percent, which indicates that half of the candidates applying for the test fail each year.

Moreover, PMP is the 2nd most challenging exam after Cisco Certified Internetwork Exams (CCIE) out of the 10 most difficult IT certifications. In addition, PMP is the gold standard in the project management field, thus making it the most stringent certification exam.

About PMP Exam Structure

According to the 2019 PMP Examination Content Outline (ECO), the credential covers three domains based on the PMBOK Guide latest edition by PMI. This structure came into effect in January 2021.

Later, PMI has announced that the examination would be based on PMBOK Ed 6. However, the Guide latest edition (PMBOK Guide Ed 7) is available.

About half of the credential tests will have predictive project management methodologies, and the other half will have agile or hybrid methods.

Designed by project professionals, the PMP credential validates that you are among the top-notch skillset in:

PEOPLE (42%)

The 'People' domain emphasizes the soft skills you require to lead a project team in the changing business environment efficiently. Some of the tasks in this domain include:

• Conflict management
• Team leadership 
• Supporting team performance
• Ensuring adequate training for team members
• Project negotiation
• Stakeholder collaboration, and more.

PROCESS (50%)

The 'Process' domain strengthens the technical aspects of successful project management. Some of the tasks in this domain include:

• Communication management
• Risk assessment and management
• Project execution to deliver business value
• Budgeting planning
• Plan and manage schedule, and more.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT (8%)

The 'Business Environment' domain displays the relation between projects and organizational strategy. Some of the tasks in this domain include:

• Plan and manage project compliance
• Determine project value and benefits
• Supporting organizational change
• Addressing external business changes

Basic PMP Exam Preparation

The PMP knowledge domains cover many essentials and understand concepts like managing business environment changes, continuous improvement, and process analysis. 

The PMP credential test doesn't need mathematical knowledge to a more significant extent. However, participants must be average in the calculation present value, performing PERT analysis, and schedule variance.

The strenuous part of the exam is that understanding terminology and concepts will not be enough. The participants will have to use that knowledge for complex scenarios mimicking real-life project situations.

PMP Exam 2022 Format

• Total no. of questions: 180
• Question types: Combination questions (MCQs, fill-in-the-blanks, hotspot, etc.)
• No. of scored questions: 175
• No. of pre-test questions: 5
• Duration of the exam: 230 minutes (approx 4 hours)
• Exam mode: Online and offline

For the PMP test, there are two 10-minutes breaks. The first break appears once you complete questions 1-60 and review all the answers. The second one appears after you complete question 120 and confirms that all the answers are reviewed.

With so much new content to focus on, it's understandable that the new PMP test will facilitate a broader study scope to cover everything. However, there is much more to learn and excel; therefore, the credential test will be more difficult.

Candidates often ask about the passing score for the PMP exam.

PMI has never disclosed the actual passing score or the percentage one needs to get to be PMP-certified. Therefore, we as training providers often suggest our students aim for more than 70 percent, or 126 questions, to get right out of 180. 

As the exam is scored based on the difficulty of the questions, PMI uses psychometric analysis. Since the questions will be randomly placed, candidates can't find which one is difficult, pre-test, or easy. Hence, we recommend that you answer all the questions with equal seriousness.

Retaking PMP Examination

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the pass percentage of the PMP exam on the first try is 45-50%. Therefore, suppose you don't pass the credential test on the first attempt; there is no need to worry. You can continue your study and retake the PMP test.

PMI offers you three chances to pass the PMP examination within an eligibility period of one year. Now there are two scenarios:

• If the one-year eligibility period expires without you taking the examination, you must reapply for the certification.
• Suppose the candidate fails in all three attempts. In that case, they will undergo a suspension period of one year from the last examination date before reapplying for the certification.

Remember, during the suspension period, you can apply for any other PMI certification. 

How to Crack the PMP Exam?

Even though the PMP credential test is strenuous and needs more effort than you usually put on; however, it isn't impossible to crack.

To increase the chance of passing the PMP credential test, candidates follow the following steps:

• Master the PMBOK Guide: The most crucial step to passing the PMP test with flying colors is to familiarize yourself with the PMBOK Guide. It is the most vital source of project management information that would help the participants to prepare for the concepts and principles that the test will cover.
• Plan a Schedule: Before you start training, you must define your objectives and create a plan to achieve them. The most critical factor to look for is 'TIME' - How much time should I dedicate to practice for the exam? How many hours should I allocate for each PMP domain preparation?  
• Take Practice Tests: Solve several practice tests that contain formula-based and scenario-based questions. This will help you identify the different questions and skills you require to handle them.
• Take a PMP Training Course: Candidates should enroll in a PMP training course offered by a PMI-approved training provider such as iCert Global. This is the best method to ensure that the candidate's skills and knowledge are top-notch when appearing for the exam.

Conclusion

We know that PMP is the most challenging credential test, as it covers a wide range of concepts on project management. Moreover, one needs to have hands-on knowledge of these concepts and terminologies.

However, with the best exam prep plans and resource materials, any individual can crack the exam on the first attempt.

Quick Links

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