Is The New PMP Exam Hard ?

Learning Mudra, Category - PMP


The Project Management Institute (PMI) announced that the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam was going to be changed in 2021 and the change has been implemented since January 2nd, 2021.

The changes made in the new PMP exam pattern

  • The exam will now have 180 questions while the previous exam had 200 questions but the number of questions scored was 180 and it will remain the same.
  • The exam time for the candidates is going to be a total of 230 minutes.
  • A total of two breaks would be allowed of 10 minutes each for the computer based exam instead of one break that was allowed earlier.
  • However, in case of paper based exams, no breaks are going to be allowed.

The type of questions in the exam

  • Multiple choice questions.
  • Multiple Responses questions.
  • Questions and answers need to be matched.
  • Hotspot questions. - Lastly, limited fill in the blanks type questions.

The need for change in the PMP exam pattern

The reason that the exam has changed is because the jobs of project managers have changed. The PMI have conducted research to identify how this profession has progressed and evolved with time, what have been the impact of the recent emerging trends on the profession, an also, how the responsibilities of the project managers have changed in regard to these factors. Experts on these subjects from all over the world and leading organizations have worked with PMI and concluded that a new exam is needed. They have concluded that project management professionals need more wide-ranging skills and diverse approaches than earlier times.

The reason of change in the PMP exam pattern by PMI

The reason why the PMI decides to focus on the following domains :

People- Here, the PMI has emphasized on the different skills and knowledge that is required for effectively leading a tam for project management. This domain carries 42% weightage.

Process- This domain basically focusses on the basics and the technical aspects of managing a project. This domain carries 50% weightage.

Business Environment- This domain emphasizes on the external environment for conducting business and highlighting the connection between the projects and the strategy and goals of the organization. This domain carries 8% weightage.

The huge shift from the earlier course outline

There is a big shift from the earlier course outline which had the following 5 domains

  • Initiating
  • Planning
  • Executing
  • Monitoring and Controlling
  • Closing

The consequences of these changes are drastic. Now, about 70 percent of the exam is contained in the Domain 2 itself which is Process. The basics of project management, the technical aspects, the frameworks and the guidelines are very important. Moreover, domain1 and domain 3 that is, People and business environment contain new content and candidates will have to work harder for the exam. Secondly, Agile technologies is a must. According to PMI, Half the exam is going to represent predictive project management approaches while the other half will heavily focus on Agile or hybrid approaches. Hence, the candidates are needed to have knowledge and expertise in these areas as well. As we can see that so many new things are going to be added to the exam means that the exam is now going to be much harder.

Even though the new PMP exam is harder and more application based, it does not mean that it is too difficult to pass. In fact, if a candidate follows the following steps, he/she can increase the odds of them passing the exam significantly-

Know the PMBOK as the back of the palm

The candidate should know the PMBOK as the back of the palm of his/her hand. It is the most important source of information on Project Management and reviewing and understanding the PMBOK would help the candidate prepare for the concepts and principles that the PMP exam will cover. In fact, it is the only thing that has remained constant with the previous exam.

Take a PMP Training Course

The candidate should take a PMP Training Course. They should enroll in a PMP study course provided by a good and reputable PMP Training Institute such as Learning Mudra as it is the best way to ensure that the skills and the knowledge of the candidate is up to par when going into the exam. It also helps them clear doubts and prepare thoroughly with the help of end-to-end support and solving practice questions and appearing for mock tests.

Allocate enough study time

The candidate should allocate enough study time. Although, PMI requires a minimum of 35-hour PMP education, but the amount of time needed to prepare may vary from person to person. Also, the 35 hours of PMP education is the minimum necessity but now with the new changes, the minimum time has remained the same but amount of syllabus needed to be studied has drastically increased and therefore, the student should take it into consideration. It is not that only the number of topics has increased but the new topics are completely new and hence it might take some time for the candidate to get used to these topics and learn them thoroughly and prepare them to be solved during exam. Hence, the candidate should assess his/her skills and allocate enough study time for preparation.

is the new pmp exam hard

Role of the PMP training institute in passing the exam

Apart from these methods, the role of the PMP Training Institute is going to be very important. The candidate should choose the best training institute, Learning Mudra, as it will provide the candidate with all the knowledge, time and resources required to ace this exam. Learning Mudra will make the candidate efficient enough to handle any complex question. The preparation provided by Learning Mudra is very thorough and includes 6 mock tests with 1200 questions. Learning Muda also teaches all the tricks and tips that are required to pass the exam. Learning Mudra also helps in the other processes of application and registration for the exam.

Conclusion

To conclude, we can say that the new PMP exam is an in-depth and very challenging exam. It covers a vast area of project management topics and also requires the hands-on knowledge of those topics. But with the right planning and exam preparation and right resources as provided by Learning Mudra, any candidate can pass the exam with flying colors.

The Author : Learning Mudra


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