I started on this journey to be able to help my coaching clients through the process of taking the PMP, and I certainly met that goal. Here's some of what I learned about the process:
- Applying to take the exam:
- You can't apply until you have all the PDUs
- You need the provider, the course, and the number of hours for every course taken. You can save the application (so enter the information as you take the courses), but I'm not sure how long those saved.
- Be prepared to enter your experience by both project and project management process areas. You will need the breakdown of hours for each.
- You have a year in which to take the exam.
- Preparing for the exam
- Read the PMBOK, there's a lot of good information in there
- Get a good prep course in whatever mode works best for you. I like self-study and I heard a lot about RMC preparation, so I got the RMC prep book (it was *excellent*)
- I'm very self-motivated and don’t really like study groups so I had a project plan for my own studying. If you're not comfortable doing it on your own, find a study group or at least a coach. There's a lot of material to understand and you need to cover it all.
- Much of the exam is about applying the concepts in the PMBOK - and applying them according to the PMI viewpoint. Depending on your real-world experience, this viewpoint may be different than what you're accustomed to. Be sure to understand the use of the processes as well as the basic concepts.
- Take practice exams. They not only get you used to theformat, good ones will get you used to the type of questions you can expect. (None of them have the exact questions, of course, but you can practice the viewpoint.) I took two full exams and a plethora of focused tests (20 questions). I again used RMC systems for the practice exams.
- Plan to spend a lot of time in the last 6 weeks before you're scheduled to take the test. I spent 1-2 hours per day in studying and practicing - and I have over 30 years of project management experience. The few people I know who took the exam without studying failed pretty spectacularly.
- Scheduling the exam
- Find a place as near to you as possible if you're taking it at a test center
- Consider traffic and time of day
- You have a year after your application is approved to take the exam - don't schedule it at the end of that year. If you have to cancel or don't pass the first time you want adequate time to schedule and take it again.
- Check out the test center if you can, it will take some of the uncertainty out of the day.
- Taking the exam
- Show up at least half an hour early. That will give you time to settle in and will account for any lines.
- Pay attention to the exam rules. A lot of people had to take their coats off and stow them when I was waiting because quilted jackets aren't allowed. If you wear glasses, you'll need to take them off for inspection.
- If you're worried about the formulae, write them on the scratch paper as soon as you sit down to the computer. (I barely used the scratch paper for mine, although I expected I'd need it more.)
Good luck!