Pgm cert Prep: How to

April 24, 2008 8:44 AM

What's the best way to prepare for the PMI.org Program Management Professional cert?

I see lots of information about how to actually obtain the credentials, and some programs guarenteeing results, but I'm not finding muchin the way of a standard course of preparation. Any guidance on prep, or reccomendations to prep programs?

posted by daver to Work & Money (6 answers total)

I'm in the same process. You'll need to document 35 hours of a prep course, and if you Google PMI preparation, you'll probably find tons of places selling a 35-hour prep course online or in person. My company brought in a trainer, but you might want to start by looking at local universities; our trainer teaches the same course in a nearby university's executive MBA program and extension school.

The standard textbook is PMI's http://www.pmi.org/Marketplace/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?GMProduct=00100035801">PMBOK Guide - Third Edition. You'll need it whether your course provides another textbook or not, as the PMP test questions appear drawn almost verbatim from the PMBOK Guide, and the slides our trainer uses are mostly just charts from the book.

*putting on my educator hat* Studying for the test appears to be a memorization cram process so far. The exam is multiple-choice, so get out your flashcards and learn the vocabulary. If you took cram courses for other standardized exams, those methods will probably serve you well here too. *takes off hat, goes back to making work breakdown structures*
posted by catlet at 9:05 AM on April 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

I screwed up the link. Try this for the PMI.org link, and here to save some money at Amazon.
posted by catlet at 9:06 AM on April 24, 2008

In my opinion, the best way to prepare for the test is not so much to learn facts and figures but to sort of brainwash yourself into the PMI way of thinking. My employer sent me on a week-long course (very expensive) that did just that. To follow up I used the mock exam software sold by the same organization, which was extremely helpful. I spent a few weeks doing the questions and going over the training materials, until I thought in the PMI way.
posted by bexb39 at 11:18 AM on April 24, 2008

Response by poster: Follow on question: Was it worth it?
posted by daver at 12:51 PM on April 24, 2008

We have many PMs at my workplace, myself included, but only one person who went through the PMI cert program just to feel it out. What she described was what has been noted above: nothing but brute-force cramming, and regardless of how many years of experience you have as a PM, you need to regurgitate the PMI methods to pass the exam. It was a lot of money, a lot of effort, and in the end she didn't think it was worth it (for her). Then again, she's one of the smartest women I've ever met, and she's been doing PM work for over 20 years. So maybe she just didn't have much to learn.

The hardest part, though, is keeping your certification. You need to spend money every year to attend conferences, spend extra time going to meetings or taking online seminars, write articles, etc. to attain the required number of PDUs. If you're not close to a lot of other PMI members or wherever they hold conferences, it's harder to keep the certification.

With that said, as their consortium grows, it may come to pass that businesses only contract or hire PMs with PMI certification. In which case, it may be worth it.
posted by krippledkonscious at 6:53 PM on April 24, 2008

But I'm always tempted to get certified, just so I can have "PMP" appended to my name on my business cards.
posted by krippledkonscious at 6:56 PM on April 24, 2008