Embarking on the journey to earn the prestigious Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a significant milestone in any project manager’s career. Whether you are a seasoned project team member looking to validate your expertise or a newcomer eager to break into the field, achieving the PMP certification can open doors to opportunities and showcase your ability to lead and manage projects effectively.
However, becoming PMP certified is not an easy task. It requires diligence and hard work. To really master all the content and be able to pass the exam, you will need to study for many hours. During my journey to reach the PMP certification and be able to teach it to others, I have consulted many different sources, next to the fabulous PMBoK and the Agile Practice Guide.
I have tried to gather all resources that I believe are necessary to pass the PMP Project Management Professional exam. This list is personal and does not involve anyone’s responsibility but mine. With the help of these resources, I got to pass the PMP exam brilliantly.
The purpose of this article is to provide an indication for candidates wanting to pass the PMP exam and are actively participating in the QRP International PMP exam preparation course.
PMP Books:
These are the books I used to prepare for the PMP Exam. I highly recommend to read or at least take notice off:
- M – PMbok 7
- M – Agile practice guide
- M – PMI Process guide
- S – Underneath the surface (by Nader K Rad)
- S – Rita Mulcahy’s PMP exam Prep 11th
- S – PMI ethics and code of conduct
- C – Project management: a system approach (by Harold Kezner)
- C – Rita Mulcahy’s PMP exam prep 9th edition
To be able to read all these books, understand them and study carefully, you need to calculate at least 192 hours (that are 24 full working days). I realise that this is a lot of time reading and studying. That is why I deliberately indexed this list according to MoSCoW Prioritisation; the M stands for Must, the S for Should, the C for Could and the W for Will not.
PMP Videos:
There are heaps of videos to find that say they will help you prepare for the PMP Exam. I found it rather challenging to find the needle in a haystack and define those that really clarified some aspects for me. The list I consulted to prepare for the PMP Exam is the following:
For the videos it is the same as with the books, watching all of the above videos will take you a lot of time (98 hours, about 12 working days). So also these I have indexed according to MoSCoW Prioritisation.
PMP Study Plan
As this is a list of resources that I used in person to help me pass the exam brilliantly, I also took the liberty to write a study plan for those that are interested in following a PMP exam preparation course.
I created this study plan with other PMP trainers in Belgium and it is how we would propose any delegate to work.
- Follow the official PMP training provided by QRP International with a trainer like Erwin Verheyen, Xavier Heusdens, Stijn Janssens or myself – preferably onsite.
- When you have started the training, Listen to the 1h video about PMBok 7th.
- Read the books
- (Optional) Listen to the second video course provided herabove.
- (Recommended) Review the questions of David McLachlan on YouTube
- Pass the example questions proposed by QRP on the QRP Platform.
- Identify the topics you are not comfortable with. Study them.
- Pass the QRP Blank Exam.
- Read extra to fill in any gaps.
- When you feel truly confident, take the PMI simulation exam (not free)
- Identify the topics you are not comfortable with. Study them.
- Pass the exam within 2 months after the end of the live course
In conclusion, the journey to PMP certification is demanding but rewarding. With the right resources and a structured study plan, you can achieve this prestigious milestone in your project management career. Keep focused, stay determined, and believe in yourself as you work towards passing the PMP exam brilliantly.
Good luck on your path to success!
Skip to content
