How to Get PMP Certification Fast in Just 30 Days
How to get PMP certification fast in 30 days? Is it even possible?
Well, for everyone who are working or studying or trying to build career in project management, PMP certification is a must. You must understand the whole process because it will help you during PMP certification preparation time.
Suppose, you walk into an interview, and one of the interviewers is a project manager. The interviewer holds a certification in PMP. This certification is a must for a project manager. Moreover, PMP certification has a lot of value in the job market.
So, what is PMP, and how to become PMP certified? The PMI gives this certificate. PMI stands for the Project Management Institute. We have demonstrated how to prepare for PMP exam in 30 days.
To know how to get your PMP, you must go through a deep understanding of the exam, its eligibility, study plan, and many more aspects. In addition, getting PMP certified is not an easy task. This article will provide you with everything you need to get PMP certification fast within 30 days.
The PMP Certification: The Exam and Its Structure
If you want to know how to pass PMP in 30 days, you must build a deep understanding of the exam beforehand. The PMP is one of the most valued certificates for a job holder.
What is PMP?
The full form of PMP is Project Management Professional. The name itself clears out the definition of the certificate. It is a certificate that enables a person to have professional competencies and knowledge on project management. The certificate is provided by PMI, which is accepted all over the world.
The PMI is an institution that arranges exams, membership, and many other valuable sets of facilities for project managers. The job of a project manager is quite difficult. They have a lot of work to do across different departments and industries.
Therefore, every company looks forward to hiring project managers who are the best in the business. An employee with a PMP certificate ensures the company that the person is capable of handling various projects within the given time limit and budget.
If you want to acquire the best jobs with the highest salaries, a PMP certificate is the way to go. To climb up the corporate world ladder, a person needs to achieve professional certificates that enable the person to claim his or her capability in particular fields. Moreover, you acquire a huge set of knowledge and skill through the preparation of the PMP exam.
Format of the PMP Exam
The PMP exam is a 4-hours long exam. This exam takes you through various stages of decision-making and strategizing. The questions follow the official PMP book called A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). You get access to the guidebook when you become a PMI member by paying the membership fees.
The exam consists of numerous process stages. These are Initiation (13%), Planning (24%), Executing (30%), Monitoring and Controlling (25%), and Closing (8%). The questions under these sections usually come from the PMBOK. Besides, it is expected of you to follow the PMBOK guides to answer the questions.
The PMP exam checks your ability to handle situations. As a project manager, it is expected of you to be capable of making decisions based on various scenarios.
Therefore, you should prepare yourself with intense knowledge of the PMBOK book as well as other books like Best Practices, Basic Formulas for Project Management, EVM graphs, metrics, completion estimations and calculations, and How to Manage Stakeholders.
The questions are very challenging. They will take you through numerous challenges to check your proficiency in decision making, analytical thinking, strategic process, and many more. You should answer all the questions.
However, you will need a PMP certification study guide to prepare the best possible way within the shortest period. The following sections provide the most suitable plan on how to pass PMP in 30 days.
How to Get PMP Certification Fast: Steps to Follow
The PMP exam is one of the toughest exams out there. As a result, you must be very strategic and dedicated in your preparation for the exam. The following steps can help you in preparing within 30 days to prepare for the PMP exam.
Eligibility Check: PMP Certification Requirements
The first step is to check whether you are actually eligible to sit for the exam or not. There are 3 prerequisites of PMP certification. These are:
Experience in Project Management
First and foremost, you will need a certain amount of experience in project management. If you have worked on multiple projects within a month, only one of those projects will be taken into account. Moreover, the experiences you have gained must be through a professional environment.
If you have a bachelor’s degree, a professional project management experience of 3 years (36 months) is required. On the other hand, if you have a high school diploma only, you will need 5 years (60 months) of professional project management experience. As mentioned earlier, work experiences must be non-overlapping.
Hours Spent in a Leadership Role on Several Projects
Unlike the previous prerequisite, you can count the total hours worked in a leadership role on numerous projects despite the overlap. This section concerns your ability to manage and lead a team to complete projects with time, cost, and scope constraints.
Having a bachelor’s degree means that you can have a total of 4,500 hours of leadership role in the projects. On the other hand, if you have a diploma, a total of 7,500 hours of leadership role in the projects is required.
Hours of Formal Education on Project Management
Before applying for the PMP certification exam, you will need to have a total of 35 hours of formal education on project management. This is applicable for both bachelor’s degree and a high school diploma.
If you have undergone a workshop or a training course, you can include that as formal education on project management. However, you must mention the detailed names and timings of the courses, training, or workshops.
Carefully Fill Up the Application Form
Once you have checked the requirements, quickly fill out the PMP application form, and submit it to the PMI. It might take 2-3 weeks to get-pass the audit.
Acquire 35 Hours of Formal Education
If you do not have fulfilled this prerequisite yet, quickly get this done. You can register in the online PMP exam preparation training program for an accelerated training course on project management. The training program will give you 2 videos of 1.5 to 2 hours each to watch every day.
Read more about animated PMP® Certification video learning series.
Construct a Dedicated Study Plan
You can complete your PMP certification preparation time within 30 days. This dedicated study plan will prepare you for the exam with an average of 2 hours of regular study every day. Keep reading to find the PMP certification study guide to achieve the certificate with 30 days of preparation.
Sit for Mock Tests of PMP
A 30-days study plan will require you to sit for mock tests for better preparation. So, you should consider giving as much mock-up exams as possible before appearing for the main part.
There is numerous PMP exam simulator to take you through the exam environment and questions of the main PMP exam.
Become a Master of Quick Decision Making and Answering
The majority of the PMP exam questions will take you through situations that require intensive thinking and analyzing ability. You will have to make effective decisions quickly.
Therefore, you must prepare yourself to grow your ability to strategize, decide, and implement. Along with your studies, find time to practice situations that will help you build all these abilities.
Get Your PMP Certification Fast: 30 Day PMP Exam Study Plan
You need a clear, specific, effective, and achievable study plan to prepare for the PMP exam. But, how long to study for the PMP exam? Here is a 30-days study plan to achieve the best result within minimum time.
Enroll in a PMP Course
The first step of the plan would be to get enrolled in a PMP course in your city. There are boot camps in almost all major cities that 4 to 5 days long. Moreover, you can find online courses in PMP learning.
These courses are suitable for many jobholders as they are busy with their projects at work. You can even include the total course time in the 35 hours formal education threshold.
Find Out Your Gaps in and Capacity of Your Knowledge
Once you have joined the training program or the online course, you will be able to assess your gaps in decision making for the PMP exam. This also includes finding out the capacity of your current knowledge. A proper PMP certification preparation would help you the most in this situation.
You should consider asking yourself about the areas that you have the least knowledge and types of organizational abilities you lack. Furthermore, you should look within yourself to find out the organizational skills, theoretical understandings, and practical knowledge you have on project management.
The Best 30-Day Study Plan
The following study plan is designed, keeping in mind that you may have a maximum of 6 weeks before the exam. The plan includes 3 rounds.
First Round
The first round of the study plan involves a 30-day study routine. You should consider the books and official guide of the PMP exam for this purpose.
Here, you should spend 2 days learning the Project Management Framework. The remaining 20 days can be spent to learn the 10 Knowledge areas of the PMP exam. You should spend at least 2 days in each Knowledge Area.
These knowledge areas include Quality Management, Time Management, Cost Management, Scope Management, Risk Management, Integration Management, Human Resource Management, Procurement Management, and Communications Management.
On each day of the study, you should focus on the basics and structure a mind map by writing the key points. As soon as you finish reading each Knowledge area, you should sit for a mock test. This way, you can understand the type of questions that may come and implement the learnings on them.
Second Round
In this round, you should do 2 things. Firstly, the PMBOK guide will have 47 Project Management Processes in the book. Spend a significant amount of time drawing these processes on a piece of paper every day.
Secondly, you should jot down the Earned Value Calculation Formula every day on a piece of paper. This will prove valuable for the real exam.
Just before the exam, review the Project Management Processes from your own paper and the Earned Value Calculation Formula. You should also sit in full 200 questions mock exams that are available in many PMP exam simulators.
Third Round
The last stage is optional. You can study for a further 10 to 15 days to review everything you have learned if you have the time.
You can spend 10 days reviewing every Knowledge area. After that, take a day to sit for another full PMP mock test. Finally, you can take a few more days before the actual exam date to review the weak areas of your knowledge.
Is PMP Certification Worth It: Evaluating the Significance
To earn a PMP certificate, you first have to become a PMI member and then register for the exam. The membership fee of the PMI is $139, and the PMP exam fee is $405. You can also sit for the exam without becoming a member. In that case, you will have to pay $555 for the exam.
As you can see, it is a lot of money you are spending on one professional certificate. Moreover, the study approach is not simple as well. You would want to get the certificate fast, and the 30-day study plan is not a piece of cake. So, is it really worth all the trouble to acquire a PMP certificate?
Here are 3 reasons for you to evaluate the significance of the certificate on your own.
A Requirement in Many Job Advertisements
It is quite obvious that a project management job advertisement will require or desire a PMP certificate. In recent times, project management capabilities are being considered at the same level as Microsoft and PowerPoint capabilities.
That is, it is a minimum requirement in many job openings outside project management. For instance, Operations Managers, Quality Assurance Managers, and Application Development Managers are expected to have a PMP certification in their bag.
PMP Will Enhance Your Chances of Promotion
There is no surety that PMP certification will get you promoted. However, having a professional certificate means that you possess all the knowledge of managing, leading, and decision making for any project. Therefore, your chances of getting a promotion and salary increment increase exponentially.
You Can Make More Money
Several research and survey results have shown that a PMP certificate holder generally earns more than a non-PMP certificate holder. The Global Knowledge has published in February 2020 that the average annual salary of a PMP certified manager is about $143,000. As a result, it is always easy to be intimidated by the value of this certificate.
FAQ
Those who have led or have been leading cross-functional teams in several projects of a company can apply for the PMP certification exam.
At first, you have to submit the online application form after filling it with your information carefully. After that, the PMI will review your application.
If your application is approved, PMI will send you a confirmation email that will ask for the exam fee. Once you pay the fees, you can either schedule your exam with Prometric or follow the auditing process if it is needed.
No, you cannot. Whatever project management experience you have, that must be within the last eight years before the application’s date.
Usually, it takes about 5 business days for an online application and 10 to 20 business days for a paper application to be processed.
You can always retake the exam if you fail the first time. The PMI allows a maximum of 3 retakes each year. However, each time it will cost you about 550 USD money to sit for the exam.
Conclusion
Having a PMP certification is not a piece of cake. It is a tough exam to crack. Despite the busy life, knowing how to get PMP certification fast in 30 days can help you stay on track and maintain regularity.
The 30-day plan involves studying, practicing, mock exams, and a quick review. Eventually, if you can acquire such a certification, you can shine bright in the corporate world. Try to follow our guideline during PMP certification preparation time. If you can follow it carefully, you will also know how to become PMP certified in 30 days.
