10 TIPS TO

PASS THE PMP

EXAM IN 2024
Nilotpal Ray, PMP, PRINCE2
About this e-book
In this e-book, I will detail the 10 best tips to pass the
PMP Exam in 2024. I am Ray, a PMP Certified project
manager with over 11+ years of project management
experience across various industries such as
Healthcare, FMCG, and Power & Utility.

My passion is to coach aspiring PMP candidates to

prepare for the PMP Exam in a fast & effective way to
pass it on their very first attempt.

If you like this e-book, please consider joining my

FREE weekly PMP Exam Webinars and do follow me
over YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Nilotpal Ray, PMP, PRINCE2

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TIP#1: Check your eligibility
The PMP exam has very stringent eligibility criteria, and
applications are audited by PMI randomly. So even before you
consider starting your exam prep, check & recheck the eligibility
criteria for the exam and make sure you meet all of them 100%.
Because it’s not uncommon for aspirants to find out that there are
some ifs and buts in their eligibility mid-way through their exam
preparation.
Now, this can cause major frustration for you if you have not done
this due diligence before, and in the worst-case scenario, you might
need to shelve your entire pmp certification project half-way
through your exam preparation, because you find out that you are
not eligible for the exam.
Mind that if you try to tweak the eligibility in an unethical way, not
only do you have the risk of your application getting rejected…but
also you have the risk of PMI taking some disciplinary action
against you…and this can happen even after you become PMP
certified.
TIP#2: Start with the WHY?
If you want to get PMP certified, you should be very clear to
yourself on WHY should you get PMP certified. I mean, over the
next couple of months, you are going to invest a lot of time,
resources, and money into the exam reparation, right? Why should
you do it?
Because if this WHY is not clear guys, it will be very easy to lose
motivation midway through your exam preparation…
Now this why can be…getting a promotion, looking for a job
switchover…planning to switch from one industry to another…
negotiating a pay raise…or maybe just building your portfolio…now
there is nothing wrong with these aspirations…but you need to
make sure that these are strong enough for you to pump you burn
that midnight oil when needed.
TIP#3: Have a plan. Stick to it.
Now, this may sound a bit cliché to many of you but it has been
seen that lack of a solid but realistic plan is one of the key reasons
why aspirants are not able to pass the exam.

So generally there are two extremes that are seen in this

scenario….aspirants who are like overtly enthusiastic & plan to pass
the exam with 14 days of preparation….and on the other side of the
spectrum…there are aspirants with plans over 6 months of
preparation time. Now as your mentor, my recommendation would
be to be realistic but be accountable when it comes to drafting a
plan.

There is no achievement in getting PMP certified in 14 days ok?

Because that way you might pass the exam, but your learning out
of the process would be a big fat zero! And on the other hand, if
you plan the exam prep time for over 6 months, it’s very easy to
lose the momentum midway. A reasonable estimate of preparation
time for the PMP Exam according to me is between 8-12 weeks.
TIP#4: Focus on SKILLS, not THEORY
The PMP Exam is a skill-based exam and not a theory-based exam.
So that means, through the project management scenario-based
questions in the exam, PMI tests your aptitude as a real-life project
manager…not how well you know let’s say the PMBOK7th Ed.

Now I discuss this topic in detail over my free webinars…however,

in a nutshell, what you need to understand is…it doesn't matter how
you lead projects in real life in your company or organization…but it
matters how well you pick up on the skills & principles which
pmbok7 talks about…and use those skills while solving the scenario
based questions in the exam.

Please note that there will be no direct questions in the PMP exam
from the PMBOK7 or the Process Group Practice Guide…all
questions will be situational which will test how well you are able to
apply the skills and best practices that these standards talk about…
while solving the questions in your exam.
TIP#5: No need for memorization
You need NOT memorize any mathematical formulas for your PMP
Exam in 2024. Over the last year, the PMP exam has evolved to
become more practical & application based rather than being
theoretical and memory-based. Eg. Previously in the PMP exam,
there used to be questions that would ask you to draw a network
diagram by calculating ES, EF, LS LF…or there would be questions
asking you to calculate EVM metrics such as BAC, EAC or TCPI
numerically.
However, now in 2024, the probability of getting such questions is
close to zero. Instead, the PMP exam is a lot smarter now, and it will
test you on how well you are able to apply these mathematical
concepts & equations to drive business decisions. Eg. what does an
SPI>1 mean? What can you infer about a project's health with a
TCPI = 1.45? You cannot crash an activity on a critical path due to
cost constraints, what is your next best option?
So you see guys, it doesn’t matter whether you know the formulas
or maths behind these, but it matters how to can infer these
metrics to take business decisions.
TIP#6: Write the exam from a test-center

Please DO NOT plan to write the PMP Exam from home. Now trust
me on this guys, there have been enough horror stories of PMP
exam candidates who faced lots of difficulties while writing the
PMP exam from home, most of which were beyond their
control….and this includes exams getting canceled midway for no
apparent reason…the remote testing software not registering your
responses correctly…exam getting reset midway due to unstable
internet connection…someone walking into your room while the
exam is on, and thereby the entire exam getting revoked and what
not.
Honestly, guys, it’s really not worth the risk ok? You have spent so
much time, money effort to prepare for the PMP exam…now don’t
let everything get washed down the drain just because you are too
lazy to travel to the test center.
The reliability of writing the exam from an authorized PMI test
center is way way higher than writing it from home. So unless it's
absolutely necessary, please do not write the exam from home.
TIP#7: Use mock simulators to LEARN
The key intent of writing mocks during your PMP Exam is
LEARNING. Do not try to predict or forecast your performance in
the final exam with your mock simulator scores. Your mock
simulator scores are not meant to give you a huge sense of
accomplishment if you score well in them….nor they are meant to
massage your ego as a great exam taker.
The best way for you to use mocks during your exam preparation
is to focus on your mock simulators to identify your knowledge
gaps…and study those specific topics or concepts again & again.
Do not chase a score and keep on writing mock after mock to hit
that score…that will not do any good for you.
Also, make sure you spend insane amount of time analysing & re-
analysing the mock exams which you write. What I used to do
during my pmp prep was…if I used to write a full length mock
simulator for 2-3hrs…I spent at least 10-12 hours analyzing the
mocks.
So that is the level of detailing you need when you practice mock
question and answers during your pmp exam preparation.
TIP#8: Prepare ERROR LOGS
Prepare error logs & personal notes when you are preparing for
the PMP exam. So, this error log document will be a list of all the
topics and concepts where you made mistakes during your
preparation…and will be your primary revision item during the final
days of your exam.

Start preparing this document right from Day-1 of your exam

preparation and develop this throughout the entire journey. The
main input to your error log document is from the analysis of your
mock exam simulators. Use, bullet points, red/black/blue inks to
highlight specific concepts, post-it notes, etc to make this
document as interesting & valuable as possible.

During the last 2-3 weeks of your exam preparation, you need not
go back to your books again. This error log document will be the
'holy-grail' of your revision because it is built & customized to your
learning gaps and improvement areas.
TIP#9: Practice on difficult Q&As/Mocks
It is critical that you practice on tricky and difficult questions rather
than solving easy questions during your PMP exam preparation. I
mean, there is no point practicing on easy and medium-difficulty level
mock simulators which are intentionally designed to give you a decent
score…right?

Because This is what happens guys when you practice on easy

questions…they make you feel over-confident...you are over the moon
with your score…maybe you go out & party with your friends after you
have scored >80% on an easy mock simulator…until reality strikes you
on the exam day…because mark my words guys...the PMP exam is
tougher & smarter than you think it is…ok?

So come out of that rat race of chasing mock scores on easy to med
difficulty-level simulators …and posting them over Reddit or Facebook
to boost your ego…or to compare them with the scores of other
candidates! Because the more high-difficulty level questions you
practice…the actual PMP exam will seem a lot easier to you…and that’s
what we want!
TIP#10: Apply learnings practically
And finally, the last and the most important tip. Start applying what you
are learning during the PMP exam preparation in your real-life projects.
I mean, see guys….project management is a practical science…right?.
It's not about how many fancy project dashboards you can create or
how pro you are in ms project…ok? You need to learn how to use those
tools & templates to take business decisions.
The real value of your PMP certification will come when you apply what
you have learned during the certification process in your workplace to
drive excellence in projects. So, don’t wait for that till you actually get
PMP certified…because this experiential learning would solidify your
learning process for the exam immensely…and will also make you a
better PM along the way!
Eg. If you have learned about the Probability-Impact matrix for risk
prioritization, try to develop one for your project and drive business
decisions through it.
Or let’s say, if you have learned about SPI, try to calculate the SPI for
your own project and see if that makes sense practically.
Because this is where you will be able to link the theory with practice,
and your exam preparation that way would be top-notch…ok!
Thank You!
Hope you found the e-book useful. Please make sure
you join me on the free weekly webinars to amp up
your PMP Exam preparation in 2024. Also, follow me on
YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to stay
up-to-date with your exam prep. I wish you all the best
with your PMP Certification journey.

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