How Long Does it Take to Prepare for the PMP® Exam?

The good news is that there is no standard PMP® exam preparation timeline. The time required to prepare for the PMP® exam varies from person to person. Around 80% of PMP® exam questions are situational. To crack them successfully, one needs to boost the knowledge and understanding of the concepts to match the standards expected from the exam.

How Long to Study for PMP Exam?

If the aspirant is a seasoned project manager and has followed a matured PM methodology, around two weeks of preparation sessions of 2-3 hours every day should suffice. However, if the aspirant is new to a PM position or is an aspiring PM, it is important to understand the complexities and challenges of the role. For this, he/she will have to study not only the PMBOK Guide but also some additional material from writers like Rita Mulcahy, Andy Crowe, etc. This will increase the preparation time to 4-6 weeks with 2-3 study hours a day. However, these are just general benchmarks. When I was preparing for the PMP® exam, I studied only for 5 days, around 12 hours a day, and cleared it on the very first attempt. You can even check out the details of ITIL with the ITIL Foundation Certification.

Another important point is to understand the PMI way or PMIsm, as it is popularly known. For starters, PMIsm is a term for PMI philosophy, i.e., What PMBOK® recommends and the exam expects you to know. There are circumstances when your experience may not be the same as suggested by PMBOK®. For further details, refer to the PMP Certification Course.

Mock tests will help you counter the PMIsm syndrome. One should take as many mock tests as they can after they are done with one round of study of the PMBOK® Guide cover to cover. After that, one must try multiple sets of 200 mock questions. Each attempt will help them identify weak areas that require special focus.  An average score in excess of 90% in mock tests means you can crack it confidently.

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