How to prepare for Risk Management (PMI-RMP) certification exam?

Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than 2.9 million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research. Their standard for project, program and portfolio management are the most widely recognized ones in the profession and are a model for project management in business and government.

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They are developed by thousands of PMI volunteers with experience in every type of project and provide a common language for project management around the world. They offer eight certifications that recognize knowledge and competency, including the Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) ® certification held by more than 4000 practitioners and growing worldwide. A candidate is assessed by examining his or her competence using

1. Reviewing Education and Experience – A combination of education and experience is required for each certification.
2. Testing Competence – The candidate is required to apply the concepts and experience to potential on the job situations through a series of scenario-based-questions.
3. Ongoing Development – Maintenance of a PMI certification requires the accumulation of ongoing professional development and education.   

We can see more details about the Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) ® certification in detail in this article.

Introduction to Risk Management (RMP) Certification

The PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) ® highlights your ability to identify and access project risks, mitigate threats and capitalize on opportunities. In this capacity, you enhance and protect the needs of your organisation. Achieving this certification set you apart from other professionals and credit to your organisation. Eight-three percent of organizations that are high performers in project management practice risk management frequently while forty-nine percent of low performers do so.

High performers meet their goals 2.5 times more often and waste 13 times less money than low performers as per the pulse of the profession report by PMI in 2015.    The exam is conducted throughout the year via Prometric testing centers and there is a specific application process you need to follow to take this exam. It is different from other exams since it requires Project Risk Management training, experience in the Risk Management Domains to apply for this exam.  

If you are ready for greater challenges and recognition, the PMI-RMP® will validate your specialized expertise in risk management domain and help you stand out to employers, stakeholders and peers.

Eligibility Requirement for the Risk Management Professional Examination (PMI-RMP) ®

All project risk management experience must have been accrued within the last five consecutive years prior to your application.  

PMI- RMP® Certification application process

• Submit your application online or via mail to PMI. PMI’s response time is faster for electronic submission. You have 90 days to complete the application once you started it.
• PMI takes 5 business days to complete the application completeness review.
• You cannot schedule exam until you submit payment of credential fees. You need to complete the payment of credential fees for Computer-based testing ($520 for PMI members and $670 for non-member).
• If your application is selected for audit process you have 90 days to send your audit materials. PMI processes the audit material in 5-7 days.
• Otherwise, you receive your authorization to schedule the exam in any Prometric testing centers within one year from the date of the application approval. You can take the exam up to 3 times during this 1 year. You need to pay your re-examination fees to the second and third attempts to pass the examination. (($335 for PMI members and $435 for non-member).
• You need to acquire 30 PDUs within 3 years to maintain the credential acquired failing which your credential is suspended for 1 year. If you are not acquiring the PDUs before that, your credential expires. If you wish to hold the credential again, you need to reapply again.

 How to complete the online Application? 

PMI encourages you to use the online certification system to apply for all certifications. A printable version of the application is available on a case-by-case basis. Please contact Customer Care to submit a request. Once you start an online application, you cannot cancel it.  You can save it unfinished, come back to it later, and edit any information you already entered.

The application will remain open for 90 days during which time PMI will send you an email reminder to complete the application. Please ensure that the application includes your valid, unique email address as this will be the primary mode of communication from PMI throughout the certification process.

Although PMI will email you reminders during the process, you have the responsibility to schedule and sit for your examination within the one-year eligibility period.

Before you submit the application, you will be required to read and agree to the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the Certification Application /Renewal Agreement, which can be found on PMI.org    

• You can also use the online certification system to:
• View your submitted certification application
• View your examination eligibility status
• Download PMI audit forms
• Download your exam report with your pass /fail status
• Apply and submit payment to take or retake any PMI examination and / or evaluation
• Submit payment for certification renewal
• Download receipts
• Access your certification record and update your contact information
• View your listing on the Certification Registry

Note: Incomplete applications and faxed applications will not be processed or returned.

How to record your Education and Experience on the Application?

Use the experience verification section of the online application to record your experience. Record projects individually regardless of the number of projects you include.

Number of hours that you specialized in Project Risk Management

Consider all of the projects that you have worked on and identify how many hours you spent on project risk management.

If you worked on multiple projects at one time, all the hours spent on project risk management count toward the total.

Contact hours of Project Risk Management Education

If you hold a four-year degree, record a minimum of 30 contact hours of education which is related to project risk. If you hold a high school diploma, associates degree or global equivalent, record a minimum or 40 contract hours of education with the specialty area of project risk.    

You can satisfy the education requirements by demonstrating the successful completion of courses, workshops and training sessions offered by one or more of the following types of education providers:

• PMI Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) *
• PMI Chapters*
• Employer / Company Sponsored programs
• Training companies or consultants
• Distance-learning companies, including an end-of-course assessment
• University / College academic and continuing education programs

The following education does not satisfy the education requirements:

• PMI chapter meetings*
• Self-directed learning (e.g., reading books, watching instructional videos or sessions with coaches or mentors)

*If at least one hour of a chapter meeting is spent conducting a learning activity, the hours spent in that activity can be counted towards the educational eligibility requirement.        

PMI-RMP® Certification Fees

The fees for payment are determined by your PMI membership status and the examination delivery type whether computer-based or paper-based for your geographic location. Please find the chart to determine the certification fee.        

PMI-RMP® Refund Policy

To obtain a refund for the PMI-RMP® certification, you must make a request to PMI at least 30 days before the exam eligibility expiration date. A refund of US$250 will be made if you have not yet scheduled or taken the examination. You can also get a refund of US$250 if you fail to meet audit requirements  PMI will not provide refund in the following circumstances:

• If your one year eligibility period has expired and you have not scheduled the exam, PMI will not provide any refund. You will forfeit the entire fee. If you still wish to obtain the certification, you will have to reapply and submit all associates fees again.
• If you schedule the exam and did not take it, nor provided the necessary cancellation/rescheduling notification to PMI’s testing administration partner, Prometric, you will not receive a refund.

Rescheduling / Cancellation Policy for CBT Exam

You can reschedule or cancel your exam at any time, if you do so more than two full calendar    days before your scheduled exam appointment. Nowadays, late rescheduling and cancellations will result in a fee. It is recommended that you reschedule or cancel your exam as soon as you know you won’t be able to make the appointment.

If you reschedule or cancel your exam within 30 days of your scheduled appointment, you will be charged a fee of US $70. The 30-day period does not include the day of the exam appointment. For example, if you scheduled your exam on 5^th May, you must reschedule or cancel the exam on or before 4^th April to avoid the fee.

For emergency situations in which you are unable to change your exam appointment before 30 days within your exam appointment, the extenuating circumstance policy may apply.

However, PMI will evaluate these situations on a case-by-case basis to determine if a refund of the rescheduling fee is appropriate. You need to reschedule or cancel your appointment before you are within two calendar days of your exam appointment.

If you wait until you are within two days of your exam appointment, you will be able to cancel your appointment and you will forfeit the entire exam fee. You will not be able to reschedule your appointment at this point and will need to pay associated re-examination fees to schedule a new exam.        

Rescheduling / Cancellation Policy for PBT Exam

To reschedule or cancel a paper-based testing (PBT) exam appointment, you must email pbtexams@pmi.org no later than 35 calendar days before the schedule examination administration date. 

Include your name, your PMI identification number, group ID number, and the location of the PBT event in your email. The group ID number is available on the Prometric Website or from the PBT sponsor.

Extenuating Circumstances:

PMI understands that there are times when personal emergencies may cause you to:

• Reschedule or cancel your exam within 30 days of the appointment

or

• Miss a scheduled exam appointment (resulting in a no-show status)

These are referred to as extenuating circumstances and can include:

• Medical emergency
• Military deployment
• Death in immediate family
• Illness in immediate family
• Natural disaster

Extenuating circumstances do not include work-related circumstances.  Should a situation like this occur, PMI will examine your situation and take appropriate action.

• If your circumstance forces you to reschedule or cancel your exam within 30 days of the appointment.

Go online to the Prometric website as soon as you know you are unable to make your scheduled appointment and reschedule or cancel your exam. You will be charged US $70 fee. However, you can contact PMI customer care with an explanation and supporting documents to obtain refund on the late rescheduling / Cancellation fee, if approved by PMI.

• If your circumstances force you to miss your scheduled exam appointment (resulting in a no-show status):

Please contact PMI customer care within 72 hours following the missed exam appointment.  You will be asked to provide an explanation along with supporting documentation (e.g., accident report, medical documentation, etc.) in order for you to reschedule or cancel your exam without penalty, if approved by PMI.      

PMI will review all claims on a case-by-case basis. If your extenuating circumstance claim is not approved, you will be required to pay the full re-examination fee to sit for the exam.        

PMI-RMP® Audit Process

The submission of application indicates your agreement to comply with the terms of the audit process. All applications are subjected to audit process but only a percentage of applications are randomly selected. If your application is selected for an audit, you will be notified by e-mail after payment of the certification fee is received. During an audit, you will be asked to submit supporting documentation such as:

• Copies of your diploma/global equivalent
• Signatures from your supervisor(s) or manager(s) from the project(s) recorded in the experience verification section of the application
• Copies of certificates and/or letters from the training institute(s) for each course recorded on the application to meet the required contact hours of project management education

PMI provides you with 90 days to submit the requested documents for verification. Please send all materials at one time in one envelope. Sending audit documents separately can cause delay in the audit review timeframe. Incomplete submissions lead to the failure of the audit and your candidature of the exam is cancelled and you will receive only a partial amount as refund.   

Examination Language Aids

  As of now, the PMI-RMP® examination is administered in English only. Language aids are not currently available.

Examination Information

The PMI-RMP exam consists of 170 multiple-choice questions. 20 out of the 170 questions are pre-test questions and do not affect the score and are used in examinations as an effective and legitimate way to test the validity of future examination questions.

The time allotted to complete the computer-based examination is three and half hours. There is no schedule break during the exam, although you are allowed to take a break if needed. But if you are taking a break during the exam, your exam clock continues to count down.

The exam is preceded with a tutorial and followed by a survey both of which are optional and both of which can take up to 15 minutes to complete. These times are not used in the examination time of three and half hours.

PMI-RMP questions are developed based on the following factors:

• Are developed and independently validated by global work groups of project risk management practitioners
• Are referenced to current project risk management and project management titles, which include but are not limited to PMI’s global standards
• Are monitored through psychometric analysis
• Satisfy the test specifications of the PMI-Risk Management Professional Examination Specification

Examination Blueprint

The PMI-RMP® examination is developed based on the examination blueprint contained in the PMI-RMP® Exam content outline. The blue print contains the percentage of questions from each risk management domain. Please find the below table to know more details about the same.   

Tasks related to Risk Strategy and Planning domain

Each domain contains tasks that are measured through the PMI-RMP® Certification progress. In addition, the domain contains knowledge and skills, which are required to competently perform the tasks.                 

The knowledge required to perform the tasks related to the Risk Strategy and Planning domain are continuous process improvement as applied to risk management, knowledge management techniques for organizing and providing access to project risk information, metrics for measuring effectiveness of project risk process, risk attitudes concepts, risk breakdown structure (RBS), risk tolerance concepts, barriers to effective risk management, project risk management inputs, tools, techniques and outputs, project risk contingency and management reserve, research and analysis techniques and basic strategy development methodologies.

The skills required to perform the tasks related to the Risk Strategy and Planning domain are assessing stakeholder risk tolerance and building stakeholder consensus.    

Tasks related to Stakeholder Engagement domain

The knowledge required to perform the tasks related to the Stakeholder Engagement domain are Information resources both internal and external, project performance information, stakeholder sensitivity analysis models, training and coaching techniques, types of stakeholder risk attitudes, group decision making and group creativity.

The skills required to perform the tasks related to the Stakeholder Engagement domain are assessing stakeholder risk tolerance, collaborating with stakeholders, managing teams in multicultural environments and influencing change.     

Tasks related to Risk Process Facilitation domain    

The knowledge required to perform the tasks related to the Risk Process Facilitation domain are basic risk identification tools and techniques for both threats and opportunities, basic quantitative risk analysis tools and techniques, basic qualitative risk analysis tools and techniques, risk response strategy types, contingency management tools and techniques, risk monitoring and control techniques, group decision making and group creativity.

The skills required to perform the tasks related to the Risk Process Facilitation domain are using analytical software tools for project risk management, managing teams in multicultural environments and estimating probability and impact of identified risks.

Tasks related to Risk Monitoring and Reporting domain        

The knowledge required to perform the tasks related to the Risk Monitoring and Reporting domain are continuous process improvement and quality management as applied to risk management, knowledge management techniques for organizing and providing access to project risk information, alternative formats for project risk reports, requirements for risk register data fields, risk statement construction, risk response activity construction, risk response metrics, risk process performance metrics, risk assessment analysis metrics and risk management reserves.   

Tasks related to Perform Specialized Risk Analyses domain

The knowledge required to perform the tasks related to the Perform Specialized Risk Analyses domain are advanced risk identification tools and techniques for both threats and opportunities, advanced quantitative risk analysis tools and techniques, tools and techniques for identifying and analysing overall project risk, basic and advanced statistics, estimation tools and techniques to support risk decision making, advanced theory of heuristics and variance / earned value analysis.     

The skills required to perform the tasks related to the Perform Specialized Risk Analyses domain are converting qualitative information into risk data, building representative risk models and managing and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data.    

Various Types of Questions in the PMI-RMP® Exam

• Situation based questions – Only candidates with good experience and knowledge in project risk management can choose the right answers. To eliminate the less risk management experienced resources, PMI used these questions. This is the most complex set of questions for most of the candidates.  
• Questions with two or more possible right answers – Multiple activities needs to be performed to manage the tricky situation in the project. Almost all the options are performed by the risk manager. But the sequence of performing the activity is important and it appears you have more than one right answer. You need to understand the question well to answer the questions in these set of questions.
• Questions related to PMI-RMP® mathematics – These are straight forward questions and you need to apply the relevant formulas. Identification of the formula may be difficult.
• Questions with make-up terms – One of the option in the question may not be relevant to the PMI-RMP® concepts and if you prepared well you can eliminate this option easily.
• Questions with lengthy word – Sometimes the length of the question may be too long and you may not need all the inputs provided in the questions. To confuse you, many terms which are not related to the questions are given.
• Questions related to tools and techniques, input and output from project risk management process – You need to have the clear understanding of the tools and techniques, input and output for all the project risk management process to answer well in these set of questions.

How to prepare for the situation based questions?

These questions require you to have real-time project risk management experience.

While preparing, relate the Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and the PMBOK guide with your real-time project risk management experience to understand the concepts well. You also need to discuss a lot with experienced risk managers in your group or organization regarding the risk management process groups.

Understand the best practices in the project risk management discipline to answer well in these types of questions.

Clearly understand the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved in the projects.       

For example, there is a potential delay in the procurement of the software required for the team. This will impact the deliverables. You were asked to choose the best choice from the given options. The options may be 

A) Update the customer about the potential delay

B) Implement the mitigation plan for the delay in procurement

C) Meet with the team and identify other options

D) Accept this is a miss from your end

The correct answer is choice B.

If you have identified the delay in the procurement as a risk you should have the mitigation plan for the delay in procurement.  PMI always assume you are a good project risk manager and hence choice B is the correct answer. All other options are incorrect here.

How to prepare for the questions with more than one right answer?

You need to have good project risk management knowledge and experience to handle these questions.

A very good project risk management training is required & a thorough knowledge of Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and PMBOK latest Edition is required to eliminate the wrong choice in the question. To eliminate the less experience candidates these questions, appear in the exam. 

For example, During the festival season, in a critical project, the team missed a milestone date for the delivery. 

What should be the potential reason for the schedule overrun?

A)Team member’s performance is not good

B) Key team members went on vacation during the delivery

C) Backup of the key team members are not identified and this leads to schedule overrun

D) None of the above

The correct answer is choice C.

The backup of the key team members is not identified and this leads to the delay in the team’s deliverables during the vacation. In the question given both choices B and C appears correct. But the real cause is choice C.  Hence the correct answer is choice C.  All other options are incorrect here.

How to prepare for the questions related to PMI-RMP® Mathematics?

The questions in these areas are straight forward and you need to apply the correct formula directly.

Practice more questions on each PMI-RMP® mathematics topics.

Use flash cards to memorise and revise the formulas frequently. Understand all the terms in the formulas to score more in these area

Also, to remember the formulas, group the formulas related to the project risk management processes.  

For example, NPV of project A and B are $70, 000 and $80,000 respectively.

Which project should be selected by the project manager in order to reduce the risk of investment?

A)Project A

B) Project B

C) Both A and B

D) None of the above

The correct answer is option B

If you know, this question is related to project selection and if NPV value is greater, then you can select project B. This is a simple sample question in these areas.

How to prepare for the questions with make-up term in the PMI-RMP® exam?

Always look for terms which are not related to the process. Mostly make-up terms are added as one of the choice to trick you. It also happens that the question setter, just want to add a fourth option. If your preparation for the exam is well, any strange terms in the exam is mostly the make-up terms.

For example, which of the following risk response strategy is not correct for the positive risks in the project?

A)Exploit

B) Enhance

C) Share

D) Optimise

The correct answer is choice D.

Exploit, Enhance and Share are all risk response strategy for the positive risks. Optimise is a make-up term added to confuse you. Hence choice D is correct whereas choices A, B and C are incorrect.

How to prepare for the lengthy word questions?

Translate the wordy phrases to answer these questions.

Instead of saying that the activity in the critical path is behind schedule, you can see that the activity float was zero and has moved to negative now. 

Instead of saying that the team deliverables are of poor quality, you can see that the team has lost sight of the quality management plan. You need to understand what they are asking and accordingly translate the wordy phrases to answer these questions.

Most of the time all the information provided in the questions is not required to answer the questions and you need to focus on the relevant information only which is required to answer the questions.

For example, A project manager in the planning stage requested 15 resources to work in the project. This is his top priority to the management team. He also requires a budget of $80000 to complete the project successfully. But the management has approved $60000 for the project and fulfilled his resource requirement.

What is the best thing the project manager can do now?

A) Handle this cost risk as part of the risk response planning

B) Reduce the scope of the project

C) Include this cost risk in the list of risk identification

D) Control other risk to get sufficient budget to manage this cost risk

The correct answer is option B

In this question, the key point is instead of $80000 the management has approved only $60000 and it is a fact and not a risk and it needs to be handled in the project planning rather than risk management. All other information is not required which is given to trick you.  

How to prepare for the questions related to the tools and techniques, input and output for the project risk management process?

Learn all the inputs, outputs and tools and techniques used in all the project risk management processes.

Use flash card for reviewing this information frequently.

You may not have the chance to use all the processes or use all the inputs or tools in your organization and hence focus on preparing for these types of questions thoroughly.

A thorough preparation of Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and the latest PMBOK guide is key to handle these questions.   

For example, which of the following are the input for the Plan Risk Response process?

A)Risk scores and expected monetary values of top risks

B)Potential risk owners

C)List of prioritized risks

D)All of the above

The correct answer is choice D

All the choices A, B and C are the input for the plan Risk Responses process and hence the correct answer is choice D.

Why take the PMI-RMP® Certification?

As the demand for skilled project risk managers is at a critically level, practitioner who hold the PMI-RMP® certification are well positioned to provide the professional skills necessary to lead project teams and achieve successful project results.

If you want to get hike in your salary, promotion to the next level or keep you position during difficult situation due to economic slowdown you need to demonstrate and differentiate that you are a valuable project risk manager to the organization. PMI-RMP® certification would help you on this front.

If you are looking for opportunities in other company in risk management, PMI-RMP® certification will help you to cross the screening process easily and it is one of the biggest advantage you are gaining over your competitor. PMI-RMP® certification helps you to get job all over the world.  

Above all, in this dynamic world, constantly upgrade your skills to the next level is the ‘mantra’ to stay competitive in the market. PMI-RMP® adds value to your profile and you stand out from a bunch of talented experienced professional. Organization also need employees with niche skills, who focus on continuously improving their skills to compete with other major players in the industry.  

What are the resources available for the PMI-RMP® Certification?

   Then the following key resources needs to be utilized for the PMI-RMP® exam

• Practice Standard for Project Risk Management – a) Provide a standard for project management practitioners and other stakeholders that defines the aspects of Project Risk Management that are recognized as good practice on most projects most of the time. b) provide a standard that is globally applicable and consistently applied. This must be referenced before sitting for the PMI-RMP® exam.
• Latest PMBOK 5th Edition- Study the latest edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge guide. Both Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and PMBOK guide are available free for download from PMI site for PMI members.
• Whizlabs PMI-RMP® online course for Project Risk Management education training to acquire the 40 hours of project risk management education. Please make sure you are revisiting the chapters more than once before moving on to evaluate yourself for the full mock test.
• PMI-RMP® practice test to practice mock exam – Practice at least 3 to 5 full tests before the actual exam to evaluate yourself thoroughly. Have sufficient break of at least a week time between any two tests to gain the best from the simulation software.
• PMI-RMP® objective question bank to practice test in each risk management domain to understand your weakness in that area.
• Use Flashcards to recall exam related terms and concepts.
• Use any exam preparation PMI-RMP® book as a reference material.

How to prepare for the PMI-RMP® Certification

• First Whizlabs PMI-RMP® online course for Project Risk Management education training to acquire the 40 hours of project risk management education needs to be completed. This will help to understand the risk management clear and immensely helpful for you during the actual exam.
• Practice Standard for Project Risk Management should be studied at least twice and need to use that for any references at later point of time in your preparation. The first-time should be used to go through the book once, to get familiar with all the tools and techniques, inputs and outputs from all the processes related to risk management. The second-time reading should focus more on consolidation of these concepts and understand the relationship between different processes.
• A review of the PMBOK latest edition is mandatory to understand the question well in the exam. This will help you to revise your project management knowledge. Risk management cannot be performed in vacuum and it needs to be integrated with other project management process and the questions in the exam would be in this way.
• Plan to have the group discussion with your colleagues who are also preparing for this exam. Try to have a group of not more than three to have the maximum advantage and less deviation in your preparation plan. Choose chapters for each discussion and give sufficient time for preparing yourself before going for the group discussion. This will help to get the best out of the group discussion. If you are not prepared for any discussion, please reschedule it to a later date.
• Flashcards is an important tool which needs to be used effectively throughout your preparation for this PMI-RMP® It helps you to recollect important terms and concepts for the exam.
• Use PMI-RMP® objective question bank to practice test your knowledge in each risk management domain area
• Use PMI-RMP® exam practice test to practice mock exam. This will identify your weak areas and you have the chance to focus more on these topics where you are not comfortable in answering the questions.

What should be covered in your study plan?

This exam requires successful investment of your time and money to pass the exam. You need to plan your best possible time to take the exam. The money you spend on this exam is an investment which is going to give back multiple times. So, plan your budget for this exam to acquire all the materials which help you to acquire this certification. Similarly, the time you need to invest for the preparation also is critical and plan for that in the beginning itself.

You need to understand where you stand before starting your preparation. The study plan should be different for each candidate based on their current experience in project risk management, knowledge and training in project risk management area.

A normal candidate with project risk management training and experience requires around 20 hours per week for 2 to 3 months to pass this exam.  Consistency is the key and you need to practice on a daily basis to have a grip over the concepts.

Your study plan should cover the Whizlabs PMI-RMP® online course for Project Risk Management education training, Practice Standard for Project Risk Management, PMBOK guide, one standard book on project risk management, group discussion, flash cards on very critical terms, practice test and mock exam.  Stay yourself calm and enjoy your preparation for the entire duration of your PMI-RMP® journey.

Allocate sufficient buffer time and money and plan for the exam date accordingly. This will help to manage for any unplanned deviation in your study plan. 

What is the importance of quiz on each risk management domain?

 To understand the gaps in your project risk management knowledge, you need to do practice test which would help to work on your weak areas related to the risk management domain.

Note down the processes where you are struggling and go through the Whizlabs PMI-RMP® online course for Project Risk Management education training course as well as Practice Standard for Project Risk Management guide again. This process will help you to remember the mistakes you have committed in your practice test.

Again, go for the practice test and see where you stand. Repeat the process till you get confidence in that knowledge area and move to the practice test on new risk management domain. Make sure you are taking practice test on new set of questions every time to see the real improvement in your knowledge in that area.

This strategy would help you to improve on your weak areas, consolidate your knowledge on your strong areas, to prevent the mistakes you have committed in the practice test in the actual exam and also an input to your group discussion with your colleagues on key topics.   

What is the importance of exam like practice Test (mock exam)?

A candidate to PMI-RMP® certification needs to evaluate in a stimulated environment of the real test to see where he / she is standing before the actual exam.

PMI-RMP® exam simulation software usually has questions of high quality and help you to analyse where you stand at that time. Taking an exam for 3.5 hours require physical and mental strength and techniques to keep yourself focused. Mock exam helps us to practice this and you will understand how to go about the exam with more clarity. You can plan your exam in the right way based on these experiences.

The questions are from all the risk management domain areas and practising these tests help to handle the questions effectively. Instead of understanding the difficulties in the exam site, realize these problems during the mock exam. This would help to plan for these problems and if you encounter the problem again in the exam, you can handle that easily.  

Plan to take the mock exam only when you have prepared well and ready for that. This would help to get the maximum from this step. You can utilize the simulation software during the last month of your preparation. Have sufficient break between two mock tests to work on the weak areas in your first test and be ready for the next test.

Overall, you can plan for 3 to 5 mock exams and this process need to be completed at least five days before the exam date. This will help to address any gaps you have in the final mock exam before the actual exam.

How to conduct yourself during the exam?

 How many months you prepared for the exam is not actually important. It is a question of how you are raising to the occasion and how you are conducting yourself during the exam day is important. You might have seen candidates, who are good in risk management and have enough experience failed in the exam due to uncontrolled pressure on the exam day. When you are not calm on the exam day, you would most probably commit more mistakes which can spoil your chance to pass the exam.

Listen carefully about the important points which help you to stay calm during the exam day.

• You must bring your authorization letter from PMI as well as ID with the same name as per your authorization letter.
• If you struggle to remember any concepts, write those concepts in the scratch paper given to you. This will help to relax your mind before the exam.
• You will see one question at a time and all those 170 questions are selected immediately you started the exam and not based on your answers to a question.
• You have the option to mark the question for review later and can move back and forth.
• If you are reading the question multiple times, you are stressed and use breathing technique to relax yourself.
• Focus on the question and answer. If you are thinking about the 50th question when you are answering 100th question, you have not focused well for nearly 50 questions and the result should be a disaster for you.
• Answer each question from PMI perspective.
• Follow the elimination strategy to eliminate the options which are not correct. This will help to answer more questions correctly.
• Utilize all your 3.5 hours in the exam and don’t leave the exam hall before that.
• Approach the exam based on your plan and control the exam. Never allow the exam to control you.
• Pass the exam.

What are the common mistakes by the PMI-RMP® candidates?

  Please find the potential mistakes by the PMI-RMP® candidates during the exam.

• Understand the question from their project risk management experience perspective and answer that. You need to thing from the Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and PMBOK guide first and if not able to answer then go for your real-time experience. The reason is whatever you are practising in your organization, may not be correct always and hence go with PMI approach first.
• I see lot of candidates plan every year for this exam and still not completed this certification. A serious candidate can complete this exam in 3 months. Don’t put yearly plan.
• Reschedule the exam date many times. Unless it is mandatory to reschedule the exam due to an emergency, don’t reschedule the exam. Stick to the exam date. You will not follow your study plan properly if you are not sticking to a committed date.
• Not utilizing all the important sources for the exam. I have seen most of the candidates have the desire for this certification but not interested or willing to invest in all the tools required to prepare yourself well for the exam. The resources required to prepare for the exam differ from each candidate, but whatever you planned needs to be used to succeed in this exam.
• Not allocating sufficient time to prepare for the exam.
• Lack of consistency in following your plan. If you don’t have a plan in place, then it is difficult to pass this exam.
• Practising lot of objective questions without understand the concepts from Whizlabs PMI-RMP® online course for Project Risk Management education training course, Practice Standard for Project Risk Management and PMBOK guide. The best approach is to understand the concepts first and practice lot of objective questions.

If you are interested in preparing for the risk management certification, you can consider buying our certification product:

• PMI-RMP risk management practice questions
• PMI-RMP risk management online training course

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About Aditi Malhotra

Aditi Malhotra is the Content Marketing Manager at Whizlabs. Having a Master in Journalism and Mass Communication, she helps businesses stop playing around with Content Marketing and start seeing tangible ROI. A writer by day and a reader by night, she is a fine blend of both reality and fantasy. Apart from her professional commitments, she is also endearing to publish a book authored by her very soon.

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