How Long to Study for PMP Exam? | Exam Tips & Resources

If you have come here wondering how long it will take to study for the PMP Exam, we are sure you know the potential of PMP certification. Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a gold standard in the Project Management industry. PMP certification is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMP certification helps individuals land excellent Project Management jobs across sectors. 

PMP certification is popular worldwide, and every organization wants to hire PMPs to manage their projects and bring business value. Accruing to PMI’s Earning power survey, the PMP salary of Certified Project Manager professionals is 25% more than those without certification in Project Management.

If you want to get a PMP certification, you will have to qualify for the PMP Exam.  The PMP exam is considered one of the hardest exams to pass in this day and age. If you are wondering How long to Study for the PMP exam: it's estimated that you’ll need approximately 2-3 months to prepare for it. Keep reading to know more!  

Table of Contents

1) How can You Clear PMP Exam?

2) How Long does it Take to Study for the PMP Exam?

3) PMP Exam Preparation Tips

4) Resources for the PMP Exam

5) How Long will it Take to Clear the PMP Exam?

6) Conclusion

How can You Clear PMP Exam?

According to a recent LinkedIn study, the PMP exam is the most challenging professional exam in 2022. Everybody believes this exam is hard to clear, from PMP aspirants to PMP holders. But with proper dedication and handwork, you can get astonishing results in your career after obtaining a PMP certificate.    

One of the main reasons this exam is challenging is the vast syllabus, which needs comprehensive preparation. Depending on your schedule and priorities, PMP exam preparation can take anything between 3 months to 14 months to clear the PMP Exam. With the proper PMP training and guidance, it's relatively easy to clear this exam. There are is over 1 million professionals spread worldwide with PMP certification. 
 

How Long does it Take to Study for the PMP Exam?

Although the exact time required to finish a study material for any exam varies with the individual, this guide can be extremely helpful. This preparation guide can act as a rough guideline for you, thus allowing you to figure out your own personalised PMP study schedule.

The time needed to study for the PMP exam

To determine the time required to prepare for your PMP exam, you need to analyse your study material first. PMP exams are generally referenced with the "Project Management Body of Knowledge" (PMBOK). The time taken to prepare for the PMP exam would be dependent on these factors.

A) Amount of study material: PMBOK guide has 13 chapters focusing on the PMI knowledge area. If you’re taking a course or training, always start studying with the training material provided by your facility, as they are easier to grasp. Once you’ve understood the topic within the material well, you can switch to the actual guide. The collective amount of material will be important in deciding How Long to Study for the PMP exam.

A majority of the training material generally follows the PMBOK guide pattern, so try to stick to one chapter and one topic at a time. Once you have finished an entire chapter in this fashion, try to take sample questions for the said chapter, this will act as a self-assessment for you.

B) Required time: Depending on the size of the chapter, the average time needed to study shuffle between training material and the PMBOK guide tends to be around nine to ten hours. On an estimation, this would mean that finishing the entirety of 13 chapters will require you roughly 120 hours. Once you are done with all the chapters, take some time to do full sample-length questions which will prepare you for the examination.

Dedicating 25 to 30 hours to working on sample PMP exam questions will help you feel confident in your abilities and give the exams to the best of your abilities. Additionally, you need to finish a 35-hour training that qualifies you for the PMP examination. This training period tends to last from two to three months. Besides the actual training, the self-study period is roughly 145 to 150 hours long.

C) Additional factors: although a rough estimation of courses and studying strategy tells us that an estimated preparation time is 150 hours, it's not the case for everyone. Depending on your ability to absorb and understand knowledge from your PMP study material, you might finish it faster than the estimated time or require more than the estimation. Keep a surplus of 10 to 60 hours in mind while preparing for the exams.

Assuming you can dedicate 3 hours of studying a day for PMP exam preparation, you will need 50 days to prepare for the examination. Likewise, if it extends up to 210 hours, you might need 70 days to prepare for the examination. Decide your study schedule based on the extent of your learning abilities.

PMP Exam Preparation Tips

There are additional factors to consider while preparing for the PMP Exam. For instance, the PMP exam is strongly referenced from the PMBOK guide and can be used to your benefit. You can use the guide to map out the topics and decide how much time you allot for each topic.

A) PMBOK handbook guide

PMBOK guide has 13 chapters, each covering PMI-based topics. These chapters are not only useful as study material but also an aid to help you build a personalised study plan. If you are studying from your training or course material, use your PMBOK guide to cross-check the content, this will help you understand the process mentioned thoroughly. 

PMBOK guide will also help you understand the context behind the subject, which is vital to the exam. The PMP exam strongly focuses on contextual scenarios. This will test your ability to understand theories and apply them to real-life circumstances. Simply memorising the terminology and its definition is detrimental to passing the exam, as trickier questions that include irrelevant information will likely confuse you.

B) Provide sufficient time for each topic

It is extremely important that you approach the study material as a step-by-step process. You should try to finish a chapter before moving to the next one. Similarly, make sure you understand and contextualise a topic before switching to the next one. This is vital to properly understand what you study, as later chapters and topics tend to reference previous ones. Give ample amount of time to each chapter to make sure your preparation doesn’t have any preventable flaws.

C) Experiment with PMP exam prep workshops

There are many candidates who need a competitive and social environment to bring the best out of them. If you feel like studying by yourself is not your call, try taking prep workshops. The prep schools not only provide you with engagement but also gives you the opportunity to meet other aspirants. These prep schools have the additional benefit of satisfying the 35-hour training prerequisite for the PMP exam.

D) Take part in study groups and forums

Study forums are a great way to gain knowledge via interaction with others. Study forums and group discussions allow you and similar aspirants to discuss a relevant topic on a similar level of understanding. You also have the opportunity to help other aspirants with topics you understand well, and they do not. This serves as a revision process for you while helping other candidates.

E) Utilise examination simulators for the PMP exam preparation

A PMP simulator is an online imitation of a real PMP exam, a great practice method for the actual exam. These simulators, like Cornelius Fichtner’s PM Exam Simulator, are helpful in not only testing your knowledge but they simulate an environment similar to the real exam. This helps you get used to the timing for the exams, becoming more efficient in how you approach the actual exam.
 

Resources for the PMP Exam

There are many external resources which can be used to prepare for the PMP examination. These are not mandatory resources, and they work differently for everyone. Hence most of these may not work for you the way they work for others. Similarly, some of these resources might prove very useful to you, while they may not have helped others much. It is entirely up to you to try and find out the best mean to aid your learning process. Here is a list of resources to help you prepare for the PMP exam. 

A) PMP podcasts

Podcasts are recordings of relevant discussions between a host and a guest that are available in visual and audible formats. Some examples of PMP podcasts are PMI’s distance learning options. Since these can be stored digitally, they can be accessed from anywhere, and they can do wonders for people who can memorise material better by hearing it. 

B) PMP question banks

Question banks consist of updated samples and frequently asked questions in an exam. These act as great assessment material for an aspirant. Question banks by Oliver Lehman can be an extremely helpful resource in preparation for the exam. There are currently two books, Oliver Lehman’s 100 questions and Oliver Lehman’s 180 questions.

C) PMP flashcards

Flashcards are a simple studying method that traditionally uses a card whose one side consists of a title of a particular topic, while another has meaningful and relevant descriptions. These can help aspirants jog their memory instantly, thus acting as a revision aid. Flash cards can be made in hard copy and online nowadays, making them more convenient.

D) PMP formulas

PMP guides consist of PMP formulae that can be used to revise topics that normally elude you quickly. Preparing you to recall them during the exams quickly.

Also, check out this PMP interview questions blog to ace your interview!

How Long will it Take to Clear the PMP Exam?

A) Exam mode – PMI allows you to attend the PMP Exam at a centre or online.   

B) Exam Pattern – PMP Exam consists of 180 questions, and you are given 230 minutes to complete answering them. The online exam provides two breaks of 10 minutes each, excluding the 230 minutes of the exam. This provision is not given to the individuals taking the exam at the centre. Additionally, you cannot review the questions you answered after the online exam break. 

You can expect questions from these domains in this proportion in the PMP Exam: 

1) People – 42% 

2) Process – 50% 

3) Business environment – 8% 

The questions will be in multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot and matching the correct answers.

C) PMP Application – After you apply for the PMP Exam and the application audit is successfully completed by PMI, you will have nearly a year to prepare for the exam. You will also have the option of choosing the date of the exam. Choose the exam date after evaluating how much time you need for preparation based on the time you can devote daily to your studies.   

Gain a certification that demonstrates your management skills and experience. Sign up for PMP Certification Training! 

Conclusion

You can schedule your exam within one year after the PMP audit approval of your application. PMI gives no minimum pass percentage, so you have to give it all you have when preparing for the PMP exam. Target at answering 80% of all the questions correctly in the exam.  

Once you clear the PMP Exam, the gates to excellent jobs will open. This certification on your profile will set you way ahead of other non-certified peers in your career. Once you become a PMP, you will have to gain the required PDUs and renew your PMP certificate every three years.  

Learn the basics of Project Management in this Introduction to Project Management course!