How I completed CAPM certification in 2 months
CAPM is Certified Associate in Project Management. It is a certification offered by PMI.
How long did I study for the PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification exam?
I studied for about two months. Once that was completed, I took around a week to review my notes as well as practice a few mock tests available freely on Internet.
My Prep resources
- PMBOK, 6th Edition
- CAPM Formula Sheet
- ITTO Process Chart
- Practice Tests available on Examsnet.com and Knowledgehut.com
- A wonderful explanation by Ricardo Vargas in this YouTube video. I saw this multiple times until I completely understood the essence of each and every process.
My biggest struggle when preparing for PMI CAPM certification exam
Getting enough time between work and my other responsibilities. It is tough to find time to study for CAPM certification exam if you are a full time working professional. At this point, taking online CAPM practice tests worked very well for me.
My suggestions for future CAPM certification exam candidates
- Read the PMBOK® Guide at least once
PMI members can download a PDF copy of the PMBOK® Guide from the PMI website. However, I recommend that you invest in a physical copy as well.
- Develop a study plan and dedicate regular time to study.
Once you’ve scheduled your exam appointment, your study time has a defined finish date! Make the best use of your time by creating a study plan.
Planning how many chapters or subjects I wanted to study per week and scheduling it, definitely helped me. It does not have to be so detailed that it holds you back, just give yourself some daily flexibility since “life” happens.
- Take as many practice exams as possible
These practice exams gave me good examples of the type of questions I needed to pass in the exam.
The other benefit of using a test simulator is the detailed explanations you get about why an answer was incorrect. I highly recommend you spend at least the same amount of time checking the results of correct and wrong answers as you have spent answering them.
- Understand the formulas
There isn’t a lot of math to learn, but if you do get a question that involves a formula, knowing how to work out the answer makes it easy.
Personally, I memorized the CAPM Formula Sheet and also made sure I understood them, so when these came up, they weren’t hard at all.
The exam is a computer-based test that comes with a built-in calculator. Don’t worry about having to do the calculations in your head.
I expect there to be some questions that ask you to use formulas, calculate the critical path, work out the earned value or draw a diagram. If you get questions that test those concepts, you’ll be prepared.
- Focus on topics you find challenging
Once you have reviewed the study materials, you’ll have a good idea of the topics you are personally finding challenging. The areas you want to focus more on are likely to be different from others, based on your past experience with project management and the projects you have worked on.
I devoted extra time on Cost, Communications and Procurement. Those were the ones I found had extreme detail that was complicated, although I recognize that might just be my experience
- Review agile considerations
The test covers agile techniques as well as predictive (and other) methodologies. Do give lots of study consideration to adaptive/agile techniques. It’s important to understand how agile approaches are different from other ways of leading projects.
Some tips for the exam day
I would recommend writing the CAPM certification exam early in the morning, I was only able to write just after lunchtime, and by then all the review and revision of my notes had annoyed me out.
Also, what I found helpful was to map out my formulas immediately when I sat down without seeing any questions first. This lets me avoid any confusion when looking at a question that requires the use of formulas.
My exam experience
I took my exam on Nov 19, 2021 and was able to complete all 150 questions in about 1 hour 30 minutes. I found the difficulty level of the exam relatively higher as compared to practice tests I had earlier taken.
Conclusion
Enjoy the CAPM journey, the topics are interesting and while studying, try to imagine how you would apply this in real-world situations. If you have started your preparing for this exam, you are already a step closer to the finish line to lay your hands on this prized possession :-).
