The Digital Project Manager

The Retro: How to Pass The PMP Exam Without Burning Out

• Galen Low and Kelsey Alpaio

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We’re joined live by Crystal Richards, PMP trainer and founder of MindsparQ, to dive into everything you need to know about passing the challenging Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. With its high failure rate and tough reputation, the PMP remains a highly respected certification that can open significant career doors—but balancing exam prep with work and life can be daunting.

Crystal shares practical strategies to help candidates navigate the exam process with clarity and confidence, drawing on her experience training project managers and her new book, PMP Exam Prep For Dummies. Whether you’re just starting your PMP journey or feeling overwhelmed, this conversation offers valuable tips to help you succeed.

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Kelsey Alpaio:

Hey! I'm Kelsey. And welcome back to The Retro on The Digital Project Manager podcast—where we dig into past lessons, future trends, and what they mean for your career. We're live in the studio today with our DPM members, and we're here to talk about the Project Management Professional exam—aka the PMP. So if you're thinking about getting your PMP, you've probably already heard all of the horror stories. It's hard. The failure rate is high. And there's all sorts of mistakes you can make that can contribute up along the way. But the PMP is still one of the most recognized, respected certifications in the project management world. And if you can pass it, it can unlock all sorts of career opportunities for you. But that's the question, right? How do you actually pass it—especially if you're doing this while juggling work, life, and everything else. So today we're talking to Crystal Richards, a PMP trainer and the founder of MindsparQ—a training organization that helps teams improve their project management skills so they can lead projects with clarity, courage, and confidence. She's also the author of a new book that came out earlier this year called PMP Exam Prep For Dummies. Crystal, welcome to the show!

Crystal Richards:

Thank you so much, Kelsey. I'm excited to be here. Yes, and the book is Out and already getting a buzz and excitement around it. So yeah, I'm excited.

Kelsey Alpaio:

So exciting. Congrats again on releasing that book this year. But yeah, why don't you get us started by telling us a little bit more about yourself and the work that you do?

Crystal Richards:

Kelsey, you did a fantastic job. I'm based in the Washington DC area in the US. And I train people to be better project managers, and the flagship service that I provide is PMP Bootcamp training. And then from there people have a great experience and if the opportunity arises, I'll go in and teach foundational project management for the rest of their team so that they can all talk the same language. So I really am immersed in helping people become better project managers and. I love that teaching. I love, and especially with my book now, I'm excited, I teach to the book so people are really excited about it and all my humor and sarcasm, but the truth bombs are all in the book, so I love it.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Gotta include those truth bombs.

Crystal Richards:

Exactly.

Kelsey Alpaio:

I wanna get right into things by asking you about failure and the PMP. I think it's something a lot of folks who are taking it for the first time really worry about, and the stats that you can find online, like really don't help. I saw a few different exam prep sites saying that 80% of people fail it the first time they take it. Does that sound like an accurate number to you? Is it basically a given that you're going to fail this thing the first time?

Crystal Richards:

No, I think that's maybe prior to 2021. Maybe that was more accurate. The challenge is that it's between you and PMI. So we don't know as instructors, we don't get stats on that, and PMI is a little bit more guarded, understandably and PMI, for those of you who don't know as Project Management Institute, who's over the PMP credential, they're very guarded because if the news gets out, this is not a possible test. Nobody's gonna wanna take it. And then if it's also oh, this is so easy, then employers might not see the value of if everyone can pass this exam. So it's at catch 22, they've made it much more straightforward, I will say, after 2021 when everybody was in the, their houses, their dwellings and you couldn't go to a testing center and so they opened up being able to take it online, so in the comfort of your home, if that's what you choose, and it's not as tricky. So you didn't feel the bait and switch the way that we used to. But what makes it painful is that there's a lot of content. It's a lot of the vocabulary. It really, I literally start my classes in Spanish just to emphasize the point. It is like learning a new language. Some people do talk back to me in Spanish, but for the most part it is really learning this new language and all of this information that you have to put back out there in the exam. And I would say people are taken aback by that. So if the struggle is that you're not successful with the exam, it's probably a couple of things that aren't related to what it used to be. And I don't wanna spoil it 'cause I'm sure you have specific questions for me around that. But that 80%, I think it's a bit inflated. I think it is part of people's marketing tactics. That's not my choice to go at people, honestly. I'm like, if you're self-sufficient and you're disciplined, just go by my book. That's all you need. You don't need a bootcamp. But for those folks who are like, I need structure, I need focus, I need someone in my face. Oh, that's totally me.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Yeah. Yeah. So let's get into it. What are some of the common reasons that people do actually fail the exam?

Crystal Richards:

They wing it. They think that, oh, I've been doing project management for a long time, so I know what it is. And so they don't study and they don't realize the vocabulary. That is PMI is versus what we call it in real life, because for a lot of us we're accidental project managers. I don't know very many people who went to school specifically for project management. And if they did, it was at the graduate school level. So you were already immersed in it. But for a lot of us, it was baptism by fire. And you were told work on this Gantt chart with no explanation of what a Gantt chart is. You're just like, okay, I just know it's called a Gantt chart. Work on this spreadsheet or this report, and it's got our own flavor of naming, but PMI has its own naming convention. And the funny part is, and devious I would say too, is that they know what we call it in the real world and that shows up on the exam. So you're like, oh yeah, that's what I call it. And that's not the PMI terminology. So that's point number one is that you're just, you just go in and wing it and don't study. The other big thing is that people don't do practice exams and get you into a test taking mode because I would suspect for a lot of folks like myself, it's been a long time since I've taken a, an exam, a standardized test, and you do five or 10 question exams. You're like, oh, I did it. It's great. You are not prepared for nearly four hours of just all this information that you have to figure out and. Keep saying to yourself the best PMI answer, those are primarily the ones that really stick out. Winging it, not taking a practice exam and then thinking you're supposed to read the book. Do not read that book cover to cover. Read my book cover to cover 'cause it's meant for you to do that. But there's the what's called the Project Management Body of Knowledge, or what we call the PMBOK guide. And it is so dry. If you have insomnia, it is the best book in the world. But if you want someone to give you an example, and that's what I found when I wrote the book. I wanted to give people the context, especially when I would come across the same questions in my classes. I brought that into this book where, for instance, if here's the situation of using this tool, here's what it looks like from an exam perspective, and then also from real life. One of my favorite sections was talking about scope creeping, gold plating, to really solidify those concepts and people found that helpful because even though it's I need to teach you to pass the exam, they're like gimme a real world example. And I'm like real world is not gonna help you pass the exam, but I understand what you need. You need that real world of how PMI is would be applied. And now it helps you understand from a scenario based question on the exam. Oh, I remember Crystal provided a scenario like that. I get it now and this is how I need to answer this question, the PMI way. So those are the top three. Don't wing it. Take practice exams. Do not read that PMBOK guide cover to cover.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Great advice there. So like during the test itself, you talked about it a little bit where like, we're not really used to taking three, four hour tests. So what are some of the mistakes that people might make while they're actually taking the exam and what do you see successful test takers doing differently?

Crystal Richards:

It's the time management. You have, it's a total of 180 questions and it's three hours and 50 minutes, so 230 minutes and everybody, I have them do the math and they're like, okay, that's about a minute and some change on a question. And, what PMI has done is that of those 180 questions, they break them apart into 60 question blocks. And so you have time within the first 60 questions to skip around and answer all those questions, and the moment you hit, I'm done with those first 60 questions. Then they say, Hey, would you like to take a break? Take it. Don't take the break. It doesn't matter. You don't get the additional 10 minutes if you don't take it. But once you go into question 60, one through one 20. You can't go back to the first set of questions. And here's the thing, the exam is not gonna say, Hey, you've spent two hours, maybe you should move on. That clock is still ticking. So when I tell students they break it into those three blocks, 60 questions segments, and I say, split it in threes, and people are like, that's roughly 75 minutes per 60 questions. And so what they understand is that, oh my gosh, if I am spending 90 minutes just on questions one through 60, I'm going to run out of time, and that's the time management that I really want people to understand. When they take a full length practice exam, you are going to see how your body reacts from the stressors to the tiredness because it's a different experience. People say they have come out of that exam exhausted. Also the exam's very wordy and scenario based. And so you have to sift through that noise. And I always joke with people like, be careful you're in that question and you start bringing in your own life story. Yeah, that happened to me. Now you're like wasting 30 seconds on the exam reliving, a project management path. So it's, and that's where the practice exam questions are really good ones. They help you through that. And especially too, if the tendency to wanna change your answer nine times outta 10, your first answer was the correct answer. So that is why it's also helpful to do practice exams so you can catch yourself from changing your answer. I'll do it in my classes and we'll do the letters and show our letters of questions. And it's so funny 'cause I have them folded in fours. It's like you remember that little game with the paper where we're like, my mom said you should, and like they're all like folding their papers. It's so funny. I'm like, I've changed my answer. I'm sticking to my, oh my gosh. And so they get to see I changed my answer. My first answer was right. Yes. The cookie catchers, I, that's why I didn't say the name yet.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Oh my gosh. Yeah. I forgot the name of those. What a throwback. Yeah. So going back a little bit to the studying piece of all of this. So if someone is studying for the PMP while working full-time, like what should they prioritize in their prep? Is there a framework or a routine you recommend that can help them stay on track?

Crystal Richards:

I do, especially when you take a bootcamp class, I really emphasize because you spent the time and money for a bootcamp, it's 35 hours usually, a hefty price. It is, then it's game time. Try to really make this a four to six week timeframe. So that is something that if you're gonna take that route and it's still something that's possible if you just do self-study, it's just that you don't have that motivation per se. Man, I spent all this money, you gotta take time out from work versus oh, I'll get to it, I'll get to it, I'll get to it. It is, I'll start from the bootcamp perspective after the bootcamp. I want you to think about for the next three to four weekends, you're doing a practice exam. So in between work, if you can sneak in maybe 30 minutes before you have your Wheaties, right? 30 minutes of doing practice questions, and then an hour after you put the kids to bed or have your dinner, just reviewing the practice questions that you did at lunch. And reviewing those areas that were a struggle for you. So going back, that's where if you're referencing the PMBOK guide for instance, you go there as like an encyclopedia to just, now that you have the context of missing a question, you're going in, you're like, oh, that's why I missed it. If you try to read it cold, you are like, I don't know what I'm reading. And this is where I also say to people, don't worry about having taken a class. Or done prior reading, just do a practice exam so you can get a feel of the way that they ask questions, and then the material will really connect and resonate with you when you actually review it and you're like, I saw a question. Now I see why that's the answer because that's the PMI way of doing things. And if it's hard during the weekdays, if you can't do 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon, maybe it's, the back end of the week, like your Thursday, Friday, you might pump it up a little bit of, maybe an hour and a half at night. But it's really that Saturday, maybe some parts of Sunday. Obviously you wanna make time for your life and family. But I also think, if this is your personal and professional goal, just like any other goal we have, think about those times that for some of you that may have gone back to school, you just made that commitment. You just carved out that time, and that's my encouragement for you is just to carve out the time. And trust me, if you get this done sooner rather than later, your family will love you for. They will like it's PMP and you'll stop cursing my name or Crystal, let's just take the exam. It is definitely worth it. Just as a quick anecdote, I had a student some years ago and she was dragging her feet and it was like two weeks out to go on her family huge family reunion on a cruise. And she's I'll just take my book. And I was like, no, you will not. I was like, you are not taking that material on a family cruise. You're gonna ruin your time. Everyone's gonna hate you. No, let's put together a plan. I put together a plan. I said, schedule this exam on this date. She's okay. She passed. Her whole family like sent me messages like, thank you. She was a terror. And she still to this day says, I bullied her. I was like, I didn't bully you. She's would you bully me to take this exam? And I'm like, and you passed. Oh my God. And your family likes you and me for it. So it's really. I had a student just recently that said to me, he's got, I think two little kids his wife is expecting, and he's I'm gonna tell her if you wanna continue to stay at home and me to make more money, I need to pass this exam. I'm like, okay. We were like, okay, if that's me. Apparently that was music to her ears,

Kelsey Alpaio:

oh my gosh. I love it. There's a fine line between coaching and bullying.

Crystal Richards:

Exactly. Exactly. So maybe next time I'll, but I was like, you are not taking this material on a cruise. That's just not fun. You are not gonna have fun and you're not gonna study.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Amazing. But yeah. So you've mentioned the PMBOK a couple times, and I know that there is a new edition, the seventh edition is out. I know the exam has changed a little bit as well over the last few years, as you mentioned, and it's including elements from beyond the PMBOK. So how can people make sure they are studying the right material and not wasting time on those outdated resources or outdated practice questions or practice exams?

Crystal Richards:

Start with the source pmi.org, and then go to their section that says certifications and go to the PMP, and that's where it will list their exam content outline. So the exam is no longer just based on one resource, which used to be the PMBOK guide. It's now based on several resources that are reflected in what we call the ECO, the exam content outline. And I would say it is a matter of, right now it's still accurate. It says, exam update since 2021. Here we are in 2025, so it's still true, still accurate. We are suspecting, since you mentioned the seventh edition, so I got wind of the eighth edition that is expected to come out and what we have, I think seen in some publications from, or correspondence from PMI that it'll probably come out in the fall of this year. And usually PMI cadence is that they will change into the next year. So if they're going to be aggressive, it might be that the new updated exam will be January 1st, 2026. Depending on how long it takes them to release the eighth edition. If they don't release the eighth edition until like December, then usually their cadence is that okay, we'll give people that first quarter of the year and then just expect like end of March, April that there's a new update to the exam. So they usually give people some time, sometimes a couple of months. In general, for those of you that are considering the PMP, it's always an end of year mad dash. Everyone's trying to meet their end of year goals, but it is going to the source and, people will ask, so I'm, you might like my presence and my personality and some of you're like, Uhuh, she's too much. And that's fine. Definitely go to people that you know who you trust. What was your process? Did you do a bootcamp? Tell me why you didn't do a bootcamp. And just know thyself. I know for me. I have purchased so many online courses and never finished them. So yes, they're budget friendly, but you have to think about what your goal is. Is it that I want this because job prospects say you need the PMP and there's someone willing to give me an offer right now if I have my PMP within 30 days, just do the bootcamp and then work to negotiate that bonus or in your salary that to cover the costs, if you will. If you are disciplined, you know that you can make the time, purchase a book, purchase an exam simulator, you should be good to go. But either way, certifications are just expensive anyway. Even if you were to go the self-paced route, whether it's a book or online, you still have to pay for the exam. Then you have to maintain the credential, and this is a case of every three years. So I, be, I forgot the saying, but what is it, like a pound and a flesh and all this other stuff. I, I really need to read books more, but I've been writing one, so.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Do you have time to read them if you're writing them?

Crystal Richards:

I know, I'm just like, but I really am, I'm trying to get better at that. But it's, if you're trying to like, be Pennywise end up being like you spend more money anyway, just really have a heart to heart with yourself about. Is this going to give me the biggest benefit, whether it is investing in a bootcamp where it's one and done and I, they give me a study plan, they give me resources, check out their websites, make sure that they're not some fly by night website, that they're reputable and that there's. References and, check them out on, Reddit is the underground, like they know it all right? They're like, they're truth bombs in there. And then go to LinkedIn or something to see if they're posting consistently and that this is their messaging and that they're not just like showing up and then just appearing and then showing up again. You want someone that's gonna be there for you if you decide to do the bootcamp route. Then as far as a book, I think we all know whatever your resources from a book, purchasing, check out the reviews, like just not just the stars. Check out the actual reviews of people 'cause people are honest. Some people are, hateful. Everyone that gives them a four star, five star, and then there's just the one, one star. But you can still be discerning about the right resources for you.

Kelsey Alpaio:

So a couple more questions here for you. So if someone is listening to all of this and being like, wow, that seems like a lot of work. Maybe this isn't worth the time and the money and the stress, what would you say to them? Is the PMP still worth it in 2025? Should they go for it?

Crystal Richards:

I would say yes. If you are seeing positions that really interest you or people who you admire and from their roles and their backgrounds, they have jobs that you're like, oh my gosh, I totally would love that. And that they have a PMP. I would say those are signals that yes, it probably is a credential that you may want to consider. Now I'm always a big advocate of getting your company to pay for it. I know that can be controversial because people are like, oh, if they pay for it, I've gotta stay there, longer in this market. Okay with that right now. And then, like I said, everything's negotiable. If you find an opportunity and they want you, it's like this is what I need to negotiate for me to jump ship. Like some type of sign on bonus that you will pay back the company for it. I think it's a win-win when your company pays for it or somebody pays for it. PMI has scholarships all the time. They have a foundation. There can be some opportunities and you don't always have to be in an academic setting. I just find that so valuable. I just had someone ask me the other day via LinkedIn, should they go after this change management credential or the PMP? Which is wild to me 'cause I was like, those are two totally different certifications. Like I'm a project management trainer and I said it just depends on what you see yourself from a career standpoint. I am a person, which what I'm getting ready to say may maybe controversial. I am a person of be strategic about your certification chase. And sometimes the signal is when you have this alphabet soup of all these credentials, it's like now they're too expensive. Or and it's expensive for you because you now have to maintain all of those credentials for the very point that I brought up earlier, you have to do a recertification and a recertification fee. And sometimes the courses will overlap and there's reciprocation. Like I'm a certified scrum master. The courses that I take with the Scrum Alliance, they translate over to PMI and in most cases, my PMI courses will translate in some cases. But that's where it's definitely PMI is super like giving. That's something that I do appreciate and I do recommend that anybody listening seriously consider being a member just because of the added perks and the ease that they make for you. And it's a, it costs less to recertify as a member to, but PMI is incentivize for you to maintain your credential. So once you have it, it is super easy to maintain it and they are very okay with you getting training. If you're a CISSP, you know the cybersecurity, if you have a health resource management certification, those are added benefits to you being an effective project manager because you need to know that to be able to walk the talk, especially if you're that subject matter expert along with managing those projects. So they're like, yeah you read books. Yeah. If they're leadership books, if they're, it's because you signed or check the box that you will be ethical. And so they're gonna believe you if you said, I read this book, or I read these series of books to help me be a better HR expert, along with being a better project manager. So that's, for those of you who are considering the PMP, to circle back to your original question, Kelsey. I think it's valuable if project management is the career field that you see. Everybody says that they're a project manager, so having the credentials is just a way for employers to just filter out people to say, okay, this person is truly serious and committed to the field, if you can get someone else to pay for it, I love other people's money, so.

Kelsey Alpaio:

Who doesn't?

Crystal Richards:

Exactly. I love that.

Kelsey Alpaio:

I guess follow up to that question, once you land one of these roles that like the PMP certification has helped you get. How often should you expect to actually use, what you learned while preparing for the exam in the role?

Crystal Richards:

Oh, that's a great question. So I got the credential when I was working on a federal contract, and my boss said to me, you need to have this credential to be listed as key personnel on this contract. Once you pass the exam, forget everything you learn. And I was like, what? And at the time I'm like, whatever. Okay. Now that I'm in it and teaching it, I see so much benefit because they're teaching you better practice. I see so much benefit in the things that you learn to be applied in the work. So I've worked with one project management organization and it was hilarious. There's a tool that we teach called the RACI chart, or RACI Matrix, which tells you who's responsible, who's accountable, who do you consult, and who is informed. And during this planning meeting of other certified project managers. They were like who's supposed to be doing this? I don't understand who's doing this, and I didn't wanna be that person, but in my head I was like, where is your RACI Matrix? Like where is this? So it is, if you decide to take my boss's advice and not use any of it, I think, that's a disservice for you and the credential choir'cause I think there are things that you can bring in. It's not required that you bring in everything. I think that's the rub for people is that there's so much stuff. Nobody has time to do all that. Even PMI says, don't nobody got time to do all that. It's called tailoring. Bring in the pieces that make sense given the environment and the context of your project work. And sometimes even, I'm careful about the use of the PMI language in the organization if they call it a certain form. I just wanna get clarification on, okay, they mean this. I'm not gonna go and say, oh, you mean the RACI chart? This is what it's called. That's not gonna win you friends. I'm gonna use the name that they call it, apply it from a project management and I think, the small wins can help you as well of I see a challenge with this. I'm gonna ease and use this tool and get them acclimated. And when they see that there's success, that there's better communication, hopefully better understanding about the project, I might start integrating another tool. So I think there is a huge benefit in really thinking about the tools and once again, since I'm here and I wrote a book like that is really what, that is really what I've put that focus on is that I was trying to strike that balance. But while you're in my pages, here's how it can add value to you. And I think that's something that's been missing in a lot of the books 'cause people are like, that's why you get into that. I'm gonna forget everything that I learned anyway because I don't see how it's applicable. And that was something that I really was adamant about bringing in, so.

Kelsey Alpaio:

That's awesome. We're just about out of time here, so can you leave us with one thing every listener can do to set themselves up for success with the PMP exam?

Crystal Richards:

PM yourself into that exam. It is honestly, set a date and then just all of our other projects and then work backwards and communicate with the people in your lives. So if your friends, your family. Tell them, Hey, for 30 days I'm gonna be a terror, but I promise there is going to be a absolutely your team members, your boss. Like Hey, for the next three Fridays, if you can get the whole Friday off, take it off. If they're like, we can't let you have a whole like ask and negotiate for half days. It is really project managing that experience and think, if you are more of a, an agile type of person, do it in sprints. And at the end of each week, your deliverable is a practice exam and you get to see your results. And now that is the feedback now of what you need to do into your next sprint of getting through this. And setting up the schedule. If you lightly use a project management tool now, like actually use Asana for what it can do for your monday.com and get the joy of seeing the unicorn or whatever flies across the screen that you are meeting your goal. Because I've had a ton of people say that this was their personal and professional development goal for years. And do yourself a favor and project manage yourself around passing this exam.

Kelsey Alpaio:

That's great. Crystal, thank you so much for spending time with me today.

Crystal Richards:

Absolutely. Thank you for inviting me.

Kelsey Alpaio:

That's it for today's Retro. Be sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode. And if you wanna keep the conversation going with a crew of a thousand plus project management pros who get it, come join us at thedpm.com/membership. Thanks for listening.