PMP Exam Prep: Resources, Study Strategies and Exam Advice

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification can be a career game-changer. What’s the best way to study for the exam? How do you stay motivated through months of preparation? What’s the difference between taking the exam in-person or online? We discuss this with Kelly Heuer, PhD, CAPM, VP of learning at PMI in Brooklyn, New York, USA; Fernanda Sa, PMP, procurement coordinator at Meta Reality Labs via Mackin Talent in Bellevue, Washington, USA; and Prabhjeet Singh, PMP, project manager at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C. 

Key themes

01:09 Why earn the PMP certification? 

04:52 How to create a study plan for the PMP exam

09:07 Ways to stay motivated while studying for the PMP

12:01 How PMI can help you prepare for the PMP exam

17:03 Taking the PMP exam online or in-person

20:40 How the PMP certification affects project careers

23:41 Advice for the PMP certification exam

Transcript

Transcript

KELLY HEUER

Earning the certification can help you build confidence from the inside out. Engaging in that learning journey and getting that external validation can light this inner fire for you that helps you connect with others, that helps you step up and exert more leadership within complex projects—and embolden you appropriately to help deliver value on whatever your project is that you’re managing.  

STEVE HENDERSHOT

This is Projectified®. I’m Steve Hendershot. 

Earning a Project Management Professional, or PMP®, certification can be a transformative moment for your career. Today we’re talking with project professionals with PMPs about their best prep tips, including how to schedule study time around work and life. And we’ve got some insider insight from PMI. 

I’m joined by Fernanda Sa, procurement coordinator at Meta Reality Labs via Mackin Talent in Bellevue, Washington, in the United States; Prabhjeet Singh, project manager at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C.; and Kelly Heuer, vice president of learning at PMI, who’s based in Brooklyn, New York.

I want to start by asking each of you what inspired you to go for the PMP certification in the first place? And Prabhjeet, I want to start with you because you’re also a dentist, and there’s got to be a story there.

PRABHJEET SINGH

For me, as you rightly pointed out, the journey has been anything but linear. It’s been navigating my path from a dental chair to managing a complex AI-driven healthcare project.  

The motivation behind getting a PMP was to be able to bridge vision and execution. There were a lot of tasks that I had been doing while wearing a hat as a dentist or as a research assistant for my master’s that I didn’t know really existed within the realm of project management. And getting that PMP certification felt like understanding this universal language of strategic collaboration and getting things into execution and making an impact.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Great. Fernanda, how about you?

FERNANDA SA

I’ve always had a personal commitment to learn new techniques, and in supply chain [management], we are constantly leading side projects and looking for ways to optimize workflows. It’s just part of the job. I really believe that pursuing the certification gives professionals a unique opportunity to learn not just how to manage projects, but also how to lead teams effectively. And the journey to get the certification helped me develop the right mindset, combining best practice with technical expertise, and that’s what truly enhances my leadership and management skills.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Kelly, from your vantage at PMI, is there a normal candidate profile, or what’s the breadth of who comes to want to take this test and earn this certification?

KELLY HEUER

It is a great question, Steve. And one of the things I think we see more and more, not just in the field of project management—though we feel it very close to home—is non-linear career paths. Exactly like you’re describing, Prabhjeet.

Everything’s a project, right? So it’s so common—regardless of your job title, your prior professional experience—to have encountered a need for the type of tools and lessons learned and language, and even community of other people grappling with similar problems. That’s a part of most careers these days. So there is no singular candidate profile that we see.  

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

So as we take that “let’s go for it” moment and transition into how you then went for it, how did each of you think through, “Yeah, no. I’m going to go for it. I’m going to do it now.” 

FERNANDA SA

I was always passionate about project management, and at work, I created a PDP (personal development plan) with my employer, and it was the perfect timing. We created this PDP for me to get the certificate, and they supported [me] a lot with an hour every week that I could take during work hours to proceed with the certification. And also my husband also helped a lot with household stuff.

PRABHJEET SINGH

So it was slightly different for me, Steve. The short answer is, it was a required aspect of my job when I signed up as a project manager at MedStar Health. Getting a PMP was preferred within the first year, but I wouldn’t say that was the only driving factor for me making this commitment. Because it truly is a time commitment, and juggling both work and then studying. For me, the PMP specifically was an outlet to get transferable skill sets that cut across industries.  

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

What did the plan look like? How much time did you give yourselves before you decided to sit for examination? What kind of study prep carve out did you make? 

Kelly, I might even start with you. Is there a best practice? I mean, what do you see most frequently or what do you advise?

KELLY HEUER

So if I had to boil my advice down to three main topics, they would be, number one, consistency. Make a plan. Don’t try to cram it all in the night before. Cognitive science of learning shows us that what’s called interleaved practice—or focused study sessions spread out over time—are much better at helping you retain the information you’re trying to internalize and then apply it to new contexts like success on the certification.

Number two, active study. It feels very natural and comfortable to sit back and listen to lectures, right? I think we’ve all experienced a lot of that in our educational journeys. That’s what we call passive learning. In learning science, active learning is trickier, but it is also much more effective in getting you results. This might look like flashcards. It might look like getting quizzed, for example, by your husband. I don’t know if you dragooned your husband into that type of thing, Fernanda. It might be forming a study group with other peers. Anything that gets you to respond or react to the materials to produce answers is going to be much more effective than simply rereading or re-listening to content, though that can also be obviously an important part of your overall study plan.

Third, accountability. Whatever you can do to find accountability buddies or mechanisms, that is really critical in terms of driving the space to practice and the active learning that’s going to be so important to actually succeeding on the exam.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Okay, Fernanda, did you do all of those things?

FERNANDA SA

I set a strict deadline for myself because my mom was coming from Brazil to visit during last summer. So I scheduled the test for a week before her arrival. Honestly, my strategy was to start with videos and easier content to digest, like YouTube tutorials. Once I felt comfortable with the exam content at a high level, I moved on to more structured online courses. And after that, I used PMI Study Hall for all the simulation questions. I dedicated about two hours every day during the week to study for the exam, and at least eight hours on the weekends. I’d even book time at a local library to really focus on the practice simulators. That routine really helped me stay consistent and make steady progress. 

PRABHJEET SINGH

I made it a mini project for me, to make sure that I am able to get the PMP certification by the date that I was incentivized. Having that deliverable, so to say, ready, I was able to backtrack and build a plan. So I do go back to using the principles of project management to get a PMP certification and making sure I have the requirements. 

So I started off with a bootcamp, and again, I had the privilege of getting this bootcamp provided through my employer—one class a week, spread over six weeks. So that itself was a great starting point for me to get a lot of the information in a more concise manner, but also the opportunity of discussing it.

One thing I noticed, which was a challenge for me specifically, was balancing both your work as well as studying. But I guess I used something more of a systems approach, and making sure I’m able to cut down these empty spaces in a day and use them for more active learning. The PMI Study Hall that I downloaded and signed up for had games, and these games would fill up times that I would usually end up doom-scrolling on Instagram. But that would actually help me just match different terminologies to what they mean, different steps of workflows and project management documentations. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Did you waver at all at any point, either in terms of the ultimate goal—taking the test by the date you had set for yourself—or just the sort of soft wavering of finding your commitment to practice and study diminishing? And if either of those things happened, even for a microsecond, how did you dodge it or overcome it?

PRABHJEET SINGH

I can jump in and say guilty as charged. It wasn’t the first one, because I knew if I moved the final date, it’s a slippery slope. When I had friends visiting or during holidays, during events that were happening, it was easy to push this down the priority list just because other things keep happening. So yes, I did waver in terms of there were weeks where I put in maybe only a few hours of studying or solving some case-based exams, but then I made sure that I countered that with studying extra so that it balances out. But overall, I think it is okay to let yourself loose and enjoy things as they come, but don’t lose sight of the end goal is what I’ll say.

FERNANDA SA

I have to say that I stayed pretty consistent with the timeline because I think it was like a six-month period. So it was, honestly, plenty of time for me, especially because I work from home. During lunchtime, I would have a break or even using that one hour that my employer would give me, it was time enough. And having my personal goal of seeing my mom and not having to split studying and taking time with her, that also helped a lot to stay on track.

KELLY HEUER

I just love how these examples about how to sustain motivation when life happens, they actually point to two of the main ways we think about sustaining motivation from a learning and study point of view: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.  

So Prabhjeet, I’m so glad you enjoyed Study Hall, and particularly some of the gamified elements, which we designed, yes, to spark active practice and interleaved practice, where you can do that over time with those like time confetti bits you were calling out before. But also trying to make it fun. 

Pair that with extrinsic motivation, which I know both of you had in terms of setting objectives or having an incentive from your employer to complete. Fernanda, you have the ultimate extrinsic motivation here, right? To get to spend this quality time with your mother without the exam hanging over your head. That can create the kind of motivation that gets you through some of the really sticky spots, which happen to everyone, by the way. So it’s not about making sure you never flag or never waver. It’s just about picking up and then pushing forward to get that momentum going again.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

What does PMI offer to help with the studying process? 

KELLY HEUER

We offer a bunch of different tools because we want so many different folks to be able to be successful and join our community of almost 2 million overall active certification holders at PMI. We support an ecosystem of what we call Authorized Training Partners, who offer live training all around the world. We also offer an all included, self-paced digital on-demand course. 

We offer a variety of publications that talk about best practices within project management, within project leadership that can be really useful resources. And, of course, the resource we have talked about several times already—Study Hall really encodes a lot of the best practices for after you’ve done some foundational learning and are drilling for success. A lot of the principles I’ve been talking about—interleaved practice, active practice, spaced practice, accountability mechanisms—those are all baked into the way that tool is designed so that whatever your sprint lane is from where you are now to your exam date, you can pace yourself accordingly and, hopefully, find the right balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to get to success. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Was there a single challenge that you would call out as especially difficult? This could be a topic that just didn’t connect with you kind of from an academic perspective as much, or a moment in the process, but what was the most challenging element of getting to the finish line? 

FERNANDA SA

I’ll admit the hardest part for me was staying consistent with my study schedule. Two hours every evening after a long day at work and four hours on the weekend, it’s tough. I was really lucky to have my husband take on more of the household tasks so I could focus, and I would block time on my calendar and set my phone to Do Not Disturb to minimize distractions. And if for some reason I couldn’t hit my weekly goal during the week, I would make up over the weekend when I wasn’t working. And that flexibility and support made all the difference for me.

PRABHJEET SINGH

Definitely a challenging aspect of the preparation was adapting to the mindset of scenario-based questions. So I am somebody who likes conversations, debating. I would often find myself making arguments for more than one of the choices within the same question. I started going into a lot of YouTube videos. There is this one content creator, what he said—and what the Study Hall also teaches you—is that it’s not really a test of memory, but a test of mindset. And that was the key, was to understand why a certain answer is the best fit and not just remembering that one plus one is two. So I guess understanding the mindset or the rationale behind why a certain situation requires a specific response—and why is that the most appropriate in this situation—helped build that mindset. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Kelly, is there a particular aspect of the exam that tends to be the most daunting for lots of folks or that you see identified as a hurdle more commonly than other things?

KELLY HEUER

Those are two of the most representative answers, I think, to that question. Number one, Prabhjeet as you’re calling out, the PMP is designed exactly as you said, to be scenario driven, right? This is for experienced professionals. It is not, “Can you define a project? How is a project different than a program and a portfolio?” It is absolutely focused on your critical thinking, your collaboration skills. The assessment is based on presenting these representative scenarios, and then a number of often equally good-seeming answers, right? But there are ones that are better than others based on the collective consensus of the profession and hard-won experience that points you in one direction rather than the other. So that can be challenging, but it’s essential to the design of the assessment—that we actually are evaluating what we care about most, which is your skillset as an adaptable project professional focused on delivering value in complex and changing environments, right? 

And then number two, Fernanda, I mean, this is why I was saying before the goal is not to not get interrupted from your study plans, right? That’s going to happen because we are adults. We are caregivers. We are working professionals. We are between jobs. We are pivoting careers. Life will happen, and time is always the biggest barrier when we look at both professional development broadly and secondarily, [it] especially can be challenging when you are in the zone of trying to pace yourself toward a particular milestone, like sitting for a high-stakes exam.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Let’s pretend that the many months have happened, and you Study Hall-ed and prepared, and you are ready to go, and it’s showtime. You’ve got options. You could take the test online. You can take it in person. Kelly, what are the differences between those? What should go into one’s thought process about how and when and where to take the test?

KELLY HEUER

It all comes down to personal preference. What’s going to be most convenient for you where you’re based, what else you have going on in your life? So Fernanda, you were mentioning before moving to the library for study. It sounds like you might be a good candidate for an on-location testing experience, where you’re not going to have the same type of distractions you may have in a home environment or some other place. You are also, therefore, not as dependent on your individual technology set up if the Wi-Fi goes out in your area for the day you have the exam scheduled. So a lot of people opt for that, especially if they live relatively close to a testing center, and we have them all around the world for that more predictable, secure experience.

We also see a huge number of folks who prefer the convenience of being able to take the exam from the comfort of their home on their own computer. When I have done high-stakes assessments, that has always been my personal preference. You do have that dependency on technology, but you also have the ease and comfort of your own environment, which you can arrange to your preference. And we have very, very rigorous and secure monitoring and protocols in place to ensure that we have the same parameters for fair and even testing, regardless of your choice of environment for testing.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

So Fernanda, given all that, what went into your thought process? 

FERNANDA SA

Yeah, Kelly got [it] just right. I took the exam in person because I didn’t want to risk having any internet issues at home or running into problems with my laptop. And the experience was great. Parking was easy. The location was convenient, and the environment was quiet. Plus, there were enough breaks to recharge. Overall, honestly, I would definitely recommend going on-site for the exam.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Prabhjeet, how about you? How’d you play it?

PRABHJEET SINGH

So my preference usually is going on-site for all of the reasons that Fernanda and Kelly mentioned. However, I ended up taking the exam online at my house due to the number of dates that were available for the timeframe that I was looking at.

Having said that, I agree with Kelly that there was a rigorous process of making sure that the environment I’m in, in my own place, meets the standards and criteria to ensure a fair test. It was challenging not because of the Wi-Fi, but because of the technical requirements of your laptop. So again, getting back to the principles of project management, make sure that the requirements are clear. 

There are specific requirements from a technical standpoint that your laptop must meet. Make sure you are doing test runs of that software at least four to five days before. As a pro-tip to anybody who’s thinking of taking an online exam, it is super convenient, and you don’t need to drive anywhere. But make sure that you do your due diligence and check the equipment that you’ll be using on the day. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

I feel confident that you just saved at least one listener, viewer some stress and headache on the day of the exam. So thank you. 

PRABHJEET SINGH

I’m glad to be of help.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

What’s been the consequence or outcome of earning this certification for both of you? 

FERNANDA SA

I noticed some pretty immediate changes, not just in how I approach my work, but also in the way I interact with my team and stakeholders now. To begin with, I felt a boost in confidence. Those complex supply chain challenges seemed a little bit less intimidating because I had a stronger tool kit to tackle them. I started spotting inefficiencies much faster and could suggest practical solutions. Now I’m much more proactive about risk management and communication. I also find myself anticipating issues before they pop up, and I’m more comfortable collaborating across different departments.

I feel like the certification didn’t just give me the technical know-how. It shifted my mindset. I’m more strategic now, thinking about the bigger picture and how each project fits into overall supply chain and procurement goals. And honestly, that made my day-to-day work not only more streamlined, but a lot more rewarding. 

PRABHJEET SINGH

I would say I would echo with Fernanda on that. I was able to learn a lot of the terminologies that I did not know, again, having branched out from my career with the clinical background and then public health into more project management. I was able to understand those technical terms. That helped me standardize workflows. I was doing that already in my role, but this helped me give it more structure.

And I would go out on the limb and say, most PMs (project managers), we love organization and structure. So that was definitely a huge benefit, and I was able to implement that while I was preparing for my PMP. So it wasn’t something that the day I got my PMP certification, only then I started seeing improvement in the ways I’m managing a complex project, but it really was a phase of growth, wherein I was able to implement a lot of the tools and workflow strategies in my day-to-day projects.

Another aspect I feel which has helped me now after getting the PMP is being more proactive and being confident, as Fernanda mentioned. So the project that I manage for MedStar Health is a part of a large consortia across the country with over 30 to 35 PMs in the PMO, and I’ve been taking a more active role in identifying how to streamline and automate workflows for reporting. And also the important part of telling the story behind the data. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

What would you give—one, two, or three pieces of advice—to someone setting out on this journey, whether it relates to study habits, time management, work/life balance? 

PRABHJEET SINGH

The first would be mark and move. If you find that you’re being stuck at a question, you have doubts, flag it, but move on. Continue, because the PMP test is time-based, and having time for review is equally important. In the same breath, I am a huge supporter and proponent of using the elimination method, as we’ve discussed that the case-based approach can have more than one answer that might look right. But it’s very easy to then at least eliminate the other two, hypothetically, that aren’t the correct fit for this particular questions. So that saves time. And coming back to the point that you will need this time later on to review.

And the last, which I can swear by it, make sure that you do full simulation tests with the exact same situations and conditions that you would be on exam day. If the exam is structured with 60 questions and then a break, make sure you’re doing 60 questions and then a break. Make sure that you’re simulating it as closely as possible to the end day, because that is how you will know where your stamina is for taking this test. 

FERNANDA SA

If I could give just one piece of advice to someone starting their PMP journey, it would be embrace the process, not just the outcome. Because the PMP isn’t just about passing an exam. It’s about really understanding how to lead projects and people effectively. I’d say take the time to connect what you learn to real-world experiences. Don’t just memorize the terms or processes. Think about how they show up in your day-to-day work, especially if you are in a field like supply chain where things can get complex real fast.  

And lastly, don’t be afraid to reach out to others who’ve been through it. The community is super supportive, and you’ll pick up tips and encouragement that make the journey a lot less daunting. So stay curious, stay engaged, and remember, the learning doesn’t stop once you get certified. This is really just the beginning.

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Prabhjeet, Fernanda, Kelly, it’s been a great conversation. Fun one. Thanks very much for joining us.

KELLY HEUER

Thank you. 

PRABHJEET SINGH

Thank you so much, Steve. 

FERNANDA SA

Thank you. 

STEVE HENDERSHOT 

Thanks for joining us. Like the episode? Subscribe to Projectified on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a rating or review. Your feedback matters a lot—it helps us get the support we need to continue making this show. And be sure to visit us online at PMI.org/podcast, where you’ll find the full transcripts for episodes as well as links to related content, like useful tools and templates, the latest research reports, and more. See you next time!