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In this issue... |
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This week let's talk about the PMP Exam Audit, shall we?
According to the PMI "all audits are random". That is all that we are told officially and any sort of "audit triggers" that you can imagine (i.e. profiling, application gaps, types of projects, types of education etc.) are pure speculation. And frankly... these kinds of speculations don't help anyone. You either will or you will not get audited. Period.
My recommendation is:
- Know that there is a 50/50 chance that you will get audited.
- Be truthful on your PMP application.
- Have everything you write in the application documented (i.e. training certificates, etc)
- Contact your former employers / supervisors / colleagues before you submit your application
That is the positive and proactive way to approach your PMP application.
In this week's newsletter our guest expert author Lisa Wagner will share MORE tips about how to deal with a PMP exam application audit.
Read on and enjoy!
Until Next Time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
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PMP Exam Product Spotlight
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The PMP Exam eFlashCards are portable flash cards and can be used on any device that can display .png or .jpg images. They are an easy-to-use tools that will place your head and shoulders above the others in the grueling marathon called the PMP Exam. Receive a total of 1,750 PMP Exam eFlashCards divided into 15 categories. The PMP Exam eFlashCards runs on your iPod, iPhone, BlackBerry, Treo, and most other smartphones. Your flash cards will help you focus your time on the important information required for the PMP Exam. There is no wasted effort.
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Dealing With a PMP Exam Application Audit |
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You have submitted your Project Management Professional (PMP) exam application. Now you are waiting for it to be approved or audited.
Any PMP exam application submitted can be audited. Applications are pulled randomly and it only has a small chance of happening. Anyway, this could happen at any time after it is submitted and before it is approved. You need to start off by filling out your PMP exam application properly and completely. When you turn it in to the Project Management Institute (PMI) they review it to make sure everything is in place. The PMI is in charge of every element of this difficult exam.
If your PMP exam application is approved an e-mail is sent to you indicating it has been reviewed and they are accepting your PMP examination fees. You will be given instructions pertaining to your next step. Once you have paid your fees you will receive a candidate ID through e-mail from the PMI. This will need to be used for you to schedule your exam. This includes a Prometric center near you where the exam will be conducted. After you request an exam date, location and time you will get an e-mail confirmation from the center if it is available.
If your PMP exam application does get pulled for an audit you need to know how to handle this situation. This happens by e-mail and you will not be given a candidate ID for the exam. Instead you will get information that you have been selected to be audited and they will give you information on how to proceed. It can make you nervous but if everything is in order then you will have no problem and passed to the next level. Otherwise, you could not pass the audit and have to apply again. If you have paid any fees at this point it will be refunded.
Throughout the audit process you will be asked to send in hard copies of important information including your education and training. It must be sent to the Project Management Institute through express courier service or regular mail. These will be verified once received. If everything is in order you will be given your candidate ID through e-mail. If it does not satisfy requirements then you must reapply. The entire audit process usually lasts around 10 days defending on how long it takes for information to be received.
You can know more about real life situations when it has happened to a multitude of people and know what they did. All of the information is available online so you know exactly what steps need to be taken and how to deal with the situation. Check out PMP forums, view the various providing information about the related issues of exam application, filing and audits. Some of the websites have free information while others have experts to answer your queries. If you have doubts or queries, it is good to ask and resolve them.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Wagner
Editor's note: There is one small but important factual error in this article: If you fail your audit, then you will not be allowed to re-apply for the PMP exam. In fact, failing an audit means that you will be banned for life to take any PMI certification. So make sure that the information you provide to PMI is accurate and truthful.
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PMP Exam Overview Part 2 of 4
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 This video provides an overview of the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. It's value to you and the process you will have to go through to become PMP certified. We look at the prerequisites for taking the exam, the cost and the fact that once passed you will have to continue to maintain your certification by gaining PDUs.
Watch this video we have prepared for you: http://bit.ly/kQhcSA
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Sample PMP Exam Question
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You are managing a construction project. You are currently estimating the duration of a very critical activity. You have gathered the following information from the experts:
Best case scenario: Activity can take 3 days to complete.
Worst case scenario: Activity may take up to 12 days to complete.
Expected scenario: On average it takes up to 6 days to complete such activities.
What will be standard deviation of the activity?
A. 1.25 days
B. 1.5 days
C. 1 day
D. Cannot be determined by the data given.
Hint: Use PERT to find the standard deviation.
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Exam Tip: Manage The Time During Your PMP Exam
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One important recommendation I have for those taking the PMP Exam is that to manage the time allotted to answer each question on the exam. Call it budgeting, call it time management, call it whatever you want; but do it! You need to walk into the examination room with a clear plan on how many questions you will answer per hour, when you plan on taking a break, and what you will do if time seems to be running out.
Remember that the exam is composed of 200 questions that you must answer within 4 hours. That's 1.2 minutes per question. Once you begin, the clock starts and will not stop even when you take a break. So plan your approach - say for the first 2 hours, answer all easy questions first and mark those difficult ones for later. Be sure to read all the questions carefully and understand them before you answer. Then take a 10 minute break before going back to the harder questions for the rest of the allotted time. By doing this you will be able to finish the whole exam on time.
But that's just one of many possible approaches and you should define your own. And by having a plan and implementing it you will relieve a lot of the exam pressure. So plan well, and budget your time wisely to succeed.
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Solution
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 Correct Answer: B
Reference: PMP Formula Study Guide at www.pmformulas.com
Explanation: Standard deviation formula for PERT (triangular
distribution) is (Pessimistic-Optimistic)/6. The standard deviation of
the given data, according to this formula, is 1.5 days. Hence choice B
is the correct answer.
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Lessons Learned from Tina Greenlee
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My quest for being a PMP started in 2009.I bought The PM Prepcast by Cornelius and Rita Mulcahy's book/CD to start with.But my preparation never got realised.
My PM in office never even let me breathe and sleep,forget study.Everything he used to delegate to me,himself only booze and smoke and used to make unrealistic commitments to customer with goldplating.I am referring about a PM in an top MNC,which bagged even lot of federal projects in USA.Dont know how these people survive and who feeds them to stay.It added more fatigue to me rather than skills.The sponsor was a coward and my esaclations never worked. 35 hours for the eligibility was never achieved.
The quest again started in Sep 2010 .I am with a new pm team now who are all good and there is better coordination.That old PM is history but had scars. My husband encouraged me a lot to start it agaiSo having a goal ready I pounced upon getting the 35hrs to immediately book the exam date. I enrolled in proxalt.com and it was so cheap and awesome.It does not make u prepare for the exam but lays the path to go there and guides u the way through its practice tests.
Read more..
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