The PMI-RMP is a certification awarded to the project risk managers. This certificate is awarded after a certain training and an exam. The one who has it shows that he has the expert abilities to explain and apply the rules and tools of risk management. To prepare for its exam, one needs to follow some steps and also to study Chapter 11 of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), and some other sources.
The exam of PMI-RMP is a computer-based and a paper-based test based on the performer’s preference if you are a member of the PMI than you will have to pay $520 for a computer-based exam and $415 for a paper-based test. If you are not a member of PMI, than for a computer-based test, you will be asked to pay $670 for a computer-based test and $565 for a paper-based test. The certification test will have 170 multiple-choice questions, and you are required to answer them all in 3.5 hours. You have the option to appear in the test in one fee three times. You can read about all the details of the PMI-RMP exam in the handbook provided by the PMI organization.
Once you pass a PMI-RMP exam, you become a professional who can recognize and assess risks to a project, mitigate threats, and capitalize on opportunities. This certification will help you stand out to the employers, stakeholders, and peers. It will give a boost to your career and will make you a certified professional in the field.
The following are some tips that can help you pass a PMI-RMP exam. Go through all of these and see which of them you are already following and what are new to your exam preparation routine.
1. Begin with PMBOK Guide and also be ready to learn beyond it
Chapter 11 of the PMBOK Guide is linked with Project Risk Management and happens to be an excellent resource for all the exam contents. You will have to learn the Chapter 11 but also will have to move beyond it. You will have to know each of the processes, its inputs, tools and techniques, and the outputs. Other chapters of the PMBOK Guide will assist you in passing the PMI-RMP exam. Chapter 13, named Stakeholder Management, Chapter 9 named Communication Management, Chapter 10 named Human Resource Management, Chapter 8, named Quality Management, and Chapter 12, named Procurement Management, will be the best to study.
2. Understand the five domains of risk management
Your PMI-RMP exam will have 170 questions. Out of these, 150 are scored, and the rest are pre-test queries. The exam of PMI-RMP is divided into five domains of Risk Management, that are stated below:
- Risk Strategy and Planning: 19 to 20 percent. It involves tasks and processes needed for selecting and developing risk management processes and tools, producing the risk management plan, and devising procedures for assessing risk and updating the risk management plan. You must be required to be familiar with the parts of the risk management plan, especially its inputs.
- Stakeholder Engagement: 19-20 percent. Activities linked to getting the stakeholders and project team members on board with risk management. These are the important tasks to develop a team-wide and also an organization-wide commitment to the management of risk. You should be familiar with risk communication processes, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets, and risk tolerance evaluation.
- Risk Project Facilitation: 25-28 percent. This involves activities related to running the risk management strategy. It makes you familiar with qualitative and quantitative risk analysis tools and techniques, estimating probability and impact, and develop contingency reserves
- Risk Management and Reporting: 19-20 percent. Activities linked to assessing risk response against data gathered, updating stakeholders and the team on risks, and continuously improving risk management. Be introduced to the idea of gathering data and management techniques. It also introduces you to communication management.
- Perform Specialized Risk Analysis: 14-16 percent. It involves activities linked to advanced risk identification, analysis, and tools, and rules. It makes you familiar with statistics, especially regarding interpreting quantitative and qualitative data, and with building risk models.
3. Create and learn your “brain dump”
A brain dump should have all of the formulas, a rundown of items, and other ideas you struggle with. You should create the brain dump before the test and update it as you keep studying. This way, you can become familiar with all the concepts before the exam. Upon the arrival of the exam day, list all this information on your scrap paper, which will ensure that you don’t forget anything. During the exam, you can spare some time to remember the details of the brain dump you wrote on the scrap paper. Written notes can keep the information retained in your brain for longer times. The fact is that you should prepare these brain dumps in a way that you know helps you in remembering the details of the course in a better way.
4. You should know both quantitative and qualitative risk techniques
Quantitative risk techniques comprise of studying sensitive analysis, expected monetary value, and Monte Carlo simulation. It also includes integrated cost/schedule, multi-factor regression analysis, bowtie analysis. On the other hand, qualitative risk techniques include probability-impact analysis and planning of scenarios. You should perform an analysis of both threats and opportunities. Responding to threats can lower the chance of project failure. And having the skill to respond to opportunities can maximize the project’s value.
5. You should prepare for the scenario-based questions
You will find many scenarios-based questions in the PMP exam. You will be asked to pick the best action in several possibilities. To be able to answer these questions, it will be vital to draw on your project management experience. But keep in mind the recommendations of the PMBOK Guide about answering these questions. This approach will help you a lot in scenario-based questions rather than trying to learn every input, tool, and output. You may find samples of scenario-based questions for free on the web for the preparation of the PMI-RMP exam. These questions are built to assess the learning of every individual, and they will require an attentive and prepared mind to be solved and to pass the mock tests.
6. Get help from support groups and boot camps
PMP will be a difficult exam, and there are chances that you do not pass it in the first attempt, as many other candidates also don’t. You can find help by joining support groups or boot camps and make you’re passing out more possible. The PMI members can get the PMBOK Guide in digital format free of cost. There are several support groups on LinkedIn. They specialize in exam prep for both PMP and CAMP. Forming a study group with people you know personally are appearing in the PMI-RMP exam will be a better option to build accountability. Bootcamps can be expensive, but they provide you with PM techniques that will be quite valuable in your career apart from helping you get the PMI certificate. You may find groups on Facebook and LinkedIn to get the help you need.
7. Read additional sources other than the PMBOK Guide
You must be prepared to read other sources to pass the PMI-RMP exam. Your top priority must be the PMBOK Guide, but to cover the course completion, you will need additional sources. Following are some of the resources you can begin with:
- Practice Standard for Project Risk Management (PMI), which is a deeper level of insight to risk management processes.
- Study Guide for the PMI Risk Management Professional (RMP) Exam, 2nd edition by Abdulla J. Alkuwaiti
- Risk Management Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers plus PMI-RMP Exam Prep Guide by Rita Mulcahy
- PMI-RMP Exam Prep Success Series: Flashcard by Tony Johnson
8. Practice taking the exam
After studying the PMBOK Guide thoroughly, you should consider taking a practice exam to test how much of the concept you have absorbed. You may find practice exams n many books and even online. You will find a full mock exam which will give you a clear idea of what the real exam will be like. You will then be able to recognize the areas that need improvement. You should take different mock exams throughout your study, and if you keep getting marks above 85percent, then you must feel confident about your real exam. You can get a track of your score history and your weakest and strongest areas through appearing in Free PMI-RMP Exam Prep Practice Test. You will get 170 free questions per each test. You can take as many tests as you need to be well prepared for the actual exam. These practice tests will be able to give you an understanding of how well you can do in the actual exam.
9. Have an understanding of stakeholder analysis as it is linked to risk management
This includes having an understanding of each stakeholder’s attitude towards risk. Always remember that the risk attitude has three parts:
- Risk attitude, meaning what extent of risk one person agrees upon to have a certain reward
- Risk tolerance, meaning the extent of risk a person agrees to withstand
- Risk threshold, a point beyond which more risk is unacceptable
Knowing how a stakeholder approaches to risk, and also studying the history about the information to measure the organization’s risk approach. These both are the key points to establish an appropriate risk threshold for any project.
10. Apply the test-taking approach of giving the exam in rounds
Candidates give many other certification exams in rounds. Likewise, you should also appear in the PMI-RMP exam in many rounds. At first, go through all the questions and check which ones you are most comfortable with. Leave the rest for review. Now for the second step again, take a roundabout the questions you left for review. Answer the ones you can and leave the rest. For the next step, go through the questions you left and take 3 to 5 minutes to attempt them in an in-depth fashion. If some questions are left, then attempt them on guess-based strategy using your instincts. This approach is used to filter out the questions that need much of your time to be answered.
11. Relax the night before the exam
Relaxing will help you keep up with your brain skills. You will have to need a present mind while appearing in the PMI-RMP exam. This exam will cause you a lot of stress, so you should try to get a good amount of rest on the night before the exam. This will help you keep your brain active, and you will enter the exam hall with a fresh mind. Many times, candidates enter the exam with complete preparation but end up getting questions wrong just because of the mounting stress in their brains.
12. Don’t leave any questions unanswered
An unanswered or a blank question means that you have a 100 percent possibility of it being wrong. Using your instinct and attempting all questions that you don’t know the answer will still give you a possibility of the answer being right. You must know that an unanswered question won’t take you anywhere while answering it with your instinct might give you some chance of getting it right.
By keeping all of these tips in your preparation process will help you pass the PMI-RMP exam in the first attempt. Go through all of these points and follow them religiously. The more you pay your time and efforts into the preparation process, the higher you can score in the exam. And even if you don’t pass it, then don’t feel ashamed or hopeless. If you have the will to pass it, then you sure will do it with the right steps and learning techniques.
Conclusion
The PMI-RMP exam is known as the most prestigious certification in the world. Having it, you won’t only have new ways paved to your career success but will also be able to make you recognized as an expert Project Manager. You will also be globally recognized. This certificate will prove you more knowledgeable and expert as compared to your non-certified peers.
Many online training websites provide you with complete PMI-RMP exam preparation.
