According to PMI, the tally of PMP Certification holders is more than 1,200,000 across the globe. If this article drew your attention, you are also gearing up for your PMP certification exam to join this league of certified professionals. Amongst other certifications, the PMP Texas project management certification is among the most prestigious credentials.
But what do you need to crack the PMP Texas exam in 2023? We say it’s a combination of grit, dedication, industry knowledge, and a good studying routine. In addition, it is necessary to communicate with fellow aspirants to stay on top of any updates from PMI. For example, The PMP Exam Pattern gets updated from time to time. Instead of panicking about your preparation, you can seek your peers’ assistance and keep preparing for your PMP Texas exam.
So, for PMP Texas, here are some study tips and tricks that every aspirant should know. This guide covers it all, with a bonus section for D-day tips!
What Is PMP?
The Project Management Professional (PMP) is a globally renowned certification in the field of project management. This certification follows stringent rules and regulations before, during, and post-completion of the exam. This is why it is one of the most challenging project management certification exams to crack in Texas. The PMP certification addresses 12 project management principles and 8 project performance domains per the Project management body of Knowledge (PMBoK), 7th edition. These domains and principles span all the nooks of project management so that you can effectively apply the learned methodologies to your real-life projects. The certification addresses predictive, hybrid, and agile methods to meet the project needs successfully. It takes into heed the stakeholder’s interests as well as the structure and environment of the team to produce the required project deliverables.
To pursue PMP certification in Texas, your goal could be a salary increment, a promotion, or a better portfolio as a project manager. But, one factor in your mindset to crack the PMP should be to be able to lead projects to success with the skills you gain in your PMP Training. At ProThoughts, our goal is to help you succeed with your projects.
We covered the gist of what the PMP is. But how does one get to attempt the PMP certification exam in Texas? The Project Management Institute (PMI) has mapped out specific eligibility criteria you must fulfill. Let’s take a look at that in the coming section.
What are the PMP Certification requirements in Texas?
To appear for the PMP Exam, the candidates should have a 4-year degree and three years of experience leading projects in the past eight years. Alternatively, the candidates must have a high school diploma and five years of project management experience in the past eight years. In addition to either of these cases, you must also produce a 35-contact hours certificate by undergoing PMP Training in Texas. One of PMI’s Authorized training partners or ATPs can only produce this certificate. You can also complete the CAPM certification course to avoid needing the 35-contact hour certificate. The point, as mentioned earlier, will involve you preparing for two examinations instead of one. Hence, at ProThoughts Solutions, we recommend getting PMP certification with 35 hours of project management course training in Texas. If you are still confused about if you meet the eligibility criteria, our PMP eligibility calculator can do the job for you.
The institute that you choose for PMP training will determine, for the most part, how well you’ll fare in the PMP Texas exam. Being project management experts for almost a decade, in this guide, we will give you some additional tips and tricks for you to prepare yourself for your PMP certification Texas.
Want to know more about the application process for PMP Texas? Our previous article on The Complete Guide To PMP Certification In the USA will answer all your questions!
How To Prep Yourself For PMP Texas
#1. Create A Concrete Studying Strategy For PMP Texas.
Forming a good study strategy is the first and foremost vital step to cracking the PMP exam. The exam is tedious and requires discipline for the aspirant to be able to crack it. According to studies, you retain the concepts learned first and last the most effective while studying. You can use this to your advantage by studying in short intervals separated by breaks. The Pomodoro technique of studying can come in handy for you. According to this technique, for every 25 minutes of work, you will have a 5-minute break. After four consecutive sessions, you can take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.
So for your PMP Certification Texas, you can dedicate the first four sessions to studying and then to practice questions from the learned chapters after the long break. This way, you have a systematic study strategy in place, which ensures a balance of learning and solving problems. This was only an example; you can use any other technique, such as the Pareto or 80/20 technique, time blocking technique, etc., that works for you. Its purpose is to have a set framework for you to work on without any room for ambiguity. This is because most aspirants get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of syllabus to cover and end up not solving enough questions and problems and spend their time memorizing concepts instead of learning them.
#2. Be well-versed with all the concepts in the PMBoK.
Once you have a study strategy, you must have a roadmap. Without a roadmap, you will be aimlessly droning on concepts that will lead you nowhere. Following a standard book comes in handy in times like these. The PMBOK, or the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, is a book of prime importance to crack the PMP. While earlier PMBOK versions focused on knowledge areas, the 7th edition has replaced the traditional knowledge areas with performance domains. The book highlights all the elements essential to a project’s success: Team, Stakeholders, Life cycle, Planning, Uncertainty and ambiguity, Delivery, Performance, and Project work.
You can create milestones based on PMBoK domains according to a timeline that works for you. Set a target of completing one domain per week, along with practice questions and case studies, and follow through with the targets religiously. You can also chart your PMP Certification Texas syllabus and study the most important topics first that have higher weightage in the examination while following through with those that have historically lesser chances of appearing in the examination. For this, you must devote some time, research, and communicate with fellow aspirants to solidify your studying roadmap.
Ensure that you go through all topics with focus and concentration. The PMP Texas exam tests you based on how well you apply the concepts in the PMBoK in real projects. Go through each chapter in the PMBoK once and map the key facts before taking a break and rereading it for the second time. On your second read, make more detailed notes from your understanding of the subject. On your third read, fill in any gaps in the context. This method will make sure that you understand all the pointers, and you can successfully move on to the practice questions next.
#3. Join PMP Training Bootcamps For 35 PDUs.
To meet the eligibility criteria for the PMP certification in Texas, you must produce a 35-contact hours certificate. You can earn this certificate by signing up for a training workshop or bootcamp. At ProThoughts, we provide online PMP training so that the candidates can learn from any corner of the world at their own convenience. You can enroll in the PMP certification training by ProThoughts, earn the 35 PDUs or Professional Development Units, and qualify for PMP Texas. These training bootcamps cover all you need to know to crack the PMP exam.
As a bonus, ProThoughts provides the latest edition of Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep Book for free for all the enrolling candidates. The book is written in a lucid and easy-to-understand manner, for you to understand all the PMP concepts in an instant. Using this book, you can get all your fundamentals cleared. On thoroughly reading this PMP Exam Prep Book combined with PMBOK, you can rest assured that you will clear your PMP Texas examination.
#4. Understand The Topics Covered In Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep Book.
Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep is a global favorite regarding PMP exam preparation. Most readers find the concepts easy to understand because of the friendly demeanor in which the tough subjects are laid out. The late author wrote the book from her vast experience in project management in a way for beginners to understand the fundamentals well, skipping the tough jargon and complex terminologies. The book is the number one prep book for PMP, and at ProThoughts, we are proud to be the exclusive distributor of the book and all other corresponding learning resources.
#5. Become a PMI Member And Interact with Project Managers.
Interacting with fellow project managers is a crucial step in your PMP Training journey because if you interact with your peers, only then will you remain updated with the latest exam pattern and questions, as well as stay motivated throughout the studying process. If you’re someone who has been working as a project manager for a while now, chances are that your studying skills might be a little rusty. You can gear up by taking an active part in discussion forums and interacting with people who are working toward the same goal. The PMP isn’t a competitive exam, so you can learn from one another and crack the exam through group learning sessions.
#6. Attempt PMP Sample Questions For PMP Certification Texas.
Attempting sample questions and practice tests is a tip for the PMP exam that we can’t stress enough on. The sample questions in the latest editions of Rita Mulcahy’s PMP exam prep as well as the PMBoK will provide a thorough coverage of the PMP exam in Texas. You can attempt the practice questions after the three-time note-taking method we mentioned above. This will ensure that you retain the maximum amount of information while also knowing and gaining insight into your weaker points to work on as per your set study routine for PMP Texas. You can also practice the sample questions with a fellow aspirant and work on your mistakes and contextual errors together.
#7. Get The Feel Of The Exam With PMP Exam Simulators.
Once you are done studying the PMBOK Guide and Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep Book, your next task will be to dive into practice questions. The exam will include the following:
- Multiple-choice questions.
- Complex situation questions.
- Short situational questions.
- Formula-based questions.
- Knowledge-based questions.
- Interpretive questions
The PMP exam simulator will help you understand the pressure and time constraints of the exam and help you manage your time better. At ProThoughts, we provide 5+ PMP Mock exams with results so that you can better understand your standing in the forthcoming exam. You can contact our team of consultants and gain exclusive access to our ProMock platform for the same.
#8. Remember Important Concepts Using Flashcards And Mind Maps.
Studies show that using mind maps and flashcards supports in-depth learning of concepts. But, since you are already making notes, as we discussed in points one and two, you can leave the rest to us! At ProThoughts, we provide you with flashcards and mind maps for your PMP Exam preparation. The globally renowned Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam prep book contains these materials. We also provide a book of Slides based on the PMBoK so that you retain all the important pointers better. Using these flashcards and mind maps will help you easily revisit the concepts before the exam rather than reading whole blocks of text. PMP Texas is all about efficiency. Thus, so should your PMP exam preparation process!
#9. Use Your Industry Knowledge To The Fullest For PMP Texas.
The toughest part of the PMP are the situational questions that demand your industry knowledge be tested. The exam is very detail-oriented and demands your best problem-solving skills. Consider each problem in the context of the “ideal” project environment as it is defined in PMBOK Guide: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Your ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information will be put to the test by the situational questions. Since they are usually lengthy, it is crucial to carefully identify the pertinent information and omit the irrelevant information before responding to each question.
The test sometimes has questions where you are asked to point out which processes belong in a specific knowledge area or in which processes the inputs, techniques, tools, or outputs belong. The other interpretational questions in the PMP certification Texas exam will gauge your ability to analyze a condition or a situation.
#10. Clear Your Doubts As You Go.
As you study for your PMP Exam, it is only natural that some doubts and queries might arise since the syllabus isn’t an easy one. In this case, the best thing to do is clear your doubts as you go. Although there are online forums available for PMP guidance, wouldn’t you rather prefer to have a dedicated instructor for your doubts? We think so too! This is why at ProThoughts, we give you post-training guidance so that when you study at your own pace after your workshop is complete, you can still clear your doubts from our experts. The instructors at ProThoughts have 15+ years of experience and remain available to clear your doubts and queries. If you have any doubts regarding the exam framework or its technical aspects, our team of consultants remains available to guide you through it.
Tips For The PMP Texas Exam Day
#1. Keep Your Nerves In Check.
The exam environment can be stressful and take a toll on you. This can affect your PMP test, and you might make errors in solving the questions. But relax and take it easy. Be confident about your preparation, and do not panic before or during the exam. If you follow this guide thoroughly, you can be 100% sure to crack your PMP exam on your first try.
#2. Pay Attention To The Initial Introduction To The PMP Texas Exam Interface.
While starting your test, there is an initial demo of the exam interface and how everything shown on the screen works. Although you might have attempted many simulated PMP mock tests, the actual exam environment can have a few changes. So, carefully pay attention to the demo so that the test goes smoothly for you without any technical hindrances.
#3. Visit Your PMP Texas Pearson VUE Testing Center Beforehand.
If you’re giving your PMP Texas exam from a Pearson VUE testing center, do visit the place beforehand. You should do this to avoid any confusion on the exam day. This will also help calm your nerves and decrease any pre-exam anxiety. You can also familiarize yourself with the vicinity of the exam if permitted by the authorities. On the day of the exam, make sure you reach early to the exam center, as per your previous visit details.
#4. Keep Your Exam Area Ready For The Proctored Test.
If you have opted for an online proctored test, do keep your desk exam ready before the exam. Make sure that your computer and other accessories are in working condition and won’t be a cause of concern during the examination. Also, you must ensure that there are no disturbances in your exam-taking area. The online proctor could flag your exam attempt if you seem distracted or engaging in malpractice. The PMI policy for misconduct is very stringent, and you could be debarred from taking the exam.
#5. Use Time Management Strategies.
The PMP Texas exam is divided into three parts with two 10-minute breaks. Survey all the questions beforehand because as you take the exam. You’ll see some tough questions cluttered with information that doesn’t contribute directly to the question. You will take time to sift through the fluff and find the questions. Save time for questions like this, and proceed with formula-based questions quickly. At the end of the set of 60 questions, you will get to review your answers. You can make any necessary changes in that time.
#6. Do Not Leave Any Questions Unanswered.
The PMP certification in Texas does not have any negative marking on the questions. So we recommend not leaving any questions unanswered on the test. Use logic to solve tough problems. In case of time constraints in the 200-question test, use your project management knowledge and instincts to answer the questions.
#7. Make A Habit Of Reviewing Your Answers Properly.
In the 230-minute exam, you get two 10-minute breaks. Each comes after completing a section in the exam. Before these breaks, you will be allowed to review all your answers to the questions from the previous sections. Take at least 25 minutes to review all the questions. Also, spend some time on the questions you left previously unanswered.
Conclusion
We hope these tips and tricks help you out in your PMP exam prep. If you can’t follow through with all the ten steps listed, start with at least a few. Work on them gradually, and we are sure you will get there eventually. PMP Texas is a difficult exam. But, with enough dedication to exam preparation and the right PMP training, you can clear it in a breeze. Have any further questions? Our team of consultants and ProThoughts will be happy to assist you. Until then, good luck with your PMP exam prep!
