The PMBOK approach for the PMP exam.

Understanding the PMBOK approach for the PMP exam.

Samuel Berroa. April 4, 2018

This article is intended for those who are trying to get the PMPº certification and have some doubts on how to approach it and help to demystify a little the process which can take considerable amount of time and effort , It is good to have a clear understanding of the route at the moment that you begin with this preparation.

Recently I got my PMP certification and I would like to share somethings that I learned in the journey to get there.

Since the moment you made the decision to get this certification your levels of anxiety rise, because there is too many misperception involving PMP® Exam, the one I heard the most was,   *PMP® Exam is not base on the PMBOK guide* WHAAAT ?? , so why do we have this guide in first place ??? 

And I would say that the answer to that is yes, the exam is not solely base on the PMBOK guide, but if you don't understand, eat it, digest and process it, it'll be very difficult to succeed on getting you certification.

Since the Guide is a high level description and explanations of how PMI has describes the best practices and processes to successfully carry out a project, that is the key point, the guide was created by PMI, but it was not created from scratch, it uses a lot of research and scientific developments that exist previous to the creation of the PMBOK guide and many others research that has been done by PMI itself.

What happens when you are reading the guide and you find those subjects that, due to space the PMBOK does not develop widely, you have to go to the source to broaden your knowledge of the specific topic, it can be about quality, human resources, stakeholder management or costs.

That is the point which create lack of understanding or confusion. Its not that the PMBOK is not the base for the PMP exam, the main point is that you have to look on other resources outside of the guide to have a better judgment and comprehension at the moment facing situational questions in the exam.

But at the end of the day the BASE is the PMBOK,  this is where everything starts and from where we must start our studies and always have it as a primary reference, at the same time with the Role Delineation Study (RDS).

Afterwards you can find another books to fill that gap or broaden your understanding of the framework that involve the PMBOK, PMI website itself have a wide source of information.  

Then for the practice of the exam itself you have to find a book or resource you feel confortable with, there is hundreds of computer base mock,  which has the same structure of the questions and time that you will find in the real exam.

So in conclusion in my opinion,  the PMBOK , is THE GUIDE and BASE from which the PMP exam is base on, it should be your header book.