Free Mock Exam Quetions for the PMP and CAPM Exams

Free Mock Exam Quetions for the PMP and CAPM Exams

If you were good at taking tests in school, your pride will get knocked down a few notches when you take an exam for a Project Management Institute (PMI)* exam.

PMI does not make the exams easy. Besides the obvious challenge of thoroughly knowing A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)*, you need real-world experience and knowledge in quite a few areas not mentioned in the PMBOK Guide.

Project Managers (PMs) deal with ambiguity and original problems every day. Frequently:

• Inadequate information exists on which to base a decision.
• Superfluous information challenges the Project Manager to discern between relevant and irrelevant factors.
• One must select the "best" option rather than expecting a "right" option to present itself.
• Subjective factors cause even experienced and knowledgeable people to disagree over the "Best" option.

Accordingly, exam questions (or at least, mock exam questions) often require students to:

• Infer facts not stated.
• Pick the relevant factors out of an excess of information.
• Weigh answers that do not include the "right" answer.
• Read the minds of the test writers.

 

Preparing for the Impossible Exam

No, the exams are not really impossible, but you will gain a lot from taking as many as you can, after studying...

• The PMBOK Guide, 5th Edition
• A good supplemental PMP exam prep text such as one of those by Head First or Rita Mulcahey
• At least 30 Contact Hours of instruction

To get the most out of mock questions, keep your books handy. Look up the answers. Look up the wrong answers, too, because if you incorrectly chose X, you probably do not understand the situation in which X would have been the right answer.

Also, LinkedIn and Google Plus have groups where people love to discuss tough practice questions. Do you remember the essay questions your teachers used to assign? If you just look up an answer, you won't completely understand why it is right and you will probably forget it. When you take part in study forums and explain your answers, your comprehension jumps. The harder the question, the more important it is to do your homework.

Free PMP and CAPM Mock Exam Question Sources

Caution: Many web sources of free exam questions have outdated questions from the Fourth, and even from the Third editions of the PMBOK Guide. Make sure you do not waste your time learning obsolete material. You will get very frustrated with wrong answer keys and outdated terminology if you use the wrong question.

At this time, I only need to list one source: Cornelius Fitchner's PMP Exam Simulator- My Top Recommended Web Sites for Free PMP Exam Sample Questions page. Cornelius, one of the top PMP instructors on the web, lists his seven favorite sources of free mock exam questions. If you are not broke like I am, consider using his online training and exam materials. They are top notch and very reasonably priced.

(I receive no compensation for any endorsements. I'm willing to reconsider, though!)

If you would like to suggest other sources, please let us know in the comment box, below.

* A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), PMI, PMP, and CAPM are all protected registered trademarks or are copyright belonging to the Project Management Institute, Inc. And that is probably copyrighted or trademarked, too.

(c) Copyright 2014, Richard Wheeler