[Caitrin]

For most people, the best way to get a better score on a test is to practice taking it. Most PMP prep services want you to pay a lot for this privilege, but not Head First! We just launched a free online exam -- a full 200-question simulation written by Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene. With a time limit and scoring just like the actul exam, it gives you the real PMP experience.

Not ready to sit down for the full four-hour test? You can also choose the number of questions to answer and get a little PMP practice under your belt. Come back as many times as you want for another random selection!

Check it out here!

Have questions or comments about the exam? Please post them here.

[shabeeraq]

Hi,
I took a 100 question exam and found very useful. In 2questions, I feel the answer shown is wrong. Please clarify.

1)You work for a consulting company and your team has implemented an approved scope change on your project. You need to inform your client that the change has been made. What's the best form of communication to use for this?
My answer was Informal written but the actual shown was Formal written and explains that "You should always use formal written communication when you are communicating with clients about changes in your project".

But, here yoe r just informing about an implimented change which has already been approved to the client. It need not be Formal written, informal written like an email notification would be enough, I belive. Pls comment.

2)Which enterprise environmental factor defines how work is assigned to people?
My answer was Work authorization system but it says RACI matrix. Surprisingly the explanation given was "The work authorization system is a part of your company's Enterprise Environmental Factors, and it's generally part of any change control system. It defines how work is assigned to people. If work needs to be approved by specific managers, the work authorization system will make sure that the right people are notified when a staff member's work assignments change." NOw confused on the actual answer. Is it RACI or work auth system?

[shabeeraq]

I am looking for an answer at least from moderator. Pls help.

[BarradahAh]

One suggestion, it will be very beneficial to everyone if the questions can be randomized and different every time you take the exam because the current one are the same as pdf file that is posted on the web site. One thing I realized that the questions are much easier than the real exam!

Thank you for the good job on the web site and on the book well done!

[NancyDrew1234]

Shabeeraq, upon quick review I'm not seeing the stress of "formal communication with customers" in the PMBOK like I expected, so I can understand the miss.

As you probably know, when in default write it down, but even more, in this situation you are communicating a change. At this point it's probably been documented as a requested change, reviewed by the Change Control Board, approved by that board, and signed (or documented in meeting minutes as "approved"). This formality should extend to communicating the change out to stakeholders, such as the customer - but that's just a rule of thumb on my part.

The truth is, most things sent to customers should be in the form of a formal communication. There's some flexibility to decide based on the situation of course, in real life, but it seems to me that the PMP Exam will not assume your customer is friendly and goes out for drinks with you every Friday. The customer is that for a product you are producing by way of a very large, complex project you are managing. I believe "customer" in the PMBOK and the PMP Exam also assumes that this person is outside the company, which also necessitates formal communication.

For what it's worth, here are some other situations from my pmp prep book that require Formal communication:

Formal-Written:
- Updating project management plans
- Trying to solve a complex problem
- Making changes to a contract
- Informing a team member of poor performance (second notice)
- Clarifying a work package
- Requesting additional resources

Formal-Verbal:
- Presentations to management

On your second question -- regarding whether the correct answer is work authorization or RACI matrix -- I agree with you, and think the answer was coded incorrectly on the exam key.

[NancyDrew1234]

Fwiw, at the bottom of page 473 in the Head First book, it states that "[a]ny time you need to get a message to a client or sponsor, you use formal communication." I just found this.

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[renato.preti]

very very nice simulator!! Thank you Head First guys!! I used this simulator to prepare myself to the PMP exame and it was just perfect!! My guess is if you can do 80%-85% in this exame so you can pass on the real PMP exam!

[NancyDrew1234]

One thing I realized that the questions are much easier than the real exam!

Thank you for this caution!

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[NancyDrew1234]

I got a 98% on a 200-question instance of the Head First exam. Granted, I recognized a couple of questions from prior takings. As suggested before, I think the Head First PMP book (and sample tests) are great primers for the PMBOK material but I would not rely 100% on these resources. You are better served, and probably set up better to pass the test, by studying multiple sources. The Head First PMP book does its job, that's for sure, but certain profiles/people might need more verbose, in-depth study depending on their experience and knowledge of the specific PMP knowledge areas.

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[dahaiou]

Big thanks for this excellent resource. I just did a quick (25 min) test of 50 questions to try it out and ended up at 78 %.

I do disagree strongly on one of the questions where I believe the answer given as correct to be in contradiction with best practices:

Q: A team member approaches you with a change that could cut your schedule down by a month. What is the first thing you should do?

Answer given as best: C.Figure out the impact on the scope of the work and the cost before you write up the change request.

As I understand it analysis of the impact of a change should be a required part of any change control procedure, and the procedure is only activated once a change request has been submitted.

This answer C. would have the project manager violating procedures by engaging in impact analysis, ie. performing one of the steps of the change control procedure without having a change request as input. The project manager is also unlikely to have the necessary technical knowledge to "figure out the impact" reliably without enlisting the help of the right expertise, which is another reason for invoking the relevant procedure.

PMBOK is rather vague on the change control procedure though, and it is hard to find support there for either this view, or the view expressed by alternative C. So I leave this comment here and look forward to any input on this.

[a.s.raghunath]

On click of start exam button, i am getting the javascript error and not able to do practice exam. Pls let me know how to go about it.

[The1don]

Current I believe the exam prep is down. I sent an email on Friday when I discovered it was down. I have not heard back. It is an awesome test prep when running. All I can suggest is keep trying back.

[jamesp]

Hi All,

I'm trying to run the PMP exam (1/26/09) 12:30 PST and its not working?

Can someone fix it? Thanks

[a.s.raghunath]

Alternative to the Simulation Exam, You can download the PDF and you can proceed. Definetly everybody needs to go through this exam before PMP exam.
Any way i have cleared the PMP exam today and got the the certificate from the center. But i want to know when we will receive E-Mail confirmation and also receive the certificates.

[jamesp]

Yes, this test and the book are great!!! That's why I bought the book and I'm keeping it on my desk for reference. However, my test is coming up and I need to practice as much as possible. I'm trying to accomplish at least 2 full (200 questions) tests. However, because it is not working I'm stuck ....

Oreilly, Headlabs, HELP!!!
;-)

[ccirino]

everytime i select the PMP practice test I get error on page and it does not start when I click on start now or after the time is elapsed. Any suggestion?

[jamesp]

It simply is not working -- for some reason!

I would suggest to contact them but I don't know if they can fix it?

[jamesp]

Yes, I agree with people on this list. The real PMP exam is tougher than what the book has. The book does an excellent job at describing the basics. However, for the PMP test you have to know the basic this book teaches plus your hard knowledge as a PM. I'm glad I cleared the test. For those aspiring to pass it, I would suggest learning from multiple resources and answering really tough questions whether you make them up yourself or whether you have an experience PM helping you with it.

thanks and good luck to all of you

[john68]

Free PMP samples by http://pmlearn.com , their exam software is close to real one , i used it and passed it

[chad_pmp]

There is another one I found from LeedExcel.com - used by green professionals and engineers/designers more for the LEED exam. But their free course includes a number of samples of which PMP is one. Once you register free, you can enroll for the course.

http://www.leedexcel.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=6

Chad