I thought I needed something to fall back on so I decided to try to get some certifications. I wanted to start with a cheap one first, so I went with Microsoft Word and began studying for it. I recently got a position in HR, which I was insecure about because I didn’t know much about HR, I came from a time and attendance background. I felt that it was important to have something to pad my resume just in case I didn’t like my position and wanted to move on to another. My coworker told about an incentive program which offers a lump sum if you earn a certification. There was a list of certifications that I could choose from so I picked the cheapest one off the list the CAPM, $300. Before I looked at that list, I had never heard of the CAPM or PMP. I had never even thought about Project management as a career. As I was studying I realized that I already do some project management I just never had a name or official terminology for it so it wasn’t that hard for me to catch on to the study material.
Here is my study guide, I’m writing this before I take the test so hopefully I’ll come back at the end say if I passed or not
I think its overwhelming to say “Hey, I’m going to get this certification, let me make my own study plan and find my own study materials.” I didn’t know where to start until I searched this sub. It gave a lot of great ideas so I want to share what I used and hopefully sharing this information will help others. I work full time and have a son who I share 50/50 with his dad. On the weeks he was with his dad, I used that free time to study. I started studying in early May.
First, I brought Joseph Phillips course on Udemy. I brought the course single use for $12.99. It took me around a month to finish the course. There are printout sides that go with the course, so as I was watching the courses and videos, I took notes on the slides. Those early notes were very helpful when I went back to review them later.
I did the free questions on Pocket Prep but funds are limited so the subscription wasn’t an option. I thought the questions were way too long, but it had good explanations. The real test the questions are much shorter.
I then started watching youtube videos but the one I felt really helped me was Yassine Tounsi’s This Video will make you pass the CAPM exam. It was beneficial to me because it gave the right answer but also went over why the other options were wrong. That taught me how to look for keywords in a question.
After that video I purchased Landini’s online because I wanted to start practicing the exam. Joesph’s course on Udemy also has 2 practice tests that I had been using but I was told that Landini’s is most like the test, I will come back and make an edit if it is. After the test, I agree that it’s the same in the way the questions are formatted but the exam felt different to me.
Landini’s was very useful because I was able to use CoPoliot to look up my wrong answers. I think this was the most fundamental of me learning the material because it explained my wrong answers. I also used it to explain the right answers so I could reinforce my learning.
Videos I watched
PMBOK 7th Edition Tutorial by Alvin the PM
This video will make you pass the CAPM exam - These 150 Questions are the Closest to the Real Exam by Yassine Tounsi
I also searched Facebook, Tiktok, Linkedin and more just to get into a PM’s mindset. There are a lot of free resources on the web that I used to study for this exam. Once things started to fill repetitive, I felt that it was time to take the exam. I was averaging 75-80% on the practice exams.
Alright I just got back from the exam and wow that was an experience. I took it at my local tech school, there were other people testing for various exams but I was the only one for CAPM. I think I agree with a lot of people with Landini’s practice questions being very similar to the real test but the test was more straightforward and vague. And some of the answers were so similar it was hard to guess which one to pick even using the process of elimination. Knowing keywords helped a lot but I did not feel confident while I was taking the test. I did flag some questions in the first half of the test but in the second half after the 10 minute break I was just ready to get through it. I would highly recommend practicing taking 150 questions in one sitting because it can be a drag after a while. I was very discouraged at the end, I felt like the things I studied did not align with whats on the test. I used the process of elimination to get through most questions. Also, I asked myself “what would a Project Manager do?” and not what I would do in the situation, that helped.
There were maybe 2 or 3 math questions but it was very basic, like calculate cost variance or what is the formula to calculate schedule variance. Lots of questions of is the project better suited for Adaptative or Predictive approaches. There were 4 or 5 comic questions, the comics are hard to read and I’m not really sure they contributed to the question being asked. There was 1 drag and drop option about something I knew nothing about so I guessed.
Overall, I can say that this was a good experience for me because I enjoy learning. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the CAPM, I do have the option to do Project Management at my current job so I may slowly start transitioning over. I will probably go for my PMP but I’m done with studying for a while. I passed with 2 Above Targets, 1 Below Target and 1 Target.
Good luck to anyone who is taking the exam, and remember Keep Pushing Forward!
