You’ve read PMP® Exam prep books, you took courses, you’ve studied hard, and you feel that you are ready to take the Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam. But understanding the topics isn’t the only thing you’ll need to make a success of the exam. Wouldn’t it be great to have the chance to take free PMP exam questions, so you really know what the exam is going to be like?
You can use a PMP Exam Simulator to give you an insight into what sort of questions you’ll face during the exam. Not sure which one to choose? Here are 10 things to look for when choosing which PMP exam simulator to use:
There are loads of reasons why practicing with a professional simulator gives you the advantage on your test day. Here are our top three benefits of using a PMP exam simulator.
Gain confidence with the user interface
You might have taken online quizzes before, but the PMI platform is not like anything most people have ever used. There are advanced features, navigation options and the timer to get used to. Our mock exam simulator gives you a realistic experience, as close to what you will see on your test day as possible.
Learn while you practice
Good simulators use more than one reference and provide detailed explanations for all the answers -- even the incorrect ones. You'll learn as you study by reviewing what you got wrong and why. In a study on mock exams, researchers found that students who did a period of study and took mock assessments did better than those who simply studied. That's all the proof we need that practice tests help you learn as well as assess what you know!
Practice pacing yourself
The examination is long, and if you are anything like most people, you won't have sat at your computer trying to focus on anything for that length of time before! Simulators help you experience the full duration so you can get comfortable with what it feels like to be committed to an online test for such a length of time.
What Features Make a Great PMP® Exam Simulator
Take your time to choose the best PMP simulator out there on the market for you. Choosing the right product could literally make or break your chances of exam success. And a poor product could be as bad as throwing money away: not only your investment in the system, but also in the fees from having to take the test again.
We encourage you to check out each product thoroughly, read reviews from past students and make an informed decision. Here are the 10 features we believe make the difference between a quality simulator and one that won't do the job.
1. Does it have a full exam mode?
Choose a simulator that offers a full exam mode. This will show you what the PMP exam is really like. With full exam mode, you can take a complete practice exam in your own home or office. It’s very realistic, and taking practice exams like this will help you understand what to expect on the day.
2. Does it have lots of questions?
You don’t want to be sitting at the computer after a day of studying and find that the same questions appear on the screen time and time again. Choose a PMP exam simulator that has lots of questions, preferably over 1,500. This will give you plenty of variety. Varied questions are more challenging, more interesting for you, and make your experience of the simulator more realistic.
3. Are the questions presented in the same proportion as in the exam?
Having lots of questions is only half the story: you also need to make sure that the questions presented on screen are shown in the same proportion as in the PMP® exam itself. For example, the PMP Examination Content Outline (which is the document the Project Management Institute (PMI)® uses to map their exam questions) assigns a very specific percentage of questions to each Domain. If your PMP exam simulator shows too few or too many questions from that Domain, you won’t get a realistic view of what you’ll be presented with on your exam day.
4. Is the vendor a trusted and experienced education provider?
One of the most important criteria is making sure you choose an exam simulator from a trusted and experienced education provider. Check how long the provider has been on the market and how many students used its simulator to prepare for the exam. For example, the PrepCast PM Exam Simulator has been on the market since 2008 and successfully helped nearly 60,000 students prepare for their exam. We pride ourselves on our pioneering education approach and best practices in simulator design, and our students love their results.
5. Who wrote the questions?
You want to know who is behind all these questions, don’t you? Look for a PMP exam simulator that has pmp exam questions developed by a group of PMP credential holders. That way, you know that behind the scenes the question authors have adapted a variety of styles, debated over the answers and the phrasing, and peer-reviewed each others’ work.
6. Is there a ‘mark for review’ feature?
In the real exam, you’ll see the ‘mark for review’ feature. This enables you to put a question to one side for the moment and return to it at the end. Don’t let a difficult PMP exam question take up all of your time. In the real exam, you’ll want to skip it and complete as many of the questions as possible, then go back to the ones you have marked for review. A good PMP exam simulator will let you do the same.
7. Does it have a learning mode?
There’s more to PMP exam preparation than just taking practice exams. You can also use a PMP exam simulator to help you learn. In learning mode, you can get hints for the questions, or you can see the answer to the question. This is useful if you want to consolidate what you have learned so far.
8. Does it explain why you got questions wrong?
You also need to know why you got questions wrong! It’s very frustrating to just see ‘Wrong’ on the screen without an explanation or a reference back to other materials so that you can revise your understanding of that concept. A good PMP exam simulator will explain the rationale and help you understand why you made a mistake.
9. Is it based on the most recent PMI® materials?
This is an obvious one: you need to choose a simulator to help with your PMP exam prep that is based on the most recent PMP Examination Content Outline, the latest edition of the A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), as well as other PMI reference materials. If it isn’t, you can’t guarantee the relevance of the questions or the accuracy of the answers.
10. Will it let you take the tests multiple times?
A great simulator won’t limit the number of times you can take the tests. Repeating the tests (especially if you got some of the answers wrong) is a good way to gain confidence and improve your exam results. Look for a PMP exam simulator that allows you to retake the tests as many times as you like.
Last but not least, your PMP exam simulator will not only help you prepare properly for the exam, but it will also help you approach the exam environment confidently. You’ll know what to expect, and prior knowledge is a great stress reliever! A great PMP simulator will give you an important edge in passing that all-important exam.
Watch this video for more tips:
Summary
Your PMP exam simulator will not only help you prepare properly for the exam, but it will also help you approach the exam environment confidently. You’ll know what to expect, and prior knowledge is a great stress reliever! A great PMP simulator will give you an important edge in passing that all-important exam and be on your way to becoming certified.
So what are you waiting for? Check out our free PMP exam simulator (which meets all of the criteria above, and more) and maximize your preparation time.
Training for Project Management Professional (PMP)®, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®, and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®