Tips #25 :: The 35 Hour Mandatory Training

06 Sep Tips #25 :: The 35 Hour Mandatory Training

One of the eligibility criteria for the PMP® exam is that the PMP® certification aspirants must have attended a 35-hour training. Many PMP® Certification aspirants ask me if that training is sufficient.

What you have to realize is this is an exam for experienced professionals. Much of the basic subject matter you already know and are practicing. You have only to understand the connection between the industry standards, best practices, and your experience. Many of the best practices and standards you actually are aware of, the training helps the ideas streamline in your mind and align them with your experience so that you can get benefitted. This alignment will practically help you manage the projects more effectively. 

What the PMP® exam is trying to find out is how effectively you manage projects, solve issues and finally deliver the project. For answering these questions your experience needs to be very clearly aligned with the project management standards and best practices. The alignment of the standards and best practices is the role that the mandatory 35-hour training plays

Since many students do not realize the role of training, they think that the training is a mere formality. As a result, they do not take the training seriously. In fact, they try to attend the training with the lowest fees. What you should realize here is that your risk is not a few thousand rupees that you save on training by joining any training that doesn’t really help them have the clarity about .tpe. your actual risk is failing the examination if you do not understand what the examination is about. 

I’m definitely not saying that expensive means better training. The training that helps you pass the PMP® exam in the first attempt is the best training. And which training will do it? 

What To Look For In The 35 Hour Training?

This is very simple to answer. Look for:

1. How many students have passed from the training organization?
2. What is the name of the trainer? Many organizations say that you will get an experience rich and good trainer. What they conveniently forget is who that person is. What they actually do is, once they have somebooking, they set out to find a trainer. They may get a good trainer, they may not! Always ask for the trainer’s profile
3. Look for the feedback on training. That will give you a good idea about who he or she is. 
4. Now, look for the trainer’s experience. Unless the trainer has good experience and understanding of the best practices, standards and how they fit in in a project manager’s life, he will not be able to help you understand it!

What Is Your Role Once You Enroll?

So, once you enroll in a training program, what should you do? I can tell you an excellent trick here that will not only help you pass the PMP® exam, but it will help you pass on the fast track. Remember the following things word by word to pass the examination in 45 days or less!

1. DO NOT memorize anything. You DO NOT NEED to
2. Attend the training very very seriously. Be very attentive and participative. Your careful participation is going to help your mind absorb everything 
3. For every point that matters for the examination, the trainer should be giving practical project management experience that shows you how the standards and best practices align. Please make a note of those examples right then and there. Right then and there is very important. It is going to help you recollect the connection between project management problems or issues and the standards and best practices. No question in the PMP® exam is a pure theoretical question. The questions, as I have already said, will test your experience, attitude and understanding of the standard and best practices( I think, I can safely say that the PMP® exam tests a project manager’s wisdom!)
4. Use the training notes / books for writing down the examples. Do that while the trainer is explaining. This one single point is going to reduce your study time by 20% or more. Trust me. The students who do this invariably pass the examination in 6 weeks or less. This is my experience of 13 years 

Please start taking action while the training is on. The right plans to start the preparation are along with the training and NOT AFTER the training.