PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Exam Preparation

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The PMI-ACP® examination is a serious and difficult element of earning the PMI-ACP® credential. The 120 question, proctored exam must be completed within three hours.

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PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Exam Preparation

The PMI-ACP® examination is a serious and difficult element of earning the PMI-ACP® credential. The 120 question, proctored exam must be completed within three hours.

When to Use PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Exam Preparation

When your application is approved, you will receive an eligibility letter. This letter provides instructions for scheduling the exam. You have one year to take the exam. 

Instructions

Refer to the PMI-ACP® Handbook for details about how the exam is administered.

The exam is a 120 question multiple choice exam. The questions are hard. You must be familiar with the domains found in the PMI-ACP® Exam Content Outline, which is available through PMI.  You may be an expert at Agile practices in your organization, but you need to be an expert in all aspects of the domain. The Agile methodology your business practices may not emphasize some of the domains. I have worked with enough organizations to know that everyone does project management differently. However, the exam will only test one way, the PMI-ACP® way.

The questions are spread across the seven domains and the associated tools and techniques. The breakdown of questions is:

The percentage of correct questions needed to pass can vary based upon which questions you get correct or incorrect. On every exam there are 20 questions that are being evaluated to determine if they should be added to the test bank. Those questions will not count towards whether you achieve a passing score. Your results will be immediately available to you with a printout of the areas where you scored well and the areas where you did not.

Testing is conducted at Prometric testing centers which are located in cities around the world.

When you get your eligibility letter you can go online to their site and select a location and date for your exam. If you do not live within 300 km (186.5 miles) of a Prometric site, PMI will make a provision for you to take the test on paper. 

The test is administered in English.

When arriving at the testing facility you will need to provide a government issued identification that is in English and that includes your picture and signature. Arrive about 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the test. This allows time to get settled so you are ready as soon as the test starts. You have 3 hours to complete the test, and the computer will cut you off at the end of the 3 hours. There are no scheduled breaks during the test. You may not bring the following items into the room where you will be taking the test: food, beverages, calculators, cell phones, pagers, tape recorders, sweaters, coats, book bags, luggage, eye glass cases, children, visitors, dictionaries, books, or any other personal item. You are allowed to have a pencil and blank note paper. 

Hints and Tips

  • A technique that I recommend is that you arrive at the testing center well before the start time.  Review one last time the areas that you think might be the most difficult for you. Then enter the test room and before you start the test, write down on your blank paper the items that you just reviewed.  It might be formulas, definitions, or diagrams. With those ready for reference during the test, initiate the exam at your test station.

PMI-ACP is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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  • 00:03 Hey this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 It's now time to talk about actually taking
  • 00:08 the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Exam.
  • 00:11 >> The test is 120 multiple choice questions and last 3 hours.
  • 00:16 Your score will be based on how you answer 100 of the questions.
  • 00:20 The other 20 questions are being tried out to determine if they should be added
  • 00:23 to the test bank.
  • 00:24 Unfortunately, you won't know which of the questions counts, and which ones do not.
  • 00:29 There are seven domains covered by the exam.
  • 00:32 These domains are discussed in the PMIs,
  • 00:35 Agile Certified Practitioner Exam Content Outline,
  • 00:38 which can be downloaded from the PMI website.
  • 00:40 More about that in another session.
  • 00:43 A break out in the percentage of questions in each of the domains
  • 00:46 is shown on this table.
  • 00:47 On the exam, 16% of the questions will cover Agile principles and mindset.
  • 00:51 20% are for a value driven delivery.
  • 00:54 17% concerns stakeholder engagement.
  • 00:56 16% covered team performance.
  • 00:58 12% focus on adaptive planning.
  • 01:01 10% address problem detection and resolution,
  • 01:04 and the final 9% of the questions are based upon continuous improvement.
  • 01:09 Let's look at the exam administration.
  • 01:12 The exam is a computer-based exam.
  • 01:14 You can get a paper based exam under special conditions and
  • 01:17 these are talked about in the PMI website and the handbook.
  • 01:20 The testing is normally conducted at Prometric test center.
  • 01:23 If there's not a center within 300 kilometers or under 186 miles of where you
  • 01:27 live, well that's one of the conditions in which you can get a paper-based exam.
  • 01:32 The exam is administered in English.
  • 01:34 Special accommodations can be made for persons with disabilities.
  • 01:38 Once again, go to the handbook or
  • 01:39 website to get more details on which disabilities and what accommodations.
  • 01:44 Results of the exam are available as soon as you complete the exam,
  • 01:47 if you took the computer based test.
  • 01:50 Once you submit your answers it will be scored immediately.
  • 01:54 Now with respect to scheduling, when you receive your eligibility letter following
  • 01:58 the application process, you will have one year to schedule an exam.
  • 02:02 Quite frankly, I recommend that you do a focus study session for
  • 02:05 a few days, and then take the exam immediately following that time.
  • 02:09 The exam is 3-hour test.
  • 02:11 There are no scheduled breaks.
  • 02:13 So if you have to take a break, the clock is still running.
  • 02:16 I suggest you use the toilet before you start.
  • 02:19 Once you've received your eligibility notification from PMI,
  • 02:22 you can go to the Prometric website and schedule your exam.
  • 02:26 Pick a location and time that is convenient for you.
  • 02:29 If you need to cancel or reschedule that exam, do it at least 48 hours in advance,
  • 02:34 or otherwise you forfeit the testing fee.
  • 02:37 The PMP handbook covers what to do in case an emergency comes up.
  • 02:41 So what happens when we're on site?
  • 02:44 Well, when you arrive at the exam center on the day of the test,
  • 02:47 you must prove you are who you say you are.
  • 02:49 You will need to show a government-issued ID, such as a passport or
  • 02:52 driver's license that has English characters on it and
  • 02:56 that includes your photograph and your signature.
  • 03:00 I recommend that you arrive 30 minutes ahead of scheduled start time.
  • 03:03 That allows you time to get checked in, use the toilet facilities and
  • 03:06 clear your head so that you're ready to go when the exam starts.
  • 03:10 Three hours is not very much time for 120 minute exam.
  • 03:14 That means that you only have about one and a half minutes for each question.
  • 03:18 Some of those questions will probably take longer
  • 03:20 as you read through the scenario and consider the options.
  • 03:24 FInally, there's somethings that prohibited from the test area.
  • 03:27 You can bring them with you while travelling, but
  • 03:29 you cannot take them into the exam room where you will be taking the test.
  • 03:33 The test is a closed book test.
  • 03:35 All questions must be answer from memory or from manual calculations that you do
  • 03:40 in the room on scratch paper that is provided for you.
  • 03:43 The items you can not have in the test room include, any food and beverages.
  • 03:47 No calculators or cell phones to help you with the math.
  • 03:50 No communication devices such as a cell phone and pager.
  • 03:54 Also, no bulky clothes or bags that could hide a book or
  • 03:57 cheat sheet, such as sweaters, coats, book bags or luggage.
  • 04:01 Nor can you talk with others such as children and visitors.
  • 04:05 A few other items that are prohibited are eyeglass cases, dictionaries and
  • 04:09 tape recorders.
  • 04:10 Let me suggest a trick to help you on the day of the exam.
  • 04:13 If you have an area that you've been studying but are still a little vague or
  • 04:16 fuzzy, when you get to the exam center spend your last five
  • 04:20 minutes before entering the exam room studying that topic.
  • 04:24 Then go into the test room and using your scratch paper write down the terms,
  • 04:28 principles or whatever you were studying so you can refer to that
  • 04:31 on your scratch paper during the exam and help you with those questions.
  • 04:38 >> The exam is difficult but it's not scary.
  • 04:41 Prepare for it, get there in plenty of time, then relax and answer the questions.

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PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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