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Reply: If you failed exam 1, Exam 2 and 3 get harder. what should you do?

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Topic History of : If you failed exam 1, Exam 2 and 3 get harder. what should you do?

Max. showing the last 6 posts - (Last post first)
4 years 3 months ago #19307

Tracy Shagnea, PMP

Tracy Shagnea, PMP's Avatar

I second Harry's comments. I have never seen evidence presented that the exam is systematically harder in subsequent attempts for those that have a previous fail.

It is true, in my opinion, that the PMP is a challenging certification and that for the vast majority of aspirants it will require a serious and concerted effort to achieve. That is why it is respected and, thus, valuable to have if you're a PM.

There are many reasons one might not pass, but I don't think that is reason to panic or become depressed (yeah - you're going to be bummed out if you're a normal person but it's really not a cause for freaking out).

Review your efforts, follow the link that Elizabeth already posted, and get back up on the horse. At that point, the "failed" exam and what you learn from it is just part of the path to ultimately getting the certification. The other day I heard someone make a comment that strikes me as applicable to this situation:

"A setback can be a setup for a comeback!"

You can do this!

Best of luck,
Tracy
4 years 3 months ago #19306

Harry Elston

Harry Elston's Avatar

Ahmed et al.:

I do not believe that the exam "gets harder" with every attempt. That is not now professional certification exams work at all. There is a pool of questions, probably numbering about 2000-5000 in the PMI test bank. These questions are vetted before they are allowed in the test bank and then constantly throughout the exam. For example, if a high number of people choose "A" on Test Bank Question 2045 and PMI believes the answer to be "B", the test writers will re-evaluate that question and make an assessment on the wording and what is leading so many people to choose the "incorrect" answer.

When you log on for your "actual exam" from PMI, an exam is created that consists of 175 pool questions and 25 base question that every test taker gets so that PMI can monitor statistics and refine the exam. Every test taker will get a unique randomly generated exam. This is also the reason why organizations offering professional certifications do not advertise what the "pass" score for an exam is: Your particular pass score will be generated based on the actual questions you get. It will be somewhere in a defined "target" range based on individual question statistics refined over time.

The "trick," if there is one, is to carefully read the question and discern what the question is really asking. The "incorrect" answers to each question will generally be an answer to a similar process or something containing a made-up phrase that sounds like a plausible process. With that, you absolutely must know the PMI PMP/PMBOK vocabulary and phraseology with near 100% accuracy. It's been emphasized in a number of places around the board and in other programs: The PMP exam is not about how YOU would answer the question or solve the situation; it's how PMI solves the situation.

Finally, don't take it personally. The PMP exam is not about your ability to successfully do project management. It is about your ability to answer situational questions regarding processes in the PMBOK Guide.

Good luck!
4 years 3 months ago #19302

Elizabeth Harrin

Elizabeth Harrin's Avatar

Our guidance on how to recover after a failed exam is here: pmhelpdesk.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles...-Failed-My-PMP-Exam-
4 years 3 months ago #19301

Ahmed Alshahrani

Ahmed Alshahrani's Avatar

The bad news is that the exam gets harder thanks to PMI SME's who make sure your second and third attempt even more frustrating. Your fail % goes up.

So,
do you mean that the Exam Questions going to be harder because it is the 2nd or 3rd times..? so in their system showing that you are getting harder Qs just because you fail at the first time ???
so i would go register with new account ??
4 years 3 months ago #19288

Martin Okumu, PMP

Martin Okumu, PMP's Avatar

So after many hours of study and mind games (aspirants call them trick questions :)) you pass on your first attempt #1, good for you congrats but if you fail, you have some good and bad news and a lot of soul
searching to do and plenty of encouraging words because we want you to succeed.
The good news is that you will know outright what to expect next time, what material to read, and some lessons learned and a renewed focus.
The bad news is that the exam gets harder thanks to PMI SME's who make sure your second and third attempt even more frustrating. Your fail % goes up... some people may disagree, but read many of the first time aspirants that passed the exam, they will tell you the first exam was easier than a lot of the prep casts.
If you failed, you have a lot of soul searching to do; blame, time wasted etc...So what should you do on your second attempt? don't sweat the fail, same day or next day find something different that you did not use on your first attempt or change your strategy. If you read RITA and failed read something else. Also stop wasting time reading all the online nonsense, or taking clear direct choice type of questions or prep casts that keep telling you that you are ready for the exam. Better yet find a COACH! or seek help from PMP professionals. Yes its gonna cost more and you gonna have to invest time. If you choose to wait months or a year- you will lose momentum and
start from ground zero hopefully you pass your first renewed 3 attempts. It's up you! how bad do you want it? until next time - good luck.

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