Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about PMP® certification or our training programs? Our FAQ page provides clear answers to the most common inquiries about our courses, the certification process, and more.

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  • Vision:
    • Be an indispensable resource / contributor to our customers success
  • Mission Statement
    • Assure excellence through our learning platform that support our project management candidates
  • Value Proposition
    • Provide you innovative and high-quality training and education, at a value price
  • How Measured
    • Customer satisfaction survey

PM-ProWORLD is committed to providing superior quality products and services to our customers by:

  • Consistently exceeding our customer’s expectations of service quality and performance
  • On time delivery of our products and services to meet our customer requirements
  • Employ qualified company personnel, who receive applicable training to maintain or enhance their professional qualifications

Quality Objectives

  • Overall Customer Satisfaction will meet or exceed 90% on a quarterly basis
  • All calls and inquiries responded to within a 24 – 48-hour period
  • All company personnel will meet or exceed job description qualifications and will receive an annual performance evaluation

First, when you enroll in our course, you get Jim Santoni, instructor and founder of PM-ProWORLD. Since 2012, Jim has coached & trained over 2,500 professionals in the USA and UAE to acquire the knowledge, wisdom, and confidence to pass the PMP® Exam. Jim will fine tune your exam taking strategy and technique to maximize your performance on the PMP exam.

Secondly, the “real” PMP questions were developed by hundreds of volunteers over several years. New questions are added and old ones phased out due to the changing professional environment. There are literally thousands and thousands of questions in the PMI/PMP question pool. PM-ProWORLD has licensed exam questions from multiple sources, providing you the same opportunity you will experience in the PMP exam.

Third, after the completion of the training class, you get 90 days of one-on-one mentoring / telephone consultation.

Lastly, PM-ProWORLD terms and conditions are consumer friendly and flexible. No onerous fees for canceling or rescheduling your class seat less than a week prior to class.

Simple answer is ‘no’. While the PMP exam is primarily based upon the PMBOK Guide and PMP Exam Content Outline, there are questions on the PMP exam that aren’t covered in the PMBOK Guide nor the PMP Exam Content Outline. These questions address the logical application of the PMP principles and the performance of the project manager in situations requiring good judgment. The combination of project management experience, 35 contact hours of PM education, the PMBOK Guide, a good PMP exam prep guide, and free resources available on the web is what you need to pass the PMP exam.

NO. While advertising a “99% pass rate” on the first attempt for a PMP exam might seem contradictory to offering a “pass guarantee,” the reality is that such claims are often marketing tactics, and a guarantee is used to build trust and mitigate potential risk for students by providing a safety net even if the advertised pass rate is high. Passing the PMP exam still requires significant individual effort and preparation, and no course can guarantee 100% success for every student.
Depending upon the individuals project management knowledge, and understanding the fundamental ideas behind calculations, terminology, or procedures, along with buying into the PM-ProWORLD’s training process, each individual has a probability of ~85-90% of passing the PMP Exam on the first attempt.

In our opinion, it’s an attempt to make you think it’s easy. Nothing worthwhile is easy. What
most people find out after signing up for one of those test the day after classes is that they don’t
qualify to take the test the day after the class anyway. Ask yourself this:

  1. Do you already have 35 contact training hours? If no, you can’t submit your application until you do, so if the class is what will give you the 35 hours, there is NO WAY you could submit the application, get approved and schedule your test the day after the class.
  2. Do you know for certain you will be ready for the test the day after the class? Remember, everyone learns differently and at different speeds.
  3. Does the test center have capacity the day after a class? The truth is most test centers are full a few weeks in advance.
  4. Is it really in your best interest to take the test the day after the class? If you take a few extra days to study, it will likely benefit you. Remember, the test is situational, what is the best thing to do in this case or that case. You can’t simply treat this material like a math test to be successful.

NO. The goal of any product we have is for it to be COMPLETE AND WHOLE. When signing up for our course you get our complete study system. That includes a boot camp manual, quick reference guides, cross reference guide, and hundreds and hundreds of sample questions.

YES. You will receive an email 7 days prior to the PMP prep course with permission and instructions on how to access the PM-ProWORLD pre-course material which you should review. Content includes the following: (~90 PowerPoint slides)

Module 1: OVERVIEW

  • What to expect from this PMP® Exam Prep Course (aka Boot Camp)
  • Learning Styles
  • PMP® application process
  • Qualifying for the PMP® exam
  • Exam Dynamics / PMI® CCR Program / PMI® Talent Triangle
  • Types of Exam Questions / Exam Info – Statistics / When I ready to sit for the exam?
  • Computer Based Model Question Example
  • Preparing for Exam Day
  • Intro to PMBOK® Guide 
  • Process Group Interactivity
  • Exam Question Analysis / Math Question Summary
  • YOUR ‘Success’ Exam Strategy (high level; recommended)
  • Tips for Answering Exam Questions
  • 4 Tools to Assist you in your Exam
  • Project Management Framework – What is it?
  • Project Management Group and Knowledge Area Mapping (Matrix49)
  • Knowledge Area and Process Changes – Sixth Edition vs. Seventh Edition

Module 2: FOUNDATIONAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS

  • Project Management Framework – What is it
  • PMBOK® Guide – Introduction
  • Process Group Interactivity
  • Project Management Groups and Knowledge Areas
  • Base Assumptions for PMP® Exam
  • PMI® Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (use common sense) 
  • Project Financial Assumption for Training Class
  • What is a Project? Deliverables? Why do a project?
  • What is an operation?
  • The Triple Constraint / Enhanced Triple Constraint
  • Project Management Life Cycles (IPECC)
  • Project Management Process Interactions
  • Product Life Cycle
  • Project Life Cycles & Development Life Cycles
  • 5 Levels of Agile Planning
  • Agile Release Planning
  • Knowledge Areas Identified and Definitions
  • Projects – Programs – Portfolios Overview
  • Types of Organization Structure (2 pages)
  • Roles / Responsibilities (2 pages)
  • Leadership vs. Management
  • Leadership Styles vs. PM’s Forms of Power
  • Summary of Responsibilities 
  • OPA’s & EEF’s (Input and Output)
  • Project Governance
  • TQM (Total Quality Management)
  • DIKW Pyramid / Work Performance Info-Data-Reports
  • PMIS Model
  • Configuration Management Definitions
  • Stakeholders – Relationship to Project
  • Common Synonyms / Acronyms  ( Know WHERE & WHO you are in the question! ) 

We highly recommend YOU invest a few hours reading and reviewing this information. Any familiarity with the material before the class helps, but it’s not a showstopper. This material lays the foundation for the balance of the class. Agile makes up ~50% of the exam, and we will be spending at minimum 1.5 days on it. 

Project Management Professional (PMP®) is an internationally recognized professional designation offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) for individuals in the project management domain. The credential recognizes demonstrated knowledge and skill in leading and directing project teams and in delivering project results within the constraints of scope, schedule, budget and resources. According to the PMI, there are more than 1,500,000 holders of the internationally recognized PMP credential across 214 territories worldwide.

The PMP® certification is the “Gold” standard for a project management professional. Learning and leveraging PMI best practices will assist you in generating more successful program outcomes and bolster workforce development. The PMP® certification can also assist you in obtaining the job you are seeking or create a new career path, while potentially earning more money.

The PMP® exam is primarily based, but not limited to the PMI® Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Different sources estimate that ~75% of the exam is based upon PMBOK 6&7, and the PMI Agile Practice Guide; however, it is evident that the PMP exam is much more than just the PMBOK. The exam tests your knowledge and skills in carrying out project management based upon best practices. PM-ProWORLD will engage other resources to ensure you are well prepared to address these situational questions.

You can sign up for the course up until the day before class begins. However, we have limited seating capacity and many of our courses fill up well in advance. We therefore advise students to register at least a few weeks before the course begins.

The short answer is… You may think you will never be ready and hesitate to schedule your exam. Following the guidelines provided in the preparatory class, and taking advantage of the online resources available will enable you to pass the exam.

Immediately after the exam prep class, you will feel exhausted. Give yourself a break and relax for ~48 hours. Ideally, you should schedule your exam within two weeks of the last day of class; realizing the longer you wait, the more challenging it will be to recall content covered in class. Follow the exam strategy provided in the PM-ProWORLD exam prep class. Memorize the Process Group and Knowledge Area Mapping, run-through ~500+ practice questions outside of class and achieve on average ~70% score, and you are good to go.

Yes. If you are audited in the PMP Exam application process, you only need the completion certification as documentation for the course.

To be eligible for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Have a bachelor’s degree or four-year degree 
  • Have 36 months of experience leading projects 
  • Complete 35 hours of project management education or training, or earn CAPM certification 

Here’s an overview of what’s on the PMP certification test as of October 2024.

  • 180 questions total
  • 230 minutes (3 hours 50 minutes) to complete
  • Two 10-minute breaks
  • A combination of multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank questions

The questions fall into three domains:

  • People: 42% of exam
    • Composing a little less than half of the exam, the people section includes questions on leading and building teams, managing conflict, supporting virtual teams, mentoring, and other related topics.
  • Process: 50% of exam
    • The process section tests your knowledge on the methodology of seeing a project through to completion. You might be asked about managing budgets and other resources, scheduling, handling changes in the project, and determining the best methodologies for the project.
  • Business environment: 8% of exam
    • The business environment portion of the exam deals broadly with the more business-minded aspects you’ll have to tackle as a project manager, like compliance, delivering value, and supporting organizational change.

Roughly half of the content represents predictive project management approaches, while the other half represents Agile or hybrid approaches.

Our published price for a person attending a public pre-exam prep class can be found by selecting an upcoming class. Corporate discounts are also available. Navigate to our corporate

The price covers the instructor fee, workbooks/course materials (hard copy or electronic transfer), sample exam questions, quick reference handouts, simulation exams, 60 days of e-mentoring / telephone consultation with your instructor and where applicable, the medium of internet meeting capabilities such as “Go-to-Meeting”. Bottled water, coffee and snacks will be provided at public course events.

The price of this course DOES NOT include the following:

  • PMI membership fees
  • PMP exam fees
  • Travel, hotel charges, parking fees, meals, or any other fees in any way or from any other source.

The cost to take the exam is $544 total ($159 to join PMI and $425 for the exam fees). You can pay for the exam without joining PMI, at a cost of $675. Since joining PMI saves you $51 on exam fees and you also receive PMI member benefits, we recommend becoming a PMI member before applying to take the exam.

Currently in 2025, PM-ProWORLD only offers in-person training in the Northern Virginia / Maryland / DC area. If you would like PM-ProWORLD to offer a class in your city, and you have at least 5 individuals, please call us to discuss.

PM-ProWORLD will consider live virtual classes in the future.

In most cases, in-person training is considered better than virtual training because it provides more direct interaction with the instructor, allows for better hands-on learning, fosters stronger relationships with peers, and enables immediate feedback in a more focused environment; however, virtual training offers greater flexibility and can be more cost-effective for geographically dispersed learners.

Yes. If you have 10 or more employees seeking PMP training, we will deliver the course at your facility (or another location in your area, if you prefer). The Group Training can be scheduled during any four consecutive days of your choosing (including weekends). Group / Corporate discounts are available.

  • Professional project management can ensure that organizations of all sizes reap the benefits of a well-controlled, project-based approach to business. Some of these benefits are listed below:
  • Develop a full understanding of the project life cycle. Understand how to develop goals, objectives and benefits before committing significant resources. This ensures that only the projects which are expected to provide benefits exceeding the investment of time and money are initiated.
  • Ensure that the project proceeds effectively through all the essential phases, from project initiation through to project completion. This makes sure the project is properly reviewed by the stakeholders at key stages including initiation and final acceptance.
  • Provide a rigorous approach to defining a realistic, but still challenging, schedule and budget for completion of the project.
  • Establish a structured approach for clearly defining roles and responsibilities for the delivery of the project and its work packages. This is critical to building organizational commitment to the project objectives.
  • Implement a systematic process to manage changes to the project scope or objectives. This minimizes the risks associated with change to the end-product or to the benefits for the sponsors.
  • Improved Efficiency Enabling a project manager to accurately determine the requirements of a project and to assess the available resources and make best use of those resources. This ensures the scope, schedule and budget are accurately set from the start.
  • Enhanced Confidence Learning about how to identify and manage risks in projects, and how to manage them helps build a project manager’s confidence and ability to manage projects effectively.
  • Consistent Delivery Confident and efficient project managers will consistently and reliably deliver successful projects by avoiding wasted time, effort and money.
  • Customer Satisfaction Effective use of project management tools and techniques results in timely project deliverables, within budget. This is the primary criteria used to ensure customer satisfaction.
  • A Fresh Perspective Experienced project managers can improve their PM knowledge with new techniques but can also simply learn to approach a familiar scenario with a new perspective.
  • Behavioral Changes Project Management is not just about experience, tools and techniques but also learning how to influence others and resolve conflict.

First, join PMI. Second, download an electronic version of The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 7) and Agile Practice Guide. Review at your leisure. Five to seven days prior to class start, you will receive a PowerPoint file (~60 pages). Spend at least 75-90 minutes reviewing this material. Consider this a prerequisite. We will summarize the first 2 hours of the first day of class identifying ‘points of emphasis’.

Depending upon your work and personal schedule, It is in your best interest to schedule your PMP exam within 30-45 days of finishing the PMP exam prep course. Individual preparation time depends upon your project management knowledge, work experience, education, test-taking ability, and dedication. Expect to invest ~10-20+ hours of personal effort above and beyond classroom training hours. Most of your time outside of class should be spent on answering/reviewing practice questions.

The PMP Examination Application Process could be confusing to students, thus it is recommended that you engage a PM-ProWORLD Instructor to assist you. The application is submitted online through PMI’s Online Certification System. Please review additional details about the application process via our “How to Guide” that is available for download from the website.

Your PMP certification is good for three (3) years. Like all professional organizations, PMI requires you to stay current in your skills and new development within the profession. Per PMI, “To stay certified, you’ll need to participate in professional development activities, and earn and report 60 professional development units (PDUs)” during each three-year renewal period for you to maintain your credential.

Yes, the PMP exam can be taken in multiple languages other than English, including Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and several others, depending on your location and availability; however, the default language is English, and you can usually access the original English version of the questions during the exam if needed.

According to most information available, PMI typically takes around 5 to 10 business days to review a PMP application once it is submitted; you can expect a response within this timeframe regarding your application status. Once the application and fee have been processed, PMI will electronically send the Examination Scheduling Instructions, confirming that the applicant is eligible to take the exam.

Eligibility is good for one year from the day that the application was approved. The exam may be taken three times within the eligibility period should applicants not pass on the first attempt.

Yes, the Project Management Institute (PMI) offers exam accommodations for people with disabilities:

  • Accommodations
    • PMI provides individualized accommodations to help people with disabilities access the test, such as extra time, a separate testing room, or a reader.
  • Requesting accommodations
    • To request accommodations, you can:
      • Complete the initial steps of the application process
      • Fill out the exam accommodation request form
      • Submit the form to PMI before scheduling your exam
  • Evidence
    • You’ll need to provide evidence of a disability that substantially limits a major life activity, such as seeing, hearing, reading, learning, or concentrating. We recommend a doctor’s letter addressed to PMI stating disability and specific accommodations required.
  • Accessibility
    • Most center-based testing sites are wheelchair accessible, so you don’t need to request accommodations if that’s all you need. However, you can contact PMI to confirm that your preferred test center is accessible. The purpose of exam accommodations is to help people with disabilities access the test, not to improve their performance or help them complete the test.

Once eligible to take the exam, the examination scheduling instructions received from PMI will instruct the applicant to contact Pearson Vue. The menu allows you to select the nearest testing location chosen from available dates and times to take the exam. When deciding your schedule, give adequate consideration to your preferred time of day and traffic patterns on the way to the testing facility.
You can now take your PMP exam online via a secure platform using proven exam delivery technology with Pearson VUE. The online exam is exactly the same as the version administered at a test center. You are required to be video monitored by a live proctor during your exam and you will need to schedule it ahead of time. Virtual exam appointments are offered 24/7 so you should be able to find a time that is convenient for your schedule.

Both the online proctored testing and center-based testing option for the PMP exam have multiple 10 min breaks. You do not need to take the entire break but are more than welcome to. The exam is divided into three parts and your break will start once you review and submit each 60-question part of the exam. Please note, that you will NOT be able to review questions from the first part of the exam after you submit it and start your break.

If you reschedule or cancel your exam within 30 days of your scheduled appointment, you will be charged a fee of US$70. The fee will be charged when you go online to Pearson VUE’s website to reschedule or cancel your exam within the 30-day period.

According to most PMP exam experts, the most challenging topics on the PMP exam are often considered to be situational questions that require applying project management principles to complex, real-world scenarios, which often involve intricate decision-making based on the PMBOK guide, particularly when dealing with multiple seemingly viable answer choices across different project management domains like scope, schedule, cost, and risk.

According to the PMI’s official content outline, approximately 50% of the PMP exam questions are related to Agile or hybrid project management approaches, meaning a significant portion of the exam focuses on Agile concepts.
Key points to remember:

PMI does NOT publish the pass rate and statistics. However, if you can consistently score 65%+ on average between all your quizzes and practices exams, you will be in good shape to pass the PMP Exam on the first try.

A common misconception about the exam is that all questions have equal weightage. The questions in the PMP exam have different weights depending on their difficulty. A tough question has higher weightage than an easy one. The PMP exam pass rate depends on how many tough questions you answer. Each candidate will have a different passing score because:

  • Each individual candidate gets a different set of questions. So, each question will have a different passing score.
  • The difficulty level is different for each candidate. The passing score is also dependent on the difficulty.
  • Easier questions have a higher passing score, whereas difficult questions have a lower passing score.

Candidates who do not pass the exam may retake the exam two more times within one year of application approval. If candidates are not able to pass the PMP certification exam within their one-year eligibility period, they must wait one year from the date of the last attempt to reapply for the PMP credential. Applicants who chose to apply for a different PMI credential, such as the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), may do so at any time.

PM-ProWORLD is committed to helping you pass the PMP Certification exam the first time. If you take one of our public PMP Certification Prep classes and don’t pass the exam, or if you were unable to take the exam after attending a class for some reason and need to retake the class as a refresher, you may register for an upcoming public PMP Certification Prep class for free.

Candidates retaking the class must bring their original course materials. If you have lost your course materials, or if the course version has changed since you last took the class, you can purchase new course materials for $100.

Some common reasons people fail the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam include:

  • Insufficient preparation: Some candidates underestimate the exam’s content and rely too much on their work experience.
  • Lack of basic project management knowledge: Candidates may not understand the fundamental concepts of project management.
  • Poor test-taking skills: Candidates may not take enough practice tests or may not develop good test-taking skills.
  • Test anxiety: Candidates may struggle to focus and relax during the exam.
  • Studying the wrong materials: Candidates may study materials that don’t align with the exam.

Other reasons people fail the PMP exam include:

  • Taking the exam too early
  • Not enrolling in a PMP Certification Course
  • Skipping or skimming exam questions
  • Getting stuck on one question
  • Not knowing the difference between tools, techniques, plans, and documents
  • Not understanding the glossary terms
  • Not developing a strategy for studying

According to PMI, only 60-70% of candidates pass the PMP exam on their first attempt.

Improved program management practices are critical to generating more successful program outcomes and bolster workforce development. Therefore, the U.S Congress passed the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act S.1550 with the goal of enhancing accountability and best practices in project and program management throughout the federal government. The commercial sector has embraced the Project Management Professional (PMP certification) for several decades as fundamental for the serious project manager or business executive. Today, many employers require PMP certification of their project managers.

We accept all major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover).

Yes, you will receive a certificate of completion at the end of class showing that you completed the course and earned the 35 contact hours required to sit for the exam.

The audit process sounds painful, but it is actually pretty simple. You will know if you have been audited immediately after submitting payment for the exam (you will receive an e-mail if you are selected for the audit). Roughly 5-10% of all candidates are typically audited. You will be asked to document your formal project management training contact hours, which you will do using the certificate we provide. You will also be asked to provide references to verify that the work experience you entered in your application is correct (they will just complete a simple form, sign it and send it to PMI).

You will need to have a supervisor or manager from the projects you used to record your experience verify your descriptions, so be sure to list someone you won’t have trouble getting in contact with if you are selected for audit.

Unfortunately, professional training courses, such as PMP certification boot camp, do not qualify for federal financial aid programs. If you are between jobs, however, you may inquire about your state’s workforce development benefits.

No. Unfortunately, training courses such as ours fall under the exam preparation exclusion and are therefore ineligible for VA funding (though the cost of the exam would likely be covered).

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Ready to bring PMP® certification training to your team? Contact PM-ProWORLD to discuss your organization’s needs and create a custom training solution that helps your team achieve its full potential.

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