You completed your 35 hours of project management education.
Now what?
Here’s a simple roadmap from finishing your training to earning your PMP.
✅ 1. Confirm Your Eligibility
Make sure you meet PMI’s current education and project experience requirements. PMI is looking for experience leading and managing projects, not simply participating in them.
👉 Check PMP eligibility requirements
✅ 2. Organize Your Project Experience
Before starting the application, list the projects you’ll use. For each one, prepare:
• Project objective
• Your role
• Your responsibilities
• What you led or managed
• Key outcomes
Ask yourself: What did I lead, manage, decide, or influence?
✅ 3. Submit Your PMP Application
Complete your application directly through PMI. Include:
• Education
• 35 hours of project management education
• Project leadership experience
Take your time with the experience section.
👉 PMP Certification and Application
✅ 4. Be Ready for an Audit
PMI may select your application for an audit. Keep your education records, training certificate, and supporting project details on hand.
✅ 5. Get Approved and Pay for the Exam
Once PMI approves your application:
✓ Pay the exam fee
✓ Receive your eligibility
✓ Start planning your exam date
Don’t rush to schedule it just because you’re eligible.
Eligible doesn’t mean ready.
✅ 6. Study for the Current PMP Exam
Make sure every resource you use is updated for the current exam. Study:
• Predictive
• Agile
• Hybrid
• Situational decision making
• People
• Process
• Business Environment
Use PMI’s current Exam Content Outline as your roadmap.
👉 PMI PMP Exam Preparation and Current Exam Content Outline
✅ 7. Practice Questions Every Day
Use PMP practice apps whenever you have a few minutes.
Don’t just ask, “Did I get it right?”
Ask, “Why is this the best answer?”
Understanding PMI’s reasoning matters more than memorizing answers.
✅ 8. Take Full Timed Simulations
Eventually, move from individual questions to full exam simulations. Practice under real exam conditions.
Train your:
✓ Knowledge
✓ Decision-making
✓ Time management
✓ Concentration
✓ Exam stamina
✅ 9. Schedule the Exam When You’re Ready
Don’t pick your exam date because you finished the course.
Pick it because your practice tells you you’re ready.
What Worked for Me
I earned my PMP five or six years ago, so the exam I took wasn’t the one you’ll face today. But the preparation strategy still holds.
🎓 Joseph Phillips, Udemy
My main prep course was Joseph Phillips’ PMP course on Udemy. He’s an excellent teacher, especially in how he connects the processes to each other.
👉 Joseph Phillips’ PMP Exam Prep on Udemy
He still offers PMP prep material. Just make sure you pick the version aligned with the current exam.
🧠 Aileen Ellis, PMP & PgMP
Aileen Ellis helped me see the sequence and relationship between the processes, instead of memorizing them as isolated facts. That made a real difference in my prep.
Her website also provides access to her PMP videos and other preparation resources.
📱 Practice Apps
I practiced constantly on PMP apps, a few minutes here, a few minutes there. Just make sure the app is updated for the current exam.
Eventually I moved to full simulations and kept going until I consistently scored 80%+ within the time limit.
I studied almost every day. From finishing my 35 hours to feeling exam-ready took about five months.
Today, I’d make sure every course, app, and simulation is updated for the current exam, but I’d follow the same strategy:
Learn → Understand → Practice → Simulate → Review → Repeat
One Last Tip
The 35 hours check a box. They don’t make you exam-ready.
Don’t rush. The goal isn’t to take the PMP exam fast. The goal is to walk in knowing you’re ready.
Rosana Inacio | PM Insights
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