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CAPM Exam Format and Content

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The CAPM certification is a great way to demonstrate your project management knowledge and understanding to pursue entry level positions in project management across any organization and industry.

Now more than ever, the CAPM reflects the way project work gets done by entry level project professionals.  That because in PMI, the certifying body for the CAPM, underwent a thorough analysis and made significant changes to the CAPM content and format for the exam starting in July 2023.   In this post, we will cover the exam content and format for the new exam, explain the value of project management and benefits of taking the CAPM exam.

CAPM Format and Content

  1. What is the CAPM exam format and content?
  2. Why is Project Management Important?
  3. CAPM Career Opportunities
  4. Preparing for the CAPM Exam

What is the CAPM Exam Format and Content?

It’s important to know what kind of questions and topics will be on the CAPM exam. This will help you study to help you pass the exam. By getting to know the material, you can focus your study time and make sure you’re ready for the exam.  Specific details of the 2023 CAPM exam are as follows:

New CAPM exam format

The main change to the new exam format is the transition from knowledge areas to domains and tasks that typically occur within each domain.  The exam will now be broken out in to four main areas. Specific details include:

  • Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts: 36% of questions
  • Predictive, Plan-Based Methodologies: 17% of questions
  • Agile Frameworks and Methodologies: 20% of questions
  • Business Analysis Frameworks: 27% of questions

The CAPM exam format consists of 150 questions, and you have three hours to complete it. You will have a 10-minute break after you answer the first 75 questions.

New CAPM exam content

The domains also inform the changes to the exam content.  Following is a summary of the content changes by domain:

Domain 1:  Covers concepts and the fundamentals of predictive and agile project management.

Domain 2:  Tests your knowledge of both predictive and adaptive project management approaches.

Domain 3:  Introduces agile and other adaptive development approaches (e.g., Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP) and others).

Domain 4:  Contains content about business analysis, and how to gather and validate requirements.

Based on the exam content changes, the 2023 CAPM Exam Content Outline indicates several question formats including:

Matching questions: You will have two columns of concepts to match.

Hot spot questions: A graphic will be presented where you click on a hot spot containing the correct answer.

Animation Video multiple choice questions: You will watch an animated video scenario and select a single answer from several choices.

Comic Strip multiple choice questions: You must read a comic strip scenario and select one answer from multiple options.

Why Project Management is Important?

When you invest time and effort in developing project management skills like planning, organizing, and task management, it can improve the chances of success for the projects you are involved in, and bring value to your company.

It’s also important to understand how and when to use different methods, develop various tools and techniques, and learn about different methodologies, as this will leading to other leadership roles on more complex projects.

Poorly managed projects can have negative impacts on a company. According to a PMI analysis, 48% of projects miss their delivery dates, 43% go over budget, and 31% fail to meet the organization’s goals. That’s why it’s important to learn and practice good project management skills to avoid these issues and ensure successful projects.

CAPM Career Opportunities

Project management jobs are in high demand, in fact, according to industry experts, employers will need more than 87 million people filling project management related roles.  Key growth industries include information services and publishing, finance and insurance, oil and gas, manufacturing and construction, management and professional services and utilities.

Every year, there are more than 500,000 jobs that need people with project management skills, according to the PMI.  Getting your CAPM certification is a great qualification that further validate your project knowledge. After getting your CAPM, you may qualify for careers such as operations assistant, project assistant, project coordinator, and program assistant.

You might be surprised to find job opportunities that don’t mention project management in their titles, but still require project management skills such as planning and organizing work, managing, and building team relationships, and time management.

Preparing for the CAPM Exam

If you considering getting your CAPM certification, RMC offers a free webinar you can attend called Taking the CAPM Exam: What You Need to Know.  Get answers to all your questions from one of RMC’s expert instructors. You can learn more about the CAPM including the exam costs and requirements.

When you are ready to prepare for your CAPM exam, you can stay up-to-date on our 2023 CAPM exam prep materials and classes.

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What Good Are Certifications, Anyway?

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It is said that companies are solely interested in skills training rather than certification.  Why should a company care whether their employees are certified project managers, business analysts or Scrum Masters so long as they are able to perform those functions? What good are certifications, anyway?

Do Organizations Value Certification?

For a long time, we had seen this line of thinking play out.  There had been a reduction in sales of exam prep courses by our corporate clients while sales of our fundamentals courses in all areas increased. When we ask these clients if they want to get their employees certified, some said that they don’t see the value of certification.  There are several reasons why this line of thinking is, frankly, wrong.  And our corporate clients now seem to see this as well.  Certification training has rebounded.

One reason is due to the requirement that project managers working on government projects under a government contract over a certain dollar value, must be certified.  To compete for this business, aspiring government contractors need to identify certified project managers who will be working on the project.  Government business is likely grown significantly in the next few years as the result of efforts by the Federal Government to rebuild our infrastructure and to make the United States more competitive in world markets.  The more of this business out there, the greater the need for certified project managers. 

Investing in Certification Training

There are certainly other reasons for companies to invest in certification for their employees.  To get some insight into why companies are paying to get their employees certified, we asked our students. 

Software Developer Student Perspective

John (not his real name) is a developer at a software company (can’t say which one).  He’s relatively new in his career, been out of school two years.  John is in an MBA program but decided to take our CAPM® Exam Prep class, to study to become a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®.  We asked John why he wanted to get his CAPM®.

As a developer, John works almost exclusively on projects.  Placement on a project team is competitive.  As a developer John naturally wants to work on the most interesting and visible projects.  The more of those projects he can work on, the better his chances are of getting promoted or at least larger salary increases.  Even though John is not a project manager at this point in his career, having a working knowledge of the terminology and practices associated with project management is helpful in performing his work.

The natural question for us was, so why not just take a basic PM course.  Why bother with the certification?  John’s response was interesting.

Because selection is competitive, project managers look for things like the CAPM® to separate them from other applicants.  Because John is new to a large organization and not well known yet, the credential is helpful in making the first cut, to even get a shot at being on a project team.

PMP View of Agile Certification

Then there’s Mary.  She is a certified project manager, a Project Management Professional (PMP)®, in fact, she is wanting to become a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) ® so is taking our PMI-ACP® Exam Prep class.  Mary had gotten her PMP® years ago.  In fact, she was taught by Rita Mulcahy, the founder or RMC Learning Solutions, then passed the PMP® exam with flying colors on her first try (admittedly we’re blowing our own horn).  Mary is a longtime fan of RMC Learning Solutions.  We asked Mary to comment on the statement that: “companies don’t care whether their employees obtain certifications so long as they can do the work.”

Her response was: “Well, they should.”  Mary’s comments relating to the PMP® focused mostly on new hires.  “Say you’re looking to hire a project manager.  You get a large stack of resumes.  They all show experience, describe the projects the applicants worked on and their responsibilities on those projects.  You can’t interview everyone, and let’s face it, a lot of these resumes sound impressive.” She went on to describe the time she wasted interviewing applicants who had impressive resumes but had no clue what they were talking about or even what real project management was.

She found that applicants who had their PMP® were more likely to be actual project managers or at least had the minimum competence level necessary to perform project management work.  It did not take long before she started rejecting applicants who did not have their PMP® out of hand.  They never got to interview.  As far as she was concerned, the PMP® became a job requirement to be a project manager.  Her conclusion was that “yes, for the organization, skills are more important than the credential, however, in the hiring process, the PMP® credential allows her to save time by interviewing only qualified candidates.”  So it was more a perquisite for the employee than a value to the company.  “True,” she said.  “But if you want to keep your high performing employees, you need to do things like that.”

We asked why she was taking the PMI-ACP® Exam Prep class.  “Same reason,” she said.  “Agile is becoming more and more important in the workplace.  I need to stay current in best practices or be left behind.  Having this credential tells the world that I’m still on top of my game and it tells my company that I’m committed to being the best I can be.”

RMC Certification Training

So, from what we are seeing, there is still strong demand for certification, and it does have value.  Companies that feel to realize this are shortchanging their employees and, in the long run, themselves.

As you weigh the value of certification, remember it is an investment and you want your employees to train for their certification with proven, experienced training partners.  

RMC Learning Solutions offers Certification Training for the PMP and PMI-CAPM, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA.  We also offer as and Skill Development Courses & Self Study Products. Contact us to learn more about what we can do for you!

Additional resources:

https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/About/The-value-of-certification.aspx

 

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RMC Training Partner Program

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RMC’s Training Partner Program has Proven Prep Products

RMC’s Training Partner Program is designed for those who want to teach an exam preparation course using our trusted, proven materials. Rita “wrote the book” on PMP® exam preparation and her approach and philosophy are the foundation for our effective, up to date study materials!  Our best-selling products have been used by over 750,000 students since 1991!

Affordable Pricing for RMC’s Training Partners

As an RMC Authorized Training Partner, you’ll receive substantial discounts on our proven products for your students.  Plus, you’ll use our materials as the basis for a course you design including our comprehensive slide deck, effective exercises, and our FASTrack® online exam simulator.

Whether you’re teaching online in a live virtual format or in-person, and offering a once-a-week course, boot camp, or anything in between, our Training Partner Program can work for you. And you can be assured of accurate, up-to-date materials despite exam content changes.

Enjoy Discounts When You Select Multiple Programs

You’ll enjoy special discounts when you select more than one of our Training Partner Programs, which gives you a very affordable way to expand your Certification offerings.

PMP® Exam Prep
PMI-ACP® Exam Prep
PMI-PBA® Exam Prep
CAPM® Exam Prep

Available for training companies, universities and colleges, corporate internal training departments, PMI Chapters and those hosting study groups, RMC’s Training Partner Program is the #1 choice for those who want the most effective training program.

Plus, as a Training Partner you have the freedom to share your knowledge and expertise with your students. We’ve created our Program so you can customize your course to fit the needs and nuances of your customer, while ensuring the students are prepared for their exam. It’s the best of all worlds!

Training Partner Program Features

PowerPoint slide deck based on our best-selling Exam Prep Books. Each slide deck is a good foundation upon which Training Partners develop their own course.

  • Substantial discounts on our best-selling books, exam simulators, specialized flashcards and additional products for your students and you’re free to decide which to include in your course.
  • Instructor License for our best-selling FASTrack® Online Exam Simulators
  • Exam Prep Book – both the printed and cloud versions for you to use
  • Hot Topics Flashcards – cloud version for you to use
  • Instructor Notes*
  • “Authorized Training Partner—RMC Learning Solutions” graphic to use on your website and in your promotional materials to identify you’re using our world-class products and materials.
  • Supplemental online tools and information*
  • Ongoing support from RMC staff

* For PMP Exam Prep Program only

RMC is a Training Partner Leader

As the leader in training and professional development since 1991, we believe students learn and retain more through real-world application and we ensure our partners have the tools they need to apply this concept in their classes. We carefully designed our Training Partner Program to bring out the best in both instructor and student.

For more information about our Training Partner Program, please contact Marcie McCarthy at mmccarthy@rmcls.com, 952-641-6413 or 952-846-4484.

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How to Use Rita Mulcahy’s Exam Prep Book for the CAPM Exam

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If you’re planning to take the CAPM Exam, now is a great time. PMI recently announced the CAPM exam will be changing in January 2023. There are many options to help you get test ready. One such proven study method is Rita’s original prep book for the CAPM exam.

Originally created by Rita Mulcahy, it is designed to guide your studies by making complex information easily digestible. As you consider your options, here are some valuable tips on how this book can help you pass the CAPM exam.

Prep for the CAPM with Rita Mulcahy’s Exam Prep Book

  1. How Rita’s CAPM Exam Prep Book is Organized
  2. Introduction and Chapter Quick Tests
  3. CAPM Exam Key Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs
  4. Exclusive Test-Taking Tips

How Rita’s CAPM Exam Prep Book Is Organized

Most of the chapters in this book have been organized the same way:

  • List of Quick Test topics and introduction to the knowledge area
  • Discussion of the key inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs by knowledge area
  • Exercises and review materials
  • Practice exam by chapter

Let’s review these key components of the chapters.

Introduction and Chapter Quick Tests

The introduction provides an overview of the knowledge area covered in the chapter.  It may also include key concepts and information you will need to understand the material. The list at the beginning of each chapter indicates the topics covered in the chapter. To test your knowledge of the chapter contents and to review what’s most important, refer to each Quick Test list when you’re finished with each chapter.

CAPM Exam Key Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs

The CAPM Exam prep book highlights the key inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for each knowledge area, with page references to the PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition. The content primarily focuses on the most important and difficult aspects.  It addresses areas that are the most troublesome for test takers. The CAPM Exam Prep book contains exclusive prep tips and tricks can shorten your study time and improve your exam score.

Exclusive Test-Taking Tips

Each chapter is filled with exclusive tips and tricks to guide your learning.  We call these Rita’s Tricks of the Trade®. Our multi-certification experts have developed this practical advice from teaching hundreds of thousands of students. We’ve developed these insider tips that help you learn more in less time.

There are plenty of opportunities to test your knowledge and understanding.  End-of-chapter tests include questions similar to those you can expect to encounter on the exam. You also get a detailed explanation of the correct answer as an additional learning tool.  Finally, we offer a step-by-step study plan to help you feel confident in your test prep.

RMC Exam Prep Difference

Rita believed exam certification training should be real, not hypothetical. That’s why our approach to test prep is like a talented friend in the field that teaches you what you really need to know for PMI® certification exams.

We work hard to make complex information easily digestible using a conversational tone to guide your studies. In addition to our leading CAPM exam prep book, RMC offers many methods of study so you can find one that works best for you. This includes exam simulation, our live virtual instructor-led course, an eLearning course, or our complete CAPM exam prep system. Each option allows you to learn more, faster – Rita’s unique approach to studying. And your studies are backed by 30 years of test prep expertise.

Finally, check out our FREE one-hour “Taking the CAPM Exam” webinar, where we cover what you need to know for the exam.

Sources:  https://www.pmi.org/certifications/certified-associate-capm