PMP Certification is essential for project management roles. Especially, for those who wish to take the next step in their career. PMP Certification Training Course is a globally accepted professional certification. This certification is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). It is a US non-profit professional organization. It is a well-recognized and accepted credential. We consider you are dedicated to earning the coveted PMP (Project Management Professional) credential after reading this article. Hence, Practice as many PMP sample questions to pass the PMP exam on your 1st attempt. In this article, you can find PMP exam sample questions and answers. Also explained about PMP Exam and PMP Exam Pattern.
PMP Exam Questions and Answers
Here is a compilation of the top 20 PMP exam sample questions with the answers in an explanatory manner. In order to give you a brief idea of the pattern, preparation, and execution strategy for PMP exam questions:
1. You are managing a project using a predictive approach. Your contingency reserve is $6,000. During the execution phase, you updated the risk occurrence in the risk register as follows:
According to your updates, how much is left in the contingency reserve?
a. $4,000
b. $3,000
c. $2,000
d. $5,000
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Only $2,000 is left in the contingency reserve, which is reserved for Risk 2. Risk 1 has a 0% probability of occurrence. It means that the risk will not happen and thus you should release its associated contingency reserve. Risk 3 already took place, so $1,000 has been already spent.
2. All of the following statements are True, Except:
a. Portfolio management is aligned with organizational strategy
b. Program management is synonymous with project management
c. A project can have several stakeholders
d. Multiple projects can be aligned with one program
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Programs are not merely big projects as it is commonly understood, they are different. The key difference is in the focus of the management effort. Project management focuses on creating a deliverable as efficiently as possible. Program management focuses on maximizing the benefits realized by the organization.
Projects involve delivering a product to meet stakeholder needs. Programs are about delivering benefits to the organization within defined constraints and in alignment with its strategic objectives. A project may be managed in three separate scenarios: as a stand-alone project (outside of a portfolio or program), within a program, or within a portfolio. Project managers interact with portfolio and program managers. When a project is within a program or portfolio.
Get to Know How Much Does PMP Certification Cost In India? [2021]
3. Lamont was assigned by his superiors to lead a big project. This project is really important for his organization; therefore, management does not want any delay in completion. Once he got the project charter signed, Lamont started identifying and categorizing stakeholders using various data representation tools. Which of the following tools will be used for this purpose? (Select three)
a. Salience model
b. Stakeholder cube
c. Direction of influence
d. Brainwriting
Correct Answer: A, B, and C
Explanation: Data representation techniques include the stakeholder cube. It basically takes the impact/influence grid and adds a third dimension to the analysis. The salience model is also used to assess the stakeholder’s power, urgency, and legitimacy. Finally, directions of influence are used to categorize and classify stakeholders on the basis of their influence on the project and the project team. Brainwriting is a brainstorming technique to stimulate creativity.
4. During risk identification sessions, Sam and her team identified more than 100 risks for the project. She thinks that evaluating each of these risks quantitatively will cost her an enormous amount of time, while not all of them are really relevant and important enough to justify such a measure. What should her next step be?
a. Using qualitative risk analysis to prioritize risks for further quantitative risk analysis.
b. Qualitatively assess the probability of each risk and then analyze only those risks with high probability.
c. Assessing the potential impact of each risk qualitatively and then analyzing only risks with high impact.
d. Identifying risk triggers and then quantitatively analyzing only risks with no found triggers.
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Qualitative Risk Analysis is the process of prioritizing individual project risks for further analysis or action by assessing their probability of occurrence and impact as well as other characteristics. Performing the Qualitative Risk analysis lays the foundation to perform the Quantitative Risk analysis.
5. Oliver notices that his colleague who is a fellow Project manager is showing up to the office with new high-tech gadgets every day, so he suspects that he is accepting gifts from hardware vendors who are bidding on an upcoming multimillion-dollar. Which of the following should Oliver do?
a. He should ask his colleague directly whether these items were gifts from vendors or whether he purchased them himself.
b. He should have a long conversation with his colleague about the items he received until he’s convinced to return them and not accept any more items from vendors in the future.
c. He knows this is a conflict-of-interest situation, and it violates the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. So, he reports his colleague so that an investigation can take place.
d. He tells his colleague that such gifts aren’t appropriate and leave it at that.
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: The best reaction in this situation is to verify the information before taking any action. A violation based only on suspicion should not be reported. Oliver can get the facts right by telling his colleague that he is concerned about his appearance and asking him whether the vendor gave him these items. As a project manager, never jump to conclusions. Always verify and get the facts straight before reporting a conflict-of-interest situation.
6. You are managing a biodegradable fabrics development project for a high-end luxury brand. The product owner and your scrum team members are conducting their first sprint planning meeting. Team members have completed the preparation of the selected user stories and provided their estimates. As the team proceeds to implement the user stories during the sprint, what should the product owner do?
a. d more work for the team so they can deliver more value
b. Extend the sprint’s’length if it appears the team cannot complete the work on time
c. Shield the team from interruptions and facilitate discussions for the team members
d. Let the teamwork and answer any questions that might arise during this sprint a.
Correct Answer : D
Explanation: Adding more work for the team to complete within the sprint violates the implied agreement between the development team and the product owner. Shielding the team from interruptions and facilitating team discussions is among the responsibilities of the scrum master, not the product owner. Also, sprint length is set at the beginning of the project and typically does not change. Plus, any work items that cannot be completed by the team during the sprint should be returned to the product backlog and rescheduled for the upcoming sprints. Therefore, the product owner should be letting the teamwork and answering any questions that might arise during the sprint, thus reflecting the commitment that both the product owner and the developers have made.
7. To determine whether the anticipated financial gains of a project will outweigh the present-day investment, you can use the NPV as an effective tool to help you determine whether your project will be profitable or not. For instance, NPV > 0 means?
a. We do not know until calculating the ROI
b. The project will break even
c.The project will lose money
d. The project is profitable
Correct Answer : D
Explanation: The net present value (NPV) is simply the sum of the present values (PVs) and all the outflows and inflows. The larger the Net Present Value (NPV), the more favorable the project is financially for the organization. A positive NPV (NPV > 0) means The PV of the inflows is greater than the PV of the outflows, thus the investment is worthwhile. An NPV of 0 (NPV= 0) means the inflows equal the outflows, so the project is breaking even. Finally, a negative NPV (NPV < 0) means the PV of the inflows is less than the PV of the outflows, thus the investment is not good and the project is losing money.
8. Sabrina is a project manager for Steel Foundations. She has been brought on to the project in the very early stages and has been asked to write the charter for it. Over the past week, she met with a number of stakeholders, received their input and she is now ready to have the charter signed. Typically, signing of the project charter is the responsibility of:
a. Project Sponsor
b. Project stakeholders
c. Senior Management
d. Project Manager
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: “Projects are authorized by someone external to the project such as a sponsor, PMO, or portfolio steering committee.” Unless the Project Sponsor is included within Senior Management, the project charter should be signed by someone with the authority to assign project resources and name the project manager, i.e., the Project Sponsor. The project manager or stakeholders may under no circumstances sign the charter to authorize the project.
9. To compute the value of your computer after three years you are using straight-line depreciation. Knowing that the current cost of the computer is $1000, what will be its value after three years assuming that the computer’s life is five years?
a. $600
b. $400
c. $500
d. $0
Correct Answer: b
Explanation: Each year $200 gets removed from the value of your computer. After three years the value becomes $400. With the straight-line depreciation method, the value of an asset reduces uniformly over each period until it reaches its salvage value. You need three numbers to calculate straight-line depreciation for a fixed asset: The total purchase price of the asset (the cost of the asset including shipping, taxes, installation fees, etc.) Its scrap or salvage value of the asset—the price you think you can sell it for at the end of its useful life.
The useful life of the asset—how many years you think it will last. To calculate the straight-line depreciation rate for your asset, simply subtract the salvage value from the asset cost to get total depreciation, then divide that by useful life to get annual depreciation: Annual depreciation = (purchase price – salvage value) / useful life
10. After getting her project approved by the organization executives, Dakota started estimating the project budget. She is using a bottom-up cost estimation technique to calculate the cost of each activity. Management told her that the management reserve will be 6% of the cost baseline. Which of the following represents the budgeted cost of the project?
a. Cost Baseline + Management Reserve
b. Contingency Reserve + Management Reserve
c. Cost Baseline + Contingency Reserve
d. Cost Baseline
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: Management reserve is needed as part of the project budget to address unforeseen risks. For instance, The difference between the cost baseline and the project budget is management reserves. According to the PMBOK, The cost baseline is developed as a summation of the approved budgets for the different schedule activities. Management reserves are added to the cost baseline to produce the project budget.
11. You are working on a construction project for a client. You have been instructed to use agile methodology to work on the project where you are working on the control schedule process. When an agile approach is used, Control Schedule is concerned with: (Select three)
a. Determining the current status of the project schedule by comparing the total amount of work delivered and accepted against the estimates of work completed for the elapsed time cycle
b. Reprioritizing the remaining work plan (backlog)
c. Determining the rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated, and accepted (velocity) in the given time per iteration
d. Managing the estimated changes as they occur
Correct Answer: A, B, and C
Explanation: When an agile approach is used, Control Schedule is concerned with: Determining the current status of the project schedule by comparing the total amount of work delivered and accepted against the estimates of work completed for the elapsed time cycle; Conducting retrospectives (scheduled reviews to record lessons learned) for correcting processes and improving, if required; Determining the rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated, and accepted (velocity) in the given time per iteration (agreed-upon work cycle duration, typically 2 weeks or 1 month); Also, Determining that the project schedule has changed; Managing the actual changes as they occur. Reprioritizing the remaining work plan (backlog); Reference PMBOK 6, Page 224
12. You are a project manager of a telecommunication project following the predictive lifecycle. While controlling the project execution, you uncover scope creep. You learn that the scope creep is a result of a prominent stakeholder of the project who is also your close friend. What should you do?
a. Nothing, since the scope creep is a result of a prominent stakeholder and a close friend.
b. Nothing, since the scope creep could have a positive impact on the project.
c. Take the scope creep to the change control board
d. Reverse the scope changes since you didn’t approve them.
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: The scope creep should be brought to the project team’s attention and can treat as an unapproved change. As a result, This would need to go through the formal channel by reporting to the change control board and deciding with them the appropriate course of action. As a project manager, you should avoid favoritism and conflict-of-interest situations by maintaining impartiality in your decisions.
13. Ana is managing a project using an iteration-based Agile approach. During the retrospective meeting, one of her team members declares that the sprint planning meeting always takes too much time due to the fact that tasks were not detailed enough in the first place. What should Ana do to fix this issue?
a. Create a rule to prohibit creating non-detailed tasks
b. Encourage the team to hold one or more backlog refinement sessions during iterations
c. Ignore the team member’s feedback unless other team members agree with them
d. Split the planning meeting into two or three sessions so attendees don’t feel bored
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Backlog refinement is used to prepare tasks and user stories for the upcoming iteration. The team member’s declaration indicates that either the team is not holding backlog refinement sessions at all, or they need to have more sessions. Hence, such feedback shouldn’t be ignored. Dividing the planning meeting into shorter sessions is not going to solve the root cause of this issue. Similarly, setting a restrictive rule for creating tasks will only prevent team members from adding tasks to the backlog.
14. Elias is the facilitator of a Sprint Review meeting. During the meeting, Alexander, one of the team members, demonstrated a new feature and pointed out that it took more than expected due to the missing technical documentation. Then, he asked a senior team member about how they should avoid this in the future. As the meeting facilitator, what should Elias do?
a. Let the discussion flow naturally since it’s important and only intervene if the side discussion continues for too long
b. Ask the team member to reflect on how to make such improvements on another meeting
c. Interrupt Alexander because the product owner is not supposed to know that documentation is missing
d. Let the discussion continue and then ask the product owner to give feedback on potential improvements
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: The retrospective meeting is the right meeting to reflect on what happened during the sprint and how to improve the implemented processes. Therefore, Elias should steer back the discussion to only focus on the demonstrative feature and get the product owner’s feedback on what has been produced rather than discuss how to improve future work efficiency. This being said, if the documentation needs to be improved, team members should create a technical task for it and demonstrate its importance to the product owner during the Sprint Planning.
15. Yusuf is managing his project using the predictive approach. One month into execution, he calculated the cost variance and the result was $0.90. What is the status of Yusuf’s project?
a. The project is under budget
b. The project is over budget
c. The project will end up costing more than initially forecasted
d. The project will end up costing less than initially forecasted
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: The cost variance is the difference between the earned value (EV), i.e., the budgeted cost of work performed, and actual costs (AC). CV = EV – AC. If the variance is negative, the project is over budget and if the variance is positive, the project is under budget. In the question, the cost variance is barely above 0, so the project is under budget. Since the variance is very close to 0 (90 cents), we can also consider that the project is on budget, but this was not an option.
Cost variance helps to determine the project’s current status, but cannot determine or predict if the project will end up costing less or more than what you have decided. For instance, the project manager could take preventive or corrective actions when the CV is negative in order to steer the project back on track and for it to correspond to the defined budget.
16. You got to lead the implementation of a Learning Management System (LMS) using a predictive approach. During execution, Megan, who was assigned to handle a critical task, informed you that she won’t be able to meet the deadline and that she will need more time. Knowing that her updated estimate will have no impact neither on the critical path nor on the project duration, what should you do?
a. Transfer the task to another team member who can complete it within the allocated time
b. Inform Megan that since the project schedule is already visible, it won’t be possible to changes it
c. Ask Megan to take care of updating the project schedule whenever any inaccuracy inactivity estimates are visible.
d. Approve Megan’s new activity estimate and update the project schedule and any other relevant plans accordingly
Correct Answer : D
Explanation: Since the new activity estimate has no significant impact, the best course of action in this situation is to approve it and update the project schedule and all relevant plans accordingly. Missing the activity deadline here is not too critical that you have to transfer the task to another team member.
During the planning phase, estimations happen to be inaccurate sometimes for various reasons, thus updates and adjustments are necessary during execution. If the new estimations have a big impact on the project, a change request should include. Under a predictive approach, the project manager is responsible for managing and controlling the schedule. So, you cannot ask Megan to update the schedule without referring back to you since the project manager should be aware of all schedule updates.
17. Julian is managing a project that consists in implementing an accounting application for a pet store. During a project performance review meeting, Julian presented the following figures: AC = $4,000, PV = $5,000, and EV = $5,500. What does that indicate about the project?
a. Since both the CV and SV are positive, the project is under budget and ahead of schedule
b. These numbers are insufficient to calculate the project SPI and CPI
c. Since the CV is negative, Julian has probably spent more than he initially planned to
d. Since the SV is negative, the project is behind schedule
Correct Answer: A
Explanation : Since SV = EV – PV and CV = EV – AC then SV = $5,500 – $5,000 = $500 and CV = $5,500 – $4,000 = $1,500. The Cost Variance (CV) is positive which means that the project is under budget, and since the Schedule Variance (SV) is positive too, that means the project is also ahead of schedule.
18. Madeline is leading a one-year facial recognition home security system. Five months into the execution phase, %50 of the project work is done. What is the project’s SPI and status?
a. The SPI is 0.83 and the project is behind schedule
b. The SPI is 0.83 and the project is ahead of schedule
c. The SPI is 1.2 and the project is behind schedule
d. The SPI is 1.2 and the project is ahead of schedule
Correct Answer : D
Explanation : EV = % of completed work X BAC (Budget at Completion) = (6/12) X BAC. Since the project manager is 5 months into the project, then the PV = (5/12) X BAC. Doing the math, SPI = EV / PV = 6 / 5 = 1.2. You can also conclude that the project is ahead of schedule without doing any math since half the work you can do before reaching half the project duration. Since the project is ahead of schedule, you should just select the answer where the SPI is greater than 1.
19. You were to manage an ongoing project that operates under a predictive approach. While reviewing the status of the project, you found that some of the deliverables that were noted as finished are actually still in progress. Plus, and contrary to what the management thinks, the project is in fact over budget and behind schedule. What should you do next?
a. Politely decline to manage such a messy project
b. Notify the management of your findings
c. Submit a change request to fix the identified issues
d. Study the option of crashing the schedule in order to bring the project back on track
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: In such a situation, you should first report back to your upper management to inform them about your findings and the project’s actual status. According to the PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, when the project manager discovers errors or omissions caused by others, he or she should communicate them to the appropriate body.
Project managers should provide accurate information in a timely manner. for instance, After notifying the management, you should study with your project team the different solutions to bring the project back on track. So, Sometimes, a process improvement and waste removal might end up being sufficient to reduce cost and deliver results as quickly as possible, without resorting to a change request. If this is not possible, then you can consider fast-tracking or crashing the project schedule. On the other hand, you cannot simply refuse to manage the project due to its current status and the fact that it is behind schedule and over budget.
20. You are managing a project using a hybrid approach. Shortly after acquiring the resources, you discover that your team is politically very engaging; almost all of their meetings end with a political dispute between team members. You have decided to end this before it deteriorates team members’ relationships by prohibiting any political discussions. Where should you note this rule?
a. Team charter
b. Project charter
c. Resource charter
d. Resource management plan
Correct Answer: A
Explanation: For instance, The team charter is the right document to include rules and guidelines on how the team members should interact with each other. For instance, By adding the rule to the team charter, team members will have to adhere to the rule and refrain from discussing politics at work. The Resource management plan, on the other hand, covers staffing acquisition, timetable, training needs, recognition and rewards, release criteria, compliance, and safety. The project charter includes a brief description of the project and its requirements. The resource charter is a made-up term.
Learn more about Project management Professional (PMP) Certification and our other online Management courses to generate insights and tackle business decisions.
Exam Rules To Remember
- You have the option to halt the test.
- You can retake the test at a later time, but it will take less time.
- The level of the PMP sample questions increases gradually, implying that the final PMP practice exam at the end of this course would be more difficult than the knowledge area examinations.
- Each quiz has a 70 percent pass rate.
- There is just ONE right answer for each question.
- Situational questions, calculations, graphs, and ITTO are all included.
8 Basic PMP Exam Preparation Tips
- Attend the 35-contact-hour training program, You can prepare in a classroom setting or online.
- Read the PMBOK Guide as well as any other relevant reference materials (like Rita Mulcahy, Head First PMP, etc.).
- Begin with knowledge area-specific practice exams to aid with the comprehension of basic topics.
- Based on the results of the practice tests, review your knowledge gaps.
- To fill in the gaps in your expertise, consult the PMBOK Guide and reference books.
- hence, At the final stage of PMP exam preparation practice mock tests that offers you a sense of what the test environment will be like.
- Examine your test results and determine your exam readiness.
- Take the PMP test and become a proud PMP credential holder.
It is critical to practice and test your comprehension of project management topics in order to ace the PMP Certification Exam. Enough PMP sample questions must be practiced, practiced, and practiced to gain confidence. It’s best if you practice as many questions as possible.
Finally, we wish you the best of luck on the PMP test, and don’t forget to give the course a rating. The lowest rating is one star, while the highest is five stars.
