Award-Winning CAPM - Certified Associate in Project Management Certification Training in Cambridge, MA

Varsity Tutors can enroll you in a comprehensive CAPM certification class to help you prepare for your exam today. CAPM stands for Certified Associate in Project Management, a professional certification offered by the Project Management Institute (or PMI) to help individuals like you add project management to your current job responsibilities, work more effectively on project teams, and perhaps explore new career opportunities. Whether you're just starting to pursue a career in the exciting field of project management or are already an experienced project team member looking for more from your professional life, let us provide the CAPM certification training you need to reach for your full potential.

Taking a CAPM certification class gives you the opportunity to review both the structure and content of the exam with an expert instructor dedicated to helping you reach for your goals. It can be a powerful tool in your test prep journey, but it's important to choose the right one.

Is There Anything I Need to Know Before Taking A CAPM Certification Course?

The first part of formal CAPM certification training is determining whether you are eligible to take the test. There are two different paths of prerequisites. First, you could log 1,500 hours of professional project experience. Alternatively, you can attend 23 hours of formal project management education before sitting for the test. You'll need documentation to prove either prerequisite, so make sure you have it ready to go. You also need to have at least a secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or international equivalent) regardless of the route you take.

Likewise, the CAPM exam is administered both online and at Prometric testing centers nationwide. If you have any questions about the proper path for you, your CAPM certification course instructor can help you decide which option makes the most sense for you.

You might think that passing the CAPM exam grants you the certification indefinitely, but this is actually not the case. You are required to take the test again every five years in order to demonstrate that you've remained up to date with the skills expected of a modern project manager. The test could change significantly in that time frame, so you can't assume that your old prep materials are still accurate to use when you're studying for recertification.

What Topics Are Generally Reviewed During CAPM Certification Training?

Once you have determined that you are indeed eligible for the exam, your CAPM certification class can start reviewing the particular concepts you need to understand by test day. Every course we provide consists of a class of students meeting their instructor at set times over the duration of the section to discuss CAPM-related material. Some of the specific topics you can cover include the relationship between project, program, portfolio, and operational management; the typical project life cycle, the role of a project manager, Project Scope Management, and the major elements of the PMI triangle.

Your expert instructor has a lot of different teaching techniques at their disposal to make it easier for you to learn challenging concepts. For instance, you can look at a Venn Diagram to help illustrate how program and portfolio management intersect and where they differ. Alternatively, watching an interview with a CAPM-certified project manager could help bring their day-to-day responsibilities to life for you.

You can also study memorization tricks to make it easier to recall all of the information you need to know on exam day. This can prove especially useful for concepts that most test-takers would consider "dry," such as the pros and cons offered by various organizational systems or the three project communication management processes.

Learning tends to go best when you are actively engaged with the material you are studying, something that can be difficult to do when working on your own. Your instructor isn't a boring textbook but a human being, enabling them to create lesson plans that you find entertaining and memorable. For example, they can role-play the difference between leadership and management in a humorous manner to help illustrate the contrast between the two terms.

If you haven't yet mastered all of the underlying academic skills that go into project management, your instructor can also help you develop them. For example, the test assumes that you are able to solve simple network diagram problems and perform basic scheduling calculations. Some of these questions require you to memorize mathematical formulas, as you won't have access to any reference materials during the assessment. Your instructor can provide targeted sample problems addressing your unique weaknesses if you feel that you need to brush up on these fundamental skills.

You could study these subjects on your own, but working with a knowledgeable instructor ensures that you get a reliable answer whenever a question comes up during your CAPM certification training. In fact, instructors strive to create learning environments where questions are encouraged in their classrooms, allowing you to seek clarification before a simple misunderstanding can spiral out of control. We thoroughly vet every CAPM certification course instructor, so you can always trust that all of the information you receive is accurate and up-to-date.

Your instructor can also organize all of the material on the exam in a logical manner, helping you break the concepts into more digestible chunks rather than trying to tackle the entire rubric at once. You can also concentrate on subjects that the exam weights more heavily in an effort to make the most of your study time.

What is the CAPM Exam Like?

The CAPM exam consists of 150 questions administered electronically over a three-hour testing session. Of those, 15 are unscored "pretest" questions that do not influence your final grade. However, there is no way to distinguish these items from the ones that actually count. Therefore, you should try to do your best on every item.

Some of the items on the CAPM exam are worded in an intentionally misleading manner - for example, two answer options that sound like they mean the exact same thing. Your instructor can teach you how to recognize these "trick" questions for what they are, helping you to approach them in an appropriate manner.

Similarly, you may be given more information than you actually need for a particular question just to confuse you. If you have a hard time distinguishing useful information from irrelevant or extraneous filler, your instructor can teach you active reading strategies to help ensure that you understand every question and respond appropriately.

Your instructor can also incorporate test-taking strategies into your CAPM certification training regimen so that you have a "Plan B" if you get stuck. For example, the Certified Associate in Project Management exam consists exclusively of multiple-choice questions. If you are unsure of the correct response, your instructor can show you how to eliminate some of the answer choices in order to deduce the correct option.

Additionally, each item on the exam has four possible answer choices. A blind guess would, therefore, have a 25 percent chance of proving correct, but that goes up to 33 percent if you can figure out that one is wrong. If you can narrow it down to two choices, your guess is now a 50-50 proposition. Of course, you need to be right about which ones you eliminate.

Is There Any Benefit to Taking Practice Exams?

Your instructor can administer practice exams under realistic test-taking conditions to help you develop a feel for how long you have to finish. You only have three hours to answer a total of 150 questions, so you're constantly racing the clock. Experiencing what the time available to you feels like first hand can make it easier to budget your time effectively on exam day.

If you find that you are unable to answer every item in the time available to you, there's no need to worry. Your instructor can teach you when it is time to move onto the next item so that you have an opportunity to at least read every question. Your instructor can also help you pick up the pace without rushing, as it's never beneficial to move so quickly that you aren't properly reading exam items.

You can also save yourself some time by understanding how the test tends to present important meaning-altering keywords such as "not" and "except" so that you can spot them at a glance. Likewise, it can be a good idea to understand the directions before you begin to cross an extra thing off of your test day to-do list.

Taking practice tests during your CAPM certification training can also help you identify your strengths and any areas where you could improve. For instance, you might want to ask your instructor to explain Project Cost Management again if you consistently answer practice items on the subject incorrectly. Likewise, learning that you're consistently answering challenging items correctly could help you feel better about your answers to similar questions on the actual exam.

If you have dealt with test anxiety in the past, your instructor can teach you strategies to help keep your nerves in check on exam day. Some students find that they get a jolt of self-confidence simply from knowing that they have done everything they could have to prepare for the test. If comprehensive CAPM certification training isn't enough to put your mind at ease, your instructor can teach you mindfulness techniques such as meditation to help you calm down and concentrate on the item in front of you during the actual exam.

Your instructor can also provide valuable advice on what to do on test day to set yourself up for success. For example, make sure to eat a nourishing meal beforehand so that you don't get hungry during the exam. You should also plan to arrive at the testing center or log into the online version early so you don't feel rushed. Wearing comfortable clothing can also help you start with the right frame of mind. It's also okay to take little breaks to rest your mind, even though none are built into the test's structure.

Are There Any Benefits Associated With Working in a Collaborative Learning Environment?

Contrary to popular belief, it can actually be very beneficial to study in a group setting. If you're having a hard time remembering the seven project management processes in the project integration management knowledge area, one of your classmates may come up with a great mnemonic device that makes it easier for you to memorize the information.

Some of your classmates may also have more practical experience than you do. Since some test items could be about how to approach hypothetical scenarios within a pragmatic project management context, learning from their work history could help you prepare for the exam.

Likewise, explaining things to your new friends can be a very good way to internalize the information yourself. You never know what types of questions your classmates might come up with, so you'll need a strong foundation of knowledge in order to answer them.

Working with other students can also expose you to novel approaches and perspectives that you may never have thought of on your own, enriching your educational experience. Your instructor can also break your class into groups to more accurately simulate the experience of working on a project management team, including taking turns as the project manager to approximate different management styles.

Are There Any Other Benefits Associated with Formal CAPM Certification Training?

One of the most difficult parts of test prep is setting aside enough time to study. If you try to go it alone, there are typically just so many other things you would rather be doing that it can be easy to lose track of time and end up taking the test without the required knowledge base.

If you commit to regularly attending a course, it becomes much easier to set aside at least that amount of time for your test prep. Your instructor can also assign homework to make sure you are putting in extra effort outside of your regularly scheduled meeting times.

If you are looking to do some independent study to supplement your course, your instructor can also refer you to trustworthy materials to ensure that you are working with current information.

Can CAPM Certification Training Fit Into My Busy Schedule?

While many of our competitors expect you to commute to their review courses, we offer a proprietary Live Learning Platform that allows you to attend a course on your terms. Our exclusive Live Learning Platform is a fully equipped digital classroom that you can access on your favorite mobile device, allowing you to study anywhere with a stable internet connection. If you'd like to attend sessions without leaving the comfort of your own home, you can do so. If you would prefer to study in the tranquility of a local library or the ambiance of your favorite coffee shop, you can do that too. The choice is yours.

Our platform offers powerful features such as video chat functionality and a virtual whiteboard, ensuring that studying online is just as effective as taking a more traditional class. You can also arrange private extra help sessions with your instructor if you feel like you could benefit from a little bit of extra support. Why go out of your way to attend a course when a great one is available wherever you want it?

Similarly, we provide both two-week and four-week class options to give you some control over when you study. If you're having a tough time juggling work, school, and social responsibilities and commitments, it may behoove you to spread your class sessions over a four-week period to make everything feel less overwhelming. If you want to finish as soon as possible, a more condensed two-week class (with the same number of total meetings and class hours) may be a better fit for your needs.

We also provide multiple courses concurrently, each meeting at different times and on different days of the week to make it easier to find something that works for you. New courses also launch on a monthly basis, so you're never too far away from a start date. After all, who wants to wait around once they've determined that taking a prep course is for them?

How Do I Get Started?

Finding the right CAPM certification training program can prove to be a challenging task to accomplish on your own. You have to make sure that your schedule is compatible. More importantly, you need to verify that your instructor has both the knowledge and the communication skills to help you prepare for the exam. How would you do that, exactly?

If you're ready to start taking your Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) prep seriously, our friendly Educational Consultants are currently standing by to answer any questions you may have and walk you through our convenient enrollment process. Varsity Tutors has helped countless students with their CAPM certification training in the past, and we look forward to hearing from you as well!