Thinking about taking the PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) exam? Here is an outline of how I studied for it and passed on my first try. Before diving into the details, though, I think it’s important to tell you about my background to provide some reference. I already had my PMP certification and had been working 20-30 hrs per week for about 5 years using agile methodologies on custom software development projects for 3 new business systems for a client. On those projects, I played multiple roles, serving as Scrum Master/Project Manager and as a development team member doing both business analysis and hands-on QA testing. I was also advising other clients about Jira and Confluence software best practices and Scrum techniques to apply to their projects. Therefore, I came into the PMI-ACP certification process with well over the prerequisite 2,000 hrs of general project management and 1,500 hrs of practical agile experience. So the self-study approach outlined below worked well for me for cost, convenience, and speed reasons. Now you need to decide whether this approach is for you based on your own project management experience and how you learn best. If it’s your preferred study method too, then read on…

To Start

• Read the PMI-ACP Certification page for prerequisite details and to start the online application, which can be saved multiple times as you add information.

• To get the required 21 hours of agile training, I decided to use the same training company’s product to study for this exam as I had for the PMP, which was OSP International. They offer the Agile PrepCast podcast and a PMI-ACP Exam Simulator product (4 full-length, 120-question PMI-ACP exams containing 480 unique questions) in one bundle called Agile PrepCast Elite, which was the perfect combination to buy. As a matter of fact, the podcast course results in 40.5 PDUs after listening to all episodes and taking their 20-question “Final Exam” online. That exceeds the PMI-ACP certification 21-hr requirement so as a bonus, those same PDUs can be applied towards PMP certification renewal.

Weeks 1, 2, and 3 (approx 45 hrs)

• Listened to the Agile PrepCast podcast episodes in order from start to finish and took “Brain Dump” style notes in Excel actively while listening to reinforce learning. Covered about 2-3 episodes daily.

• Printed and read the podcast-recommended PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline, the PMI Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct, and The Scrum Guide in these weeks.

• At the end of Week 3, took the full Simulation Test #1 on the PMI-ACP Exam Simulator to get a good sense of the scenario-based question format, to understand pacing to complete the exam, and to get a baseline score (75% overall and passing in all 7 Agile Domain areas). For the first pass, went through all 120 questions in 2 hours using the approach of selecting an answer for all of them even if the correct answer could only be narrowed down to 2 out of the 4 choices - “marked” those questions for review. There is no penalty for guessing a wrong answer so best not to leave any unanswered. Then took another 30 min to review all “marked” questions to make final answer decisions and submitted for scoring. The answer key provided in this simulation test product was very well done. It not only explained why an answer was correct but also why the other possible choices were not correct or not the best answer. Note: Since the exam questions are all scenario-based, there were many times that 2 of the possible answers could be correct, but one was slightly better than the other based on the information given. When in doubt, just ask “What would I do in real life?” and answer it.

• Took the Agile PrepCast 20-question Final Exam and earned the PDUs required to complete and submit the PMI-ACP application. Five days later, received confirmation from PMI that my application was accepted (not selected for audit, thank goodness!) and that the certification exam could be scheduled. Investigated testing centers nearby and scheduled a date 4 weeks out to have a target.

Weeks 4 and 5 (approx 20 hrs)

• Purchased a hard copy of the absolutely invaluable study guide called PMI-ACP Exam Prep by Mike Griffiths. This really was worth every penny and highly recommend using it. As prescribed by the author, read it cover to cover the first time doing the Exercises in each chapter but not the Chapter Review quizzes yet.

• While reading, took notes on index cards to summarize all the concepts, adding key bullet points for each. Making these index cards myself instead of purchasing ready-made flash cards helped me remember details better from the simple act of writing. Used the index cards for testing myself and reviewing concepts from then on.

Week 6 (approx 10 hrs)

• Took a full Simulation Test #2 on the PMI-ACP Exam Simulator using the same technique during the practice test as before and scored 80% this time. Felt much better prepared during the test after having read the PMI-ACP Exam Prep book by Griffiths. Reviewed all incorrect answers, reread those topics in the PMI-ACP Exam Prep book, and added more notes to my index cards if necessary to remember the nuance for next time.

• Reviewed chapter index cards and then took each of the Chapter Review quizzes in the PMI-ACP Exam Prep book (did 2 a day). Reviewed missed questions for each chapter and reread those parts in the exam book, adding to my index cards once more.

Week 7 (approx 20 hrs)

• On Monday and Tuesday, reread my Agile PrepCast “Brain Dump” style notes and all my index cards. Started memorizing the Agile Manifesto and 12 principles so that a brain dump of those during the real exam would be easy to write for reference when reading the scenario-based questions on the exam. Also, read the Agile Alliance’s Agile 101 web pages and reread the PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline.

• On Wednesday, reviewed all my index cards again and took the full Simulation Test #3, scoring 78% (about the same as last time) and again reviewed all missed questions. Continued reviewing index cards and the Brain Dump from the podcast and writing the Agile Manifesto and 12 principles from memory.

• On Thursday, took the full Simulation Test #4 and scored 85% (highest score to date), which signaled readiness. Continued reviewing index cards and writing the Agile Manifesto and 12 principles.

• On Friday (Exam Day) - The real certification exam matched the simulation test questions format very well, but it did take the full 3 hours this time to finish. Used the same strategy as on my simulation tests - answering all 120 questions and marking those to come back through on a second pass to make final decisions. I ran out of time with about 5 marked questions not reviewed, emphasizing why it’s extremely important to pick an answer for every question the first time through.

In the end, my score was “Above Target” for all 7 agile domains in the PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline so my study method paid off. Overall, I’d recommend a minimum of 7-8 weeks and about 100-120 hours doing a few hours daily to give yourself time to absorb and reinforce agile concepts. This timeframe also closely matches what the interviewees in the final episodes of the Agile PrepCast podcast had advised. Even after years of experience working daily in an agile environment, it was valuable to review the array of agile methodologies (Scrum, XP, Kanban, Lean, etc…) in a structured way and well worth pursuing the PMI-ACP certification. Hope this helps you with your attempt. Good luck!