How to choose a good PMP training institute?

There are numerous PMP training providers in the market out there, trying their best to convince you to choose them as the preferred training providers.

Do remember, the good ones rely on testimonials and word of mouth and the others deploy marketing techniques to promote them.

This document will help you understand how to select the best ones.

The following will be general guidelines –

• Past record
• Reference from friends/colleagues
• Less marketing
• Strictly select no pass guarantee programs. (They tend to be tricky and often misleading)

Remember, the cost of the training program is the least you need to think keeping in view the cost of the exam and the career benefits at stake. Talk to any of your colleagues or friends who did training from there and collect feedback from them.

There are few institutes giving passing guarantee programs. My suggestion is to not to go there. There will be certainly based on some terms and conditions and those are very misleading and tricky and designed in such a way so that you will never be able to meet them. Even if you meet them, only the training fee is reimbursed not the exam cost.

Points to think before evaluating a PMP training provider

• Is the training offered in a classroom, online or a combination of both– Better to choose from the class room programs and not other mode of training delivery. PMP is different and you require expert coaching. The trainer makes a huge difference to you success.
• Is the trainer available for getting queries addressed?– This is the most difficult part and only handful of few will support you. After the initial marketing promise, they just vanish and not even respond to mail or call. Look for genuine review to get to know the authenticity.
• The quality of trainers- Most of the providers work with freelancers, most of whom are not even fit to work in a kindergarten, forget about professionals. They work on weekend for few more dollars and has no commitment to the profession and this impacts your success greatly. Remember, it is not the training fee, it is exam fee at stake and your valuable time at stake. These people do not offer any guidance post training program. There is no connect after the program. ‘Pay for it- attend the program-forget it’ will be the situation. Demand the trainers profile before you decide. Visit their Linkedin profile to check, if possible get in touch with him and discuss your profile with him. Remember, it is not the training content or the material, the trainer makes a huge difference to your success.
• Number of practice simulation exams- There are many junk PMP exam simulators in the market, most of which are just junk and will eventually impact your preparation with conflicting remarks and answers. Most of the training providers will promise 20+ simulations or 12000+ question etc. Please be careful here as the practice simulations make a huge difference again to your success. Almost all of them will redirect you to all freely available junk PMP simulators, whose authenticity is a big question. Remember, in your PMP success, practice the questions is very important as the PMP questions are completely different from any other questions in the world.
• Do not choose bundled offer– Buy one get one free- These are the classic cheating types and absolutely there will be no value addition with the other unwanted certificate they offer. This is a trap, should avoid in the first place.
• What do online reviews say about the program?- Not that all the review are genuine. Most of the review are made up and are fake. See the genuinely of the review and then decide. If you find the review to be suspicious, please dump the training provider. It is easy to understand the reviews, by looking at the language, the one who gave the review etc, will help you decide on that. My suggestion is that look for the profile of the reviewers on Linkedin instead. Out of random check on 10 reviewer’s profiles on Linkedin, you will be in a position to make out the genuine ones.

Also, do not depend on other popular social media review. Most of the review on the other platforms are paid. LinkedIn offers some sort of opportunity to check the reviewer.

• What is the cost?- Do not look for the cheaper options. The general trend is that initially they quote very high and upon little bargaining, they offer at even half the initial quote. These are the one who are misleading from the starting itself. Do look for value for money. Look of post training support, the number of mock exams (simulations) for practice etc makes a huge difference.

It is very imperative that the training provider will be the ‘key success factor’ and choosing is the right one rather the cheapest one or the marketing types is important.

The Right Project Management Training Program Can Make the Difference because if you cannot clear this exam in one go, it impacts your confidence of taking this exam again.

Be wise and choose the wiser.