Is Comptia's Project+ certification too tough to pass?

Certification: CompTIA CompTIA Project+ - CompTIA Project+

CompTIA Project+ certification is a different and unique kind of certification which deals with all the aspects of project management. While most of the certifications by CompTIA focus on the IT industry, this certification operates on a more general level. It tends to provide the candidate with the knowledge and skills related of project management in the IT industry, which will enable him to manage various projects effectively. In fact, it is one of those certifications which will bring you great benefits in the form of amazing jobs and high salaries.

CompTIA Project+ certification comes with one compulsory exam which is essential to pass this certification. This means that the difficulty of the certification depends on how difficult the exam is. Although the exam deals with the general topics of project management, it is important to note that it primarily focuses on the management of projects in the IT Industry. In this regard, the main question which comes in the mind of most of the people is whether this certification is easy or is it quite difficult like most of other certifications by CompTIA, and hence difficult to pass? In this regard, we need to consider a number of factors before coming to the final conclusion. We will have a look at the topics included in the exam, passing percentage for the exam, prerequisites required for the certification and some other factors to decide whether passing the certification is tough or not.

Topics Included – Difficult or Easy?

There are basically 4 main topics which are included in this certification. The candidate will be assessed in the exam on the base of these topics and his performance in solving the questions related to them. These topics are of a general level and do not require any background knowledge by the candidate. Following are the topics.

1.  Project Initiation – 20%

This topic will assess whether the candidate is able to initiate the project in a proper way. In this regard, it will test if the candidate knows how to create a proposal and present it to the customer. The candidate should also know how to begin the project by communicating the essentials to the seniors.

2.  Project Planning – 30%

This topic will test the ability of the candidate to plan the project. The candidate should also have the skills to use different software in the process of planning projects; including PERT charts, Gantt charts etc. This topic carries a high weightage.

3.  Project Execution – 43%

This is the most important topic included in this certification. This topic will test how the candidate executes the whole project. In this regard, the candidate will have to make different decisions, changes, improvements etc. during the course of the project.

4.  Project Closure – 7%

This project will check how the candidate closes the project by creating appropriate documentation and communicating it to the seniors.

As you can see, all of the topics included in this certification are of a general level and the certification will have basic questions regarding project management in the exam. Only the topic of Project planning requires you to use some advanced software. Hence, as far as the topics are concerned, you should not worry as they are not tough. If you prepare well, you will easily be able to clear the exam.

Required Skills – More or less?

Like all certifications, it is logical to think that CompTIA Project+ certification also comes with a set of prerequisite skills. However, surprisingly this is not the case! This certification does not require you to have any prerequisite skills or experience. This simply means that this is a certification of a very basic level which will provide you the knowledge from the scratch.

Although it is recommended that you should have a working experience of 1 year before doing this certification, it is just an option. People who don’t have any experience in this field have cleared this test quite easily; this shows that the certification not that much tough.

Exam Structure: Simple or Complex?

This certification has only one exam affiliated with it which has to be cleared in order to gain it. This exam comprises of a total of 100 questions. In addition to this, the questions will be multiple choice ones in which you will have to select the most appropriate answer. The duration provided to finish these 100 questions is exactly 90 minutes. This means that you have exactly 54 seconds to give to each question.

You need to keep in mind that this limited time is what makes this exam difficult for some people. Most of the people have had difficulties completing the exam on time. This is one of the things which could prevent you from passing the exam.

Passing Percentage: Low or High?

In order to clear the exam in this certification, you need to get at least 710 marks out of a total 900 marks. This means that you have to get a passing percentage of at least 79% if you wish to pass the certification. Well, even though the topics included in the exam are easy and the content is simple, this passing percentage is quite high. This means that you will need to have good concepts in order to clear this certification by getting at least 79% marks.

Final Verdict

We need to combine all of the information which we discussed above in order to arrive on the final conclusion; is it really touch to pass the Project+ certification? Well, as far as the topics and the content of the exam are concerned, it is not an issue. The topics are basic and will have simple questions in the exam. However, the limited time given to clear the exam and the high percentage required to clear it are the factors which might restrict people from passing the certification.

In this regard, we can conclude that it is neither easy nor tough to pass the CompTIA Project+ certification. The certification is of a moderate difficulty. If prepared well, it will not be difficult to clear and pass this certification.