In today’s business environment the importance of agile can not be understated. So you have decided to become an agile practitioner , who not have a certification to enhance your understanding . Its is a very simple process so lets get started

I am excited I cleared my exam last weekend and wanted to share this with community

• Lets start with Why
• Eligibility Requirements
• Exam Format
• Study Material
• Preparation time required
• Tips and Tricks

Why have a certification?

You may have been practicing agile for years but you may not know a broader perspective on different agile frameworks. Example how Scrum and Kanban relate to Lean principals of reducing waste. A certification helps you enrich your understanding and also in customer communication. A lot depends on your role and needs.

Eligibility Requirements

• Secondary degree
• 21 contact hours of training in agile practices
• 12 months of general project experience within the last 5 years. A current PMP^® or PgMP^® will satisfy this requirement but is not required to apply for the PMI-ACP.
• 8 months of agile project experience within the last 3 years

Best is to visit the PMI website

You need to apply to PMI and they may take couple of weeks to verify and then you can apply for the exam.

Exam format

Multiple choice. 120 questions , 180 minutes. You can take the exam online from your home.

Study Material

This is a very interesting question. For all of you PMP folks who studied the famous PMBOK end to end 3 times , the story for PMI-ACP is different. There is no PMBOK for PMI-ACP. I can share what I read, but you need to decide on own how many books you read . I can highly recommend

• PMI-ACP Exam Prep by Mike Griffiths(Updated second Edition)
• Agile Practice Guide by PMI

I also took a course from Udemy PMI-ACP Exam Prep for PMBOK 6 which gives you 21 PDU for eligibility and also a nice structure

I also purchased Agile FASTrack® Cloud – PMI-ACP® Exam Simulator

I just purchased a three month subscription. Please note this is optional. You should also exlore linked in learning where there are multiple courses for the same

Depending on your motivation level and energy who can also look at this PMI Exam prep questions which I found really helpful.

If you read only Mike Griffiths book end to end three times , I have a feeling you will pass.

Preparation time Required

You should plan around 100-150 hours of exam preparation time . When you take a practice test , make sure you budget enough time for analyzing as its very important to understand why you picked a wrong choice .

Tips and Tricks

Its very simple. You need to focus more on understanding than memorizing. You need to understand the agile mindset. If you really get the agile mindset you will pass. Most of the questions are situational and test your understanding of concepts.

Make sure you take enough practice tests so have the mental stamina to patiently answer 120 questions without a single break. Yes in the online format you can not have any break , not even a bio break. Rules are simple , you leave the webcam , you fail .

I found staring at myself with this tiny webcam window quite odd during the exam so not a bad idea to switch on your webcam and see yourself when you take those practice tests.

What else , All the best and share your success story