I am proud to say that I am successful in my effort to obtain my second PMI credential. Yes, I am a Certified Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP).


The thought of taking up the RMP exam crossed me sometime in early June. But, I didn't pursue that because of the change in examination syllabus from PMBOK 4 to PMBOK 5. I thought that the time was too short to achieve the goal.

Then, sometime in June itself, I came to know that only PMP exam changes by end of July 2013 whereas RMP exam changes only by end of August. So, I wanted to give it a try. Even though I know that there were insignificant changes from PMBOK4 to PMBOK5, I was reluctant to wait. (A known devil is better than unknown angel, right?).


I did some research to find the contact hours required to fulfil PMI's requirements. I purchased one month of online access to VTC. They have several online courses, which you can access during the period of subscription. If you complete watching the videos for a course, you will get the certificate of completion for that course.

Resources used for RMP exam preparation

1. VTC.com: PMI-RMP Risk Management Professional bundle (Author: Vanina Mangano)
2. Risk Management Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers + PMI-RMP Exam Prep Guide by Rita Mulcahy
3. Study Guide For the PMI Risk Management Professional Exam by Abdulla J. Alkuwaiti
4. PMBOK 4
5. PMP Exam Prep, Seventh Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam by Rita Mulcahy
6. Risk Management chapter from Head First Pmp: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam by Andrew Stellman
7. Several free online resources, some of which are listed below:
7a. PMXCEL: PMI-RMP Sample Questions
7b. uCertify.com: Trial Copy of PMI-RMP Course
7c. SimpliLearn: Free PMI-RMP Practice Test

Advice for PMI-RMP aspirants

Even though I have listed lot of resources above, I didn't use all of them to the full extent. Here is how I have used them:

• I listened to most of the video content from VTC.com; they were quite useful and informative. I answered all the practice questions and mock test given by VTC.com and compared those answers with the author's answers.
• I used Rita's Risk Management book and Alkuwaiti's risk management book only to try the end of the chapter questions; I did not find it necessary to go through the entire book.
• I went through PMBOK's risk management chapter (in my opinion, this is the most useful exercise you should do); and a quick review of other chapters like quality, communication, human resources, time, cost and procurement.
• I used Head First PMP book also for only trying end of the chapter questions in risk management
• I find most of the online resources not that useful for PMI-RMP exam

Conclusion

If you are a PMP credential holder, you will not find PMI-RMP exam too difficult. The approach is similar; but get ready for a barrage of questions primarily around risk management. You should be thorough with all the risk management processes, the tools and techniques, and concepts like secondary risk, residual risk, contingency plans, work arounds and so on. Wishes for your success in PMI-RMP exam. If you need any advice/ suggestions/ feedback, please leave a comment below.