Taking the CPIM Exam: Set Your Schedule

There's nothing more frustrating than watching valuable seconds tick down as you're attempting an important test. You've studied up, identified your learning style, focused on your weakest knowledge area and finally here you are, staring face to face with your first CPIM exam. The screen is a cold white backdrop against the sharp black letters, and you find yourself drawing a blank after forty minutes of momentum. We've been there.

When dealing with a timed test it's best to give yourself a schedule to follow as this will help alleviate the pressure of moving from question to question. The first CPIM exam, Basics of Supply Chain Management, is 105 questions. Since you have 3 hours to take all the CPIM tests, you have less than 2 minutes per question (160 minutes divided by 105 questions). Do the same calculation for the 75 question exams, modules two through five, to arrive at 2.13 minutes per question - a more relaxed schedule. Apply this schedule to your thought process and remain relaxed and focused regardless of how you feel the test is going.

Momentum is paramount. Studies have proven that test takers who read all the questions on the exam before attempting to answer any are much more likely to pass. Why? They can assess the questions quickly to determine the scope, difficulty, and time per question needed to successfully complete the test. Test takers who read ahead won't be surprised by a road-block question half way through the grueling exam. Go through ea

ch question quickly - mark the ones that require calculation or seem foreign at first glance. The exam will indicate how many questions you've marked; if you've marked 10 questions, you'll need at least twice the amount of time for these problems, say, 20 extra minutes. If you're not an analytical person or you just don't fancy math on the fly, just know that you'll need to breeze over 10 questions to stay on schedule.

What happens if you're falling behind to your time-per-question schedule? First and foremost, don't panic. Don't speed up or begin selecting random choices. These tests are a mental challenge to more than just the material on the screen - they test to see how well you manage time, perform under pressure, and eliminate wrong answers. Take a deep breath, mark and skip the question, and move on. You'll need to assess if the difficulty you're having is with the material or the testing-taking process in general. Studying harder, using our tried and true CPIM practice questions, or reading over Arnolds Introduction to Materials Management are all excellent solutions to these problems. If you struggle taking formalized tests like these, you'll need to identify which part of the process is most problematic and attack it from there.

Remember, careless errThere's nothing more frustrating than watching valuable seconds tick down as you're attempting an important test. You've studied up, identified your learning style, focused on your weakest knowledge area and finally here you are, staring face to face with your first CPIM exam. The screen is a cold white backdrop against the sharp black letters, and you find yourself drawing a blank after forty minutes of momentum. We've been there.

When dealing with a timed test it's best to give yourself a schedule to follow as this will help alleviate the pressure of moving from question to question. The first CPIM exam, Basics of Supply Chain Management, is 105 questions. Since you have 3 hours to take all the CPIM tests, you have less than 2 minutes per question (160 minutes divided by 105 questions). Do the same calculation for the 75 question exams, modules two through five, to arrive at 2.13 minutes per question - a more relaxed schedule. Apply this schedule to your thought process and remain relaxed and focused regardless of how you feel the test is going.

Momentum is paramount. Studies have proven that test takers who read all the questions on the exam before attempting to answer any are much more likely to pass. Why? They can assess the questions quickly to determine the scope, difficulty, and time per question needed to successfully complete the test. Test takers who read ahead won't be surprised by a road-block question half way through the grueling exam. Go through each question quickly - mark the ones that require calculation or seem foreign at first glance. The exam will indicate how many questions you've marked; if you've marked 10 questions, you'll need at least twice the amount of time for these problems, say, 20 extra minutes. If you're not an analytical person or you just don't fancy math on the fly, just know that you'll need to breeze over 10 questions to stay on schedule.

What happens if you're falling behind to your time-per-question schedule? First and foremost, don't panic. Don't speed up or begin selecting random choices. These tests are a mental challenge to more than just the material on the screen - they test to see how well you manage time, perform under pressure, and eliminate wrong answers. Take a deep breath, mark and skip the question, and move on. You'll need to assess if the difficulty you're having is with the material or the testing-taking process in general. Studying harder, using our tried and true CPIM practice questions, or reading over Arnolds Introduction to Materials Management are all excellent solutions to these problems. If you struggle taking formalized tests like these, you'll need to identify which part of the process is most problematic and attack it from there.

Remember, careless errors due to rushing or even guessing is the #1 pitfall to even the top scoring test takers. Going too quickly can be just as detrimental as falling behind. Stick to your preset pace, remain calm, and you'll more inclined to walk out of that testing center with a smile on your face and a paper in your hand that reads "Pass".

Earning an APICS certification ors due to rushing or even guessing is the #1 pitfall to even the top scoring test takers. Going too quickly can be just as detrimental as falling behind. Stick to your preset pace, remain calm, and you'll more inclined to walk out of that testing center with a smile on your face and a paper in your hand that reads "Pass".

Earning an APICS certification