Preparing for CDMP Exams

Pat and I often get questions about how to prepare for the CDMP exams. There are many ways to approach this, and several study guide publications available. Here's a list of some available resource for purchase:

• Published by the ICCP, The Certified Data Management Professional Guide textbook and The Certified Business Intelligence Professional textbook are available for purchase through the ICCP. These comprehensive guides contain information about the certification process, as well as outlines and sample questions for Core Exam and each of the CDMP qualifying exams.

• DAMA International also publishes two additional study guides that provide more in depth information, and sample questions, for the Data Management Exam and the Data Warehouse Exam. These are available for purchase through DAMA-I (info@dama.org) or through the ICCP (ICCP office@iccp.org or call 1-800-843-8227).

• In addition to these self-study guides, the ICCP offers two tutor-supported online courses: Information Systems CORE and Systems Analysis & Design (supports the Systems Development exam). Exam Prep Bootcamps are also available for DAMA chapters or groups of 10 or more. These are a great way to get certified quickly. Contact the ICCP office for more information about these.

• You can also get an idea of what test questions will be like by trying the sample tests available through ICCP. You can purchase these for $35 each - much less than taking the exam. If you are clueless about the answers on the sample tests, it's an indication that you may need more prep before springing for the full exam. If you feel fairly confident after taking the tests, even if you get a few answers wrong, your knowledge-level is probably at least in the ballpark to pass the exam.

Since several of the newer exams don't yet have formal study materials, I suggest that people do independent study by reviewing the exam subject outlines from ICCP.org and research the topics on the outline using the web. One way to do this is to start with a search engine or Wikipedia and follow links to bibliographical references. Also, you can check out the related publications and authors that are listed on the DAMA website. Buy or borrow related printed materials, and scan the available online information.

I will also be doing a series of postings "from the trenches" on this blog. Over time, I hope to provide a forum for the CDMP community to post additional study suggestions and links to online, freely available resources for each of the CDMP exams on this blog, so if you have some useful ideas or resources you would like to share with others, please let me know, and stay tuned...