CPLP Knowledge Exam - How to Deal with Confusing Questions which Don't Count Toward Your Score

Many CPLP candidates miss the fact that there are a number of items (questions) presented on the CPLP Knowledge Exam which do not contribute to their exam scores.

In this blog post, I cover what these unscored items are, where they are, why they are, and how to deal with them.

Unscored items…

• 25-30 questions on your exam will NOT count toward your score.
• These items are included in the exam to test the items, not the candidate.
• Standard exam practice. ATD CI uses the live exam as a means of validating new items for possible inclusion in future versions of the official CPLP Knowledge Exam.
• You won’t know which items are scored and which are not scored.

This means…

• You’ll encounter poorly written questions on the exam. They will be vague (like Q3) and could be unsettling.
• Expect them and prepare yourself for them.

Here's a good example of a vague question, sent to us by a CPLP candidate in China: 

Enter your response in the Comments below! What do you think is the correct answer?

  
How to deal with them?

• Come up with a plan for how you will emotionally and mentally deal with them when you see them.
• You don’t want to let them inhibit your exam performance by a) prompting an emotional reaction that gets you upset, and/or b) spending too much time on them.
• Prep your strategy ahead of time.
• For example, think the following through BEFORE your exam: When I encounter a vague question, I will… [take a deep breath, spend no more than 60 seconds on it, answer it and Mark for Review, etc].
• Think triage. I often coach candidates to emotionally dismiss confusing questions by smiling or laughing at them – and hurrying past them.

Bottom Line: Treat all confusing questions as if they are certainly unscored and move on. This will protect you emotionally and mentally and prevent you from diminishing your performance on the rest of the exam.

From my family to yours during this festive season - THANK YOU for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To your success!

~ trish

~ Trish Uhl, PMP, CPLP
2005 CPLP Pilot Pioneer
CEO and Founder Owl's Ledge
Creator, CPLP Mastery Series and CPLPCOACH.com

P.S. You've put in the study time, now put in the PRACTICE that builds your CPLP Knowledge Exam COMPETENCE and COMPETENCE!

Take an absolutely free practice exam right now:

http://www.cplpcoach.com/public/146.cfm