Soton

After a few days I can answer my own question, which I'll leave for posterity. I'm happy to say I passed the exam but the test rarely mimicked the practice exam. Perhaps that's by design but I would say the practice exam, while it showed my initial gaps, did not prove useful in identifying gaps beyond those initial ones. The practice exam is perhaps good for one or two times but should not be relied on to prove your competency in whole sections despite your initial success in those sections. It was still useful but caused me to overlook certain areas so read everything again and again and join study groups, which I wish I would have done despite passing.

Has anyone taken the Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) exam recently and studied from the practice exam offered by NCMA? I'm curious to know how similar they are. I have been using the practice exam as a guide to see where my weaknesses are but the questions never change so I'm practicing from the same set of questions with the same answers so I'm fearful I'm focusing too much on a specific set of topics that may or may not get brought up. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, that is correct. I'm really looking towards the next jump in my career and at a leadership position, though not at my current employer. I'm notably weak in my cost reimbursement competencies and I think it may be a barrier as I begin to look elsewhere. I know experience is always best but that's difficult to come by in my position. Thank you, I've signed up for a few. I'll check it out, thank you.

Hi Everyone - I've been in the contract management field for over 10 years, moving from the Government to industry several years ago. As I progress through my career I have some gaps in my cost proposal/contract competencies that I would like to strengthen. Cost contracts are not completely foreign to me, I've been around them, I just never put one together myself and there are no opportunities to do so at my current employer. Could anyone suggest a class or training provider that would be good for gaining a better understanding of how cost proposals are put together and the contracts managed? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!