The Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) is the best Data Strategy certification you’ve never heard of. It’s based on the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK) from DAMA, an excellent reference book for data professionals. Data Strategy is a crucial discipline that spans end-to-end management of the data lifecycle as well as associated areas like data governance and data ethics.
The CDMP Fundamentals exam lays the groundwork for effective thought leadership on Data Strategy. After passing the exam by answering 60 out of 100 questions correctly, you’ll be recognized as a CDMP Associate. You can sign up here for an email Study Plan that will help you ace the exam in 90 days. Also, check out this Facebook group to join a community studying for the CDMP.
The CDMP confers expertise across 14 areas of Data Strategy. The test is open book, but the 100 questions on the exam must be completed within 90 minutes — not a lot of time to be looking things up. Therefore, it’s important to be extremely familiar with the reference material. You can also print out study guides (like the ones included in the CDMP Study Plan) and use your notes during the test.
When you schedule the exam ($300), DAMA provides 200 practice questions that are pretty reflective of the difficulty of the actual exam. It’s possible to sit for the exam online while monitored via webcam ($11 proctoring fee). The exam covers the first 14 chapters of the DMBOK ($55).
The CDMP Study Plan ($89) will help you maximize your time and energy while preparing for the test. Each week covers a different chapter or chapters of the DMBOK with key takeaways, vocabulary, and study guides you can print and use during the test. The study schedule leverages the 80/20 rule to keep you focused on the most important content likely to appear on the exam. And because certification is about more than getting top marks on the exam, the study plan includes thoughtful external resources, additional reading, and preparation for a career as a data professional.
The format of the CDMP exam is multiple choice — choose the single correct option out of five. You can mark questions and come back to them. At the conclusion of test taking, you get immediate feedback on your score. Anything over 60% is considered passing, though to attain higher levels of certification from DAMA, you’ll need a score greater than 80%.
