What to Expect on the Various CPIM Exams

APICS CPIM Testing - What to Expect

Exam Setup

There are five CPIM modules requiring you to take an exam pertaining to each one. There are plenty of courses available online which may guide the student more quickly through the material. APICS themselves promote plenty of study guides, sample questions, and other software packages that are helpful albeit very expensive. You will be taking the exam at a computer-based testing complex. All of the questions are multi-choice. There are 105 questions in the Basics of Supply Chain Management module (see our CPIM practice questions for real world examples). The rest of the modules have 75 questions. By doing your preparation on actually taking the exam, you're in better shape walking into the examination center than the unsuspecting, unprepared layman. It should also help you when you study and when you are managing your time during the test.

Answer Strategies

The multiple-choice questions on the CPIM will have four choices. About one-third of the questions are dual-level multiple-choice questions. An instance of this type of question: Studying for a test can make you feel A) more prepared B) less nervous C) more confident D) all of the above E) A and B only. These questions are thrown into higher level exams to reduce and discourage guesswork strategies. Some test takers insist that with multiple-choice questions, a certain answer is correct more often than others, usually answer C. Do not count on that being the case with the CPIM. It is random, and usually any of the answers could look correct more times than the others on any given test. It is important to comprehend how to read and answer multiple-choice questions for the CPIM, but you still have to know the material. Remember to check out our free CPIM study guide to get the most out of your preparation.

Beneficial Advice

On the modules with 75 questions, you'll have just over two minutes to answer each individual question. You should know that many people finish the exam with plenty of time to spare, so don't worry about your time. Your best bet is going through the test and answering questions to which the answers comes easily or right away. Mark the ones that may have you baffled and come back to them later; the key is maintaining momentum. You are able to go back and check your work on the test before completing it. So if you have time left over, you should double-check your answers and make sure that you answered each question on the CPIM test. Remember, you are not penalized for wrong answers, but you are penalized for answers that are left blank. Depending on the module, you may need to use pencil and paper to do computational work. We advocate saving these for last so you don't inadvertantly use up your time doing hand calculations. 

last time modified: Jan. 12, 2012, 3:18 a.m.