Hi All,
I passed my PMP exam yesterday (Friday) and got an email from PMI today.
How I did
Initiating – Above Target
Planning – Above Target
Executing – Above Target
Monitoring and Controlling – Above Target
Closing – Below Target
My preparation took approximately 5 months using the materials below
Study Book/Guide Used are;
PMBOK – Read Twice
Andy Crowe (How to pass on your first try) – Read Twice
Rita book – Read once
Practice Questions Used
1. Prep Cast Simulator: Practiced a lot of quiz by knowledge areas and did all 8 mock exams twice with scores ranging from 80% on the first try and 95% to 98% score on the second attempt
2. Andy Crowe Questions: practice knowledge area questions and 200 questions scoring 85%
3. Daniel Ryan PM exam coach Simulator: practiced multiple quizzes of small, medium and final mock exam scoring 80%
4. Rita Questions: did all knowledge area questions and a mock exam at the back
5. PMI Mock exam: did PMI mock exam three times, scored 78%, 87% and 97% on each attempt
Studying and practicing with multiple study guides and mock questions gave me the chance to see questions asked in different ways and being able to still get the concept that shows the materials were really helpful and I am so thankful for that.
I find Prep Cast to be the best resource and I really applaud Cornelius because, after taking the real exam, I see that prep cast questions are very similar to the real exam questions and the way prep cast simulator is built really helped me for time management as well as features like the strike and grid to review questions answered and unanswered which is exactly the same features on the real exam, all of that really helped my preparation and gave me a lot of confidence before and during the exam, and I say a big thank you to prep cast.
Real Exam and Technical issues Experienced.
First attempt ( 07/06/2020) Online: I attempted the exam on the 6th of July which started with the login session going smooth, after answering 89 questions, was taken to the review page, after reviewing some questions I asked the proctor if I still have enough time to review and go to the second half of the exam and the proctor said not worry that when its time up for the first half I will get a prompt to go for an optional break, this was taking longer than I expected and I asked the proctor again but was told once again not to worry and just wait for the break prompt, finally after over 3 hours the prompt to go on break popped up and the proctor told me you can go on break but not to exceed 10 mins. I took a break for 9 mins and came back, immediately I ended the break, the exam ended and graded me and said sorry you have not passed and asked me to take a survey. I was so furious and started chatting with the proctor who told me that is not possible and asked that I complete the survey and the second half of the exam will start, I refused to complete the survey because I was not willing to do a survey on an exam I did not complete. The survey time ended and the browser started to close and I lost the proctor after the browser closed it took me to the Pearson Vue exam sign-in page and asked to resume exam again, I clicked on resume exam again and got a notification to wait for a proctor to resume exam again. I waited for 1hr 25mins with nothing happening at the same time I was on the phone with Pearson vue customer service who told me to close the browser as nothing was happening. A case was created and it took 8 days for Pearson vue and PMI to review and investigate, after which I got an apology from PMI for the terrible technical issue and was informed the exam is revoked and I could take the exam again at no extra charge.
Second Attempt ( 07/31/2020) Test Center: took the exam for the second time, after the first half of the exam, I went on the scheduled break and wanted to take a drink from my locker, I took out my bag and my phone, reached out for a bottle of water from the locker after taking the water I put the bottle of water and my bag back into the locker and locked it, subconsciously I was still holding my phone not realizing that I had not put it back in my bag. I told the test center lady I was ready to go back in and she looked at me and said you are holding your phone, I was so surprised and told her oh I must have held it by mistake, before I knew it the lady started screaming at me saying I could not finish the exam and she proceeded to call PMI, I kept on telling her the phone is off but she gave a deaf ear. Once she got PMI on the phone, they asked her where I was and she told them I am at the lobby on my scheduled break about to get screened back into the exam room, and they asked how many minutes all this has been which the lady said was 3 mins. Long story short I told them my phone was off and they instructed the test center lady to allow me back into the exam room to complete my exam. the test lady did not want me to finish my exam because of a small mistake and her wickedness but I learned my lesson and I am so glad PMI allowed me to finish my exam which I passed and got my congratulatory message and e-certificate this morning.
I know this is very long but I hope it helps someone.
I am so excited for such an achievement.
