First off, thank you to PrepCast and the community. PrepCast is an amazing product and really gave me the tools and confidence to take the exam. Reading posts on here were also very helpful. Here is some of my lessons learned.
Preparing:
Take quizzes or exams in a quiet area. If you have time constraint, do a quiz that fits that time constraint. I only took one exam. But I took a bunch of quizzes. I also had a white noise generator with headphones on to block out interruptions. After each exam/quiz, go through each question right or wrong and read the answers. Oftentimes, you had it narrowed to 2 and took an educated guess. Confirm why the correct answer is the best answer.
After scoring in the 70's for most quizzes, I started reviewing the weak points more and reviewing questions more. Then I started consistently scoring in the 80s. My opinion is if you can consistently get in the 80's you should be ready.
The Test:
The test was way more vague and difficult than PrepCast. In fact, I was convinced I failed and with 15 questions to go I prepared myself for failure. Every question was based off what would make sense for a person to do under circumstances. Barely any questions that asked what process you are in or what process comes next. So many questions about organization going from predictive to agile and it's raining, so what's the best approach to the PM can take. Extremely vague and answers weren't easy to narrow down. I felt confident in 20% of all questions. I'm not joking. In the end I just used the mindset that Prepcast prepares you for. Take whatever clues you can get and go with whatever makes the most sense. I'm not sure what type of training course or materials or simulators could truly prepare you for such questions. I'd say just do as many Prepcast and reviews as possible. It does help you get in the right mindset to narrow down answers.
I also had several issues with the software. I used a brand new macbook pro. 1st TIP. The tutorial says you will have a calculator. My screen did not show it. It showed the whiteboard, chat, strikethrough and highlight buttons. No Calculator. I asked over chat about out. The guy said he would restart it for me to fix software loading issue. As a software development manager, I knew that wasn't the problem. But he did it anyway. My computer struggled to close all the windows. I then relaunched it manually and it failed. I rebooted my mac. When I got back in, I told them again. One guy said it would only show with questions that needed calculations. That sort of made sense. So I continued. First question I could see the calculator even though no calc needed. In fact, not one question on the exam needed a calculator. And I didn't need to do any math in my head. All those EVM, PERT, etc. formulas did not come up for me. Then in the middle of the test, the chat popped up even though I didn't click. Nobody typed anything. I was distracted. A couple questions later, I typed "hello" but the chat was broken. No words showed. I closed it and moved on. 3/4 of the way, my phone text messages started dinging like crazy. I could not concentrate. I tried the chat to ask proctor if I could turn my phone off. Chat still broken. I was frustrated. I tried to push on and ignore the constant beeps. You are supposed to have your phone available if proctor needs to call you. I then spoke into the screen asking for help. No response for minutes. I tried to press on but could not read one question and comprehend what it was. I talked into the mic again. I told them the chat is broken and I really need help. Finally somebody called. I explained and they agreed I could turn off my phone if I did it in front of the camera. That was that. Still annoyed and frustrated, but determined to pass. I honestly wasn't sure if some emergency or something else but tried to block it out. After the test I checked. It was two simultaneous random spam from gmail addresses with some phishing link. Unreal. During my test. When I finished the test I was praying to pass but felt even prayers could not make my wrong answers correct. It showed text about congratulations. I sort of believed it but not fully. I then finished and tried to get my results. Took me a while to figure out. PMI site did not show it. No email. Found a post about going to Pearson Vue and clicking schedule test. I tried that. Then I saw link about Test Statistics. That showed me AT/AT/AT. I was so amazed. I don't know what their criteria is but I was really surprised. I don't know how I was able to score so well with such uncertainty. My only takeaway from this is don't ever get down when taking the test. I didn't let it get me down. I just told myself that I can only get the next question right and not dwell on any I missed prior.
Well, I'm officially a PMP! I started late Feb and spent every day studying until I passed today. I took a couple days off, but I really grinded most nights after full day of work and all weekend. My wife any family were very supportive. Thanks to PrepCast and the forum. Keep in mind, my experience may vary from others. Just focus on doing well on PrepCast and once you hit your stride, you should be ready. I had some issues taking the test, but I adapted and pushed on. Just like a PMP has to adjust to project changes, we must adjust when issues come our way. All you aspiring PMP's out there - you can do it. Get that confidence with PrepCast. If you aren't in the 80's consistently, then don't force it. Take your time and learn your deficiencies. It will come to you. You will feel it.
