TOPIC: Passed PMP this week - my experience

I took and passed the PMP exam this week onsite at a PearsonVUE test center and wanted to relay a couple of quick thoughts.

First off, I took a bootcamp course from a provider (short name begins with E) that a 100% recommend avoiding - poor communications, poor instructor, poor presentation/materials, and worst of all, was oriented around the old PMP structure and exam. Luckily I visited this site and others and took seriously the recommendations of other students, and ended up using the PM Prepcast exams, which were far better and more accurate than the ones provided by my bootcamp provider.

I'd say 70-80% of questions involved hybrid, agile, and/or transition from predictive to those, and were situational as well. Very few math/formula questions. I focused on eliminating improper answers first (note: PM Prepcast strikeout easier to use than PearsonVue). The exam I found frustrating because any topic from the PMBOK might be discussed, but the vast majority would have been based on the Agile Practitioner guide or other Agile sources.

I did unit tests from my bootcamp to start but quickly switched over to PM Prepcast exams, did 10 unit exams on KAs (20 questions each) and got 65-85%, mostly above 75%. Then I did one full exam, and got mid 70's I think. I reviewed mainly missed questions only, and wrote down notes on those to reinforce those items in my mind. The PM Prepcast questions were much closer to the exam than my other source, and I'm 100% positive I would have failed had I not used them.

I found many of the questions had 2 very similar possible answers, and during the exam was very uncertain as to if I had answered correctly, though my AT scores in all 3 areas tells me I guessed decently. Because the situational questions are in paragraph form, I found the time allocated for the exam VERY challenging, finishing up with perhaps 1.5 minutes left, and only having had the chance to review a handful of questions. It's much harder to parse a whole paragraph and parse/select situational answers, as opposed to say something like "If your PMO trusts team members, you are following: A) Theory Z, Theory X, C) Theory Y , D) Maslows Hierarchy"

My advise is to absolutely do at least 1 full exam, not just to find out weaknesses but to get used to the speed required to keep up a good pace.

Congratulations, Erik!

Thank you for sharing your Lessons Learned. They are very helpful, although I'm sorry to hear that your bootcamp wasn't a worthwhile experience.

When you are ready to start earning PDU’s for PMP recertification, check out the PM PrepCast’s offerings, The PM Podcast and the The PDU Podcast which will help you keep up with PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR’s) and maintain your new certification.