Dear Friends,
Happy to share that I have cleared my PMP exam on 28th Dec 2012.
Applied for PM Prep Cast course way back in Apr 2011. Due to some
personal reasons could not prepare.
Restarted my preparation in Oct 2012. Took the 35 hr certificate exam.
It took lot of time for me to prepare the application, as most of my
colleagues/seniors/supervisors whom I had referred were out of
touch.Luckily, got organized everything in time. Submitted my
application, it was not audited. Hence Immediately slotted my exam as
I wanted to complete it once for all.
Exam Preparation:
Studied for about 2 hrs daily from Oct to Mid Dec 12. Once my
Prometric date was confirmed, had about 10 days time to prepare.
In the week prior to the exam, took leave from office and had to put
in close to 8-10 hrs daily.
Study Material used.
1. PM Prep Cast - Good material with lots of explanation. But since I
prefer more of reading than to listening, I had to keep it aside after
one reading. Probably the highest value for the dollars spent as
compared to other products in the market ( along with the 35 hr
certificate)
2. PMBOK 4th edition : very detailed, but very dry. The tables on
ITTOS was very useful, took printout of all the ITTO tables in the
book and kept reading whenever there was free time on my Galaxy Note
2.
3. How To Pass PMP On Your First Try by Andy Crowe - Excellent Book.
60-70% of my preparation was from this book. Easy to understand
language, lots of examples. Focused more on the basic terms, had to
refer to other books for more complex concepts.
Practice: This is probably the main lesson anyone has to heed to in
order to clear PMP successfully. My suggestion is read through PMBOK
once you complete listening to all the episodes of PM Prep Cast, and
then try to practice as many questions as possible. Success rate can
be as low as 50% also, which is good. As it would give an opportunity
to understand the concept with the scenario based questions which are
given in the practice tests. Once some practice is done , started with
"Andy Crowe Book" through which I was able to understand the concepts
more lucidly.
I used PMP Exam Prep by Christopher Scordo which had about 1000+
practice questions.
apart from this, practiced the tests available in the following tests.
b.
www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions.htm
c.
www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/free-down...Sample_Questions.pdf
4.
www.free-pm-exam-questions.com/
d.
www.headfirstlabs.com/PMP/free_exam/
e.
www.examcentral.net
f.
www.simplilearn.com/slportal/login/login.do
.
My the time Exam day approached my success rate in the practice tests
was still at 70-75% only as against 80-85% as advised by most of the
preparatory sites available.
Exam Day:
On my Exam day 28th Dec 2012. Reached the test center 1 hr in advance
of the allotted time. Since there was a slot available was allowed to
take the exam before my scheduled time. My bag and other paraphernalia
went in to a locker including Hand Kerchief, wallet, pen, analog
watch ( food and water are stored separately). My passport and the
locker key were the only things allowed inside.
Was nervous looking at the setup at Prometric Institute. The entire
thing was being video recorded and it looked a bit uneasy. But with in
the first 10 min , got used to it. Marked about 18 questions for
review in my first 50 questions, bit tensed. Continued with the exam
,Took about 60 min to answer the first 100 questions. Took a break
for 10 min for nature call , had some snacks ( which I brought from
Home). Upon entering, again the security check asking me to empty my
pockets. Came back and completed the balance questions in another 75
min. Total questions marked for review was 60 ( i think).
Started rechecking the "marked" questions, now bit more confident. The
thing I observed was I maintained the same answer which I marked
initially based on Gut feeling. Looks like most of them turned out to
be correct. Once you complete the exam , there is a feedback session
while the results are being calculated. There is nothing much to do
but wait ( seems like eternity) and complete the feedback for
Prometric location.
Finally message displayed across screen saying I PASSED the Exam. Big
relief. once you come out of the testing room. You are given a
printout regarding your result.
This is my journey onto becoming a PMP
Rgds
Bommu Sampath Kumar
