TOPIC: PMP Exam Readiness

I have been studying for a quite a while and have been trying to assess if I am ready to take the actual PMP exam.

I have listened to the PrepCast, used other study guides / materials, read the PMBOK, and took free online mock assessments. A few days ago, I started taking a 200-question exam in Cornelius' PMP exam simulator and got a score of 81% on my first attempt. I immediately reviewed thereafter and have took 3 other exams in Cornelius's simulator in the succeeding days. My scores have increased each time I took a different set of 200-question exam and I have got an 87% in my last attempt.

Although the scores seem ok (from my point of view), I still feel a little uncertain to take the test --- I don't think I have mastered the ITTOs enough, and everytime I take a new exam, I seem to pick up on a lot of concepts that I felt I was dealing with the first time.

I'm keen to hear other people's thoughts or opinion around gauging one's preparedness to take the PMP exam...

Hi Raymond,

my first thoughts were that your results of the "mock exams" sounds good to give it a trail.
However I can really really recommend that you keep your stress level as low as possible
during the exam to avoid any delay in answering questions. Because time is the bottleneck!

So if you feel uncertain with the ITTO you need to improve that feeling to a level
where you are comfortable with to get into a good mood during the exam.
From my point of view you need to have a really good "mindmap" in your mind about all ITTO's
and processes + how they are linked to each other to apply that easlily to the questions.
You can learn this for example with Mnemo techniques...

If you are happy with your "feeling" you should also do at least one exam from another free sources.
For example have a look on O.Lehmanns questions:

www.project-management-prepcast.com/inde...tions-from-o-lehmann

I scored different in different tests and passing that also improved my feeling.

Than you should do the exam, because every day you postpone it you also forget knowledge
Keep in mind: You need to make the final decision if you are ready or not.

Happy learnig and exam passing!!

Cheers
Sven

Thanks Sven!

Your advice has helped me immensely - I eventually got to that "happy feeling," took the exam with much confidence and was able to pull through.

Further to this, I took simulated exams repeatedly and reviewed all the questions I got wrong and those that I wasn't quite uncertain of. I took a lot of notes, referred back to the PMBOK guide and other references and reviewed until I know that I have a solid understanding of the concepts. This has helped me in tackling the questions with a lot more certainty.

So I finally got to schedule my test and I'm ecstatic to report that I have passed the PMP exam on the 15th of July! I received a proficient rating on 3 domains (Initiation, Planning, Monitoring & Controlling) and moderately proficient on the 2 others (Executing and Closing).

It wasn't an easy journey, but it was worth all the effort.

Big THANKS also to Cornelius and team - the Prepcast and Exam Simulator are indeed very practical and EFFECTIVE tools for PMP aspirants.

Raymond