Hi All,
A huge THANK YOU to Cornelius, the entire PM PrepCast team, and everyone on the forum. I used the forum as a source of encouragement and advice as I prepared for my exam day. Since everyone has a different professional background and learning style, it’s hard for anyone to offer a “surefire way” to ensure someone passes the exam “on the first try”. However, I found it very helpful to read how others prepared because it can be a very lonely road along the journey to attaining the PMP. So here’s an overview of the resources I used that helped me pass the exam today in three hours with AT/AT/AT/AT/T. I studied approximately 750 hours before sitting for the exam. Hope it helps.
Course: Pluralsight PMP Course (35 qualifying hours) [Note: I have an account through my job so the course was free. I found the course to be valuable and appreciated that I could watch the content at 2x speed.]
Books
1. PMBOK Guide 6th Edition [Note: I read the entire book, to include the Agile add-on, once. I didn’t find this to be a valuable resource, at all. As most people say, it was dry and repetitive. While it is a critical guidebook for PMPs it is more of a reference and not a “textbook” detailing the principles in an easy-to-understand way.]
2. The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, Sixth Edition (Andy Crowe) [Note: I read this book from cover to cover three times. It was an invaluable study resource. It was the textbook I was hoping the PMBOK guide would be. I highly recommend this resource.]
Practice Questions (Hard Copies)
1. PMP Exam Prep Over 600 Practice Questions: Based on PMBOK Guide 6th Edition (Andrew Ramdayal) [Note: The difficulty level of the questions is comparable to the PMP Exam Simulator exam/quiz questions. However, the questions tended to be long so the practice quizzes were mentally exhausting but, for the most part, the answer key offered thorough explanations to justify the right answers.]
2. How to get every Network Diagram question right on the PMP® Exam: 50+ PMP® Exam Prep Sample Questions and Solutions on Network Diagrams (Aileen Ellis) [Note: Watching the videos and reading about network diagrams did not help me understand this topic at all. However, this book allowed me to get great practice answering quality questions. What started as the most scary topic became my favorite by the time I completed the book.]
3. How to get every Earned Value question right on the PMP® Exam: 50+ PMP® Exam Prep Sample Questions and Solutions on Earned Value Management (Aileen Ellis) [Note: Another great resource for high quality practice questions.]
Practice Questions (Apps)
1. PMP Practice Test 2019 Edition [Note: This was my favorite study resource. It forced me to dive deep in each knowledge area and review questions I missed at least three times before allowing me to progress to a higher level. I returned to this after every PMP Exam Simulator exam to gain a deeper understanding of my problem areas.]
2. PMP Pocket Prep [Note: I only used the free version of the app but didn’t find the questions to be as high quality as the PMP Practice Test app so I didn’t invest much time using this as a resource.]
Mock Exams: PMP Exam Simulator
The exam simulator was the best and most critical investment for my successful completion of the real PMP exam. It helped me build up my mental stamina, identify my weak areas, and measure how well I was (or not) comprehending the concepts from my studies. In between my exams, I would practice using the simulator quizzes and the PMP app. I averaged 90% on my short quizzes but my full exams ranged between 70% – 83%. I completed six full exams.
Quick Reference Guide
8 Pages Quick Reference Guide - Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam - 6th Edition Updated - March 2018 (Sohel Akhter) [Note: As anyone who’s ever studied for the PMP exam knows, there’s a LOT of information to learn and comprehend. I didn’t have to take any notes because this quick reference guide covered all the key topics/concepts on the exam. I was able to reference it during my practice sessions and review it everyday for the week leading up to my exam day as a quick refresher.]
Stay encouraged and much success to you!
