Writing the community to inform them of my experience with earning the PMP certification. Firstly, if you watch the PM Prepcast videos with Cornelius, then know that he is right when he said that you will have your own experience when taking the exam. How you prepare for your exam is entirely up to you. I am only sharing my experience to help you prepare for yours and give you an idea of what the exam will be like. Also know that I took the exam through online proctoring.
My study plan included the following:
- For each knowledge area I read all the processes, captured notes for each process (notating ITTOs and any new details for an ITTO. For example, when I came across a new term in an input, tool or technique, or output then I made sure to capture that in my notes), then I would watch the video lesson for that process or knowledge area. Sometimes I would mix it up, so it wouldn't get into a mundane process. Watch the video first, then read or read, then watch video. Up to you, but definitely read and watch the videos.
- Take practice quizzes for each knowledge area after I finished reading and watching videos. I would take 50, 100 question quizzes. Be sure to review your answers and read the explanations as to why they are the correct or incorrect answers. I would also take 10 question quizzes here and there to keep it fresh.
-I took my first full practice exam after I completed the video lessons and read the book. This gave me an idea where I stood initially with the material.
- About a month before my exam I set aside a final study plan, which included taking practice exam each week and seeing what areas I needed improvement in. Work on developing your stamina. Answering 200 questions is a brain drain. If you are scoring above 80% in these leading up to exam, then you may be ready to go. I also familiarized terms in my head and made sure I knew the difference. For example, what is the difference between project calendar and resource calendar?
-KNOW YOUR FORMULAS! Granted you may or may not get many questions on the exams concerning formulas, but these are gimmes in the exam if you know the formulas. Just plug in the numbers and you get a freebie. I'm not just talking about EVA formulas either. Know how to calculate how many communication channels there are.
Taking the exam:
-The online proctored exam experience went well for me. I made sure the night before that my area was ready, I had tested my software, and made sure nothing in the room would give the proctor a reason to interrupt my test taking. I have a habit of reading questions softly to myself, and they told me that mumbling was not permitted. Makes sense, so had to prevent myself from doing so.
-I was issued a 10 minute break after question 89, which threw my timing off because I would train myself to get through 50 question intervals. Try to give yourself a minute per question to know how much time you are working with.
-You enter a review for all the questions you answered before break is initiated. Time continues ticking, so don't dilly dally. I went back to answer unanswered questions (formula questions, so I had time to calculate). I had to keep my eyes on the time, so I didn't buy into my second half.
-After the second half of questions, you enter another review section. Remember time is still counting down, so be sure to answer all unanswered questions. Doesn't hurt to guess.
-After the second review, the screen went white, then a Congratulations on earning your PMP certification appeared. It tells you that you will receive a detailed report in your email at a later date. Now I didn't have my phone in the room and couldn't take a screenshot, so I went directly to PMI and Pearson to verify that I did pass. Once I got confirmation from them, I made sure to capture that and save it.
Overall experience:
I took the CISA and passed that as well. PMP is a little harder in my opinion because of the breadth of knowledge you have to know and the questions have answers that are very comparable. However, if you read the PMBOK, watch the videos, and apply yourself then you can do it.
Thanks to PMP Prepcast and Cornelius for getting me prepared. PMP Prepcast is certainly worth the time and money,
-Tad
