Passed the PMP exam last night on the first try with four above target one on target. Here are my lessons learned. I hope you find them useful.
1. Read the PMBOK guide. Starting with the PMBOK guide is what convinced me I needed help. To me, the material was dry and hard to follow. To be honest, I read it once and that was it. I knew I needed alternate study materials to grasp all the concepts.
2. Purchased the PMP PrepCast Elite and watched all the required videos. I did not watch some of the recommended videos, but probably should have since I felt that I had knowledge gaps when it came to agile methodology. My exam had agile questions, so better safe than sorry, watch the recommended videos as well.
3. Purchased rita mulcahy's PMP exam prep book. This book combined with the prepcast really tied everything together for me. Understanding the processes and knowledge areas and how they relate to each other is key to passing the exam. You can't just memorize definitions and expect to pass. Understanding is the key to success. Many of the exam questions are vague and you really need to understand everything to know where you are in the processes and what they are asking. Follow the study suggestions in the book. I read this book 3 times front to back before I was totally comfortable.
4. Once I felt I had studied enough, I started working on the exam simulator. This is really the icing on the cake. I started with learning quizzes to get use to the types of questions I would be asked and then jumped right into the full exams. At the end of each exam I reviewed all the questions I got wrong and the questions I got right to make sure I was correctly understanding everything and didn't just get lucky. Any areas I wasn't doing well on, I reviewed the chapter in Rita's book again. Once I was consistently scoring 80%-82% I scheduled my exam. The simulator questions are very similar to the exam questions. Use this invaluable tool to your advantage.
Best of luck to all of you.
