Dear Cornelius Fichtner and Team,
Do accept my sincere gratitude. Thanks to you, I have passed the PMP exam yesterday with 3AT in my first attempt at the PearsonVue exam center here in Bahrain. But more than that, I am a better Project Manager today after undergoing your training.
I shall not dare give much study tips to your readers because my study routine has not been very rigorous, except in the last 3 months – only after I booked and got an exam date
Study Routine
• watched all PM-PrepCast training videos twice
• attempted all PM-PrepCast Simulator exams once
• scored average of 70+ in my first attempts
• read PMBOK guide once (cover to cover)
• read Rita's book once (cover to cover)
• skipped some of the formulae based topics – because I never use them in real life
• totally skipped memorizing the ITTO by heart
• totally skipped brain dumps usage
Exam tips
• questions were similar to the ones I faced in PM-PrepCast Simulator
• some questions (and answers) were really long
• I took much more time on real exam than in mocks – and didnt get time for review
• so please keep watch on time. Trust me, it flies
• real exam user interface is not as good as PM-PrepCast Simulator
• selecting any answer option more than once - will unselect that option
• right clicking on any answer option - does not strikeout the option
• you need to first select text – and then use buttons to either highlight or strike-it through
Additional Tips
• visited the exam center a week ago for the look and feel (as advised by Cornelius in his video)
• attempted all the simulator exams at the same exact time at which my real exam was scheduled
• attempted these mocks as though I was attempting real exam
• totally restricted myself from water and food intake during the mock exams – and also loo breaks
• asked my kid to turn up the volume of TV at times to get used to giving exam with background noise
• wore same set of clothes (this helped to identify & remove an irritating shirt label)
• wore the face-mask throughout the duration of mocks
• practiced deep breathing techniques to calm myself down - if I faced a tough question
• all this helped me during the real exam (except the deep breathing part)
I have a full time job and a super energetic 9 year old daughter at home. My dad aged 77 was diagnosed COVID-19 positive last month and has since recovered. My study routine was affected by this as I had to care for him - and still I managed to pass. If I can pass, so can you. Just believe in yourself. I take this forum as an opportunity to wish each and every one of you - all the very best for your own forthcoming exam. Do study well (unlike me), Happy Holidays and Happy New Year in advance !
Rishikesh Yalanavar, PMP
