I passed my PMP on 26th Dec with 4 ATS and 1 BT. I read a lot of Lessons Learned on this forum and it is time to give my take on my experience.
I had taken my 35 PDUs in July 2019 and had travelled a lot until July 2020 when I was finally allowed to come back to home country (due to covid19 restrictions).
My work kept me busy all along and I never had so much energy left to concentrate on both. However the idea of the exam changing realigned my thoughts and gave time to think for the reason I took those 35 PDU's.
This whole journey may have started in July 2019 but the preparation was done in 5 weeks time. It is really good to have target date which inspires you the most and pushes you so that you can work backwards.
There are many videos on youtube, reference books in market. I had read the Rita's book twice but was not able to complete PMBOK even once cover to cover.
However , I would not recommend not reading PMBOK guide. Its a must if you have planned your journey with little extra time unlike me.
This might have costed me Below Target in Planning whereas all other were Above Target.
I had watched a lot of youtube videos like PMP with RAY, PMC Lounge Videos, other videos, etc. and made my notes
A hearty thanks to PMP Prepcast team of having such good list of questions which pushes you to think and develop a mindset so that actual exam becomes easier.
Rushing to exam weeks.
I was feeling quite uneasy 2 days before exam after I came across some terrible experience what people had giving these online exams. This kept my mind overactive all the time
and thinking more about the exam problems than focussing on studying for the exam. With headcahe and uneasiness , I started my exam on Saturday, 26th Dec.
As the questions passed, I was feeling better but the headache was still there. However I had to take a pain relief tablet to overcome the headache in my 10 minute break which came at 89th question.
It was a satisfying moment to see that Congratulatory note at the end.
I had a positive mindset about the subject and was confident of acing it but a negative mindset about the online exam gave headache. On the contrary, my online exam was too smooth.
I would advise not to think about things too much and only be aware which are not under our control, EEF in PMP terms!
All the best to everyone who is appearing this year and next year.
