Good morning, fellow Project Managers. I spent 4 hours yesterday in a Pearson Testing Center taking the PMP Exam, and I passed on the first try. I'm here to share my lessons learned with anyone who aspires to achieving a PMP certification.
WHAT WORKED FOR ME
Everyone learns differently, so I understand my methods might not be for everyone. I used the PM PrepCast to get my PDU's, but watching videos has never been particularly helpful for me when trying to gain knowledge of complex subjects. Once I finished the PrepCast, I found I was not passing the practice quizzes in the Exam Simulator. I then bought the book "The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try" by Velociteach. I read the book cover to cover and took the practice exam at the end 5 times. After this, I started passing the quizzes on the Exam Simulator, and I scheduled my exam.
For me, the Exam Simulator was the biggest difference maker. Don't just take quizzes, go back through them when you're done, and read the explanations of the answers, ESPECIALLY on the questions you missed, or guessed on and got lucky. If you do this for enough questions, you'll develop a tacit knowledge of the subject, and the right answers will just start to 'POP' out at you. I even found that I could often times intuit what the question would be while I was still reading the description, or intuit the right answer would be before I read the choices.
I have a very packed life, complete with a PM role, a long commute, a wife who works church musician hours, and 3 small children, so consistently finding large blocks of uninterrupted time to study or take practice exams was not really an option. Instead, I consistently carved out a half hour a day to work on the PMP. When I couldn't find a half hour, I'd commit 15 or 20 minutes. Consistency was the key for me.
Using this method, I was ready for the test after about 6 months.
Good luck, everyone!
