Niranjan Rao, PMP sent us the following lessons learned:
Date: July 27, 2009
Here are a few things I like to share:
1. Taking a break of 5 mins really helps in the exam. A break after every 75 question helps you to keep the focus right. Else you tend to get into the mood to just finish it for once, even 25 questions answered in that mood could jeopardize your chance to attain PMP.
2.The exam is in 3 parts. 1st part is introduction to how the exam is organised. It tells you about the various buttons and about how to use calculator on the PC. Usually, everyone quickly get it and then you start hitting the "Next" button. Then you come to the last screen and once you hit "Finish" button, the actual exam starts immediately.
I would like this to be emphasized in the PrepCast that - Do not start the 1st part unless you create your Brain Dump Sheet.
In fact, I fell into this trap, but decided to use 10 mins of my exam time to create Brain Dump Sheet rather than proceed without one. It really helps for the simple reason that questions on the exam are all mixed up.
3. Find your best way to remember the ITTO's. I did it by going Process Group wise. And if you can get in some short form on the Brain Dump Sheet, then you will sail thru the exam.
4. The network diagram question (Critical path, Float, Slack, etc.) need more time. My suggestion is to mark them and move ahead. You can do them at the end if you have time left. Otherwise, you can always make a guess and take the 25% chance of being right. Bare in mind that every question gets you only 1 point.
There is no reason to be tensed for the exam as it's more about your understanding than your memory retention capabilities.
