TOPIC: PMP Certified on 24th-May 2015.

Hello ALL,

I Passed PMP on 24th-May 2015, first attempt and would like to express my gratitude to all PMPs who have shared their experience, Dos and Don’ts to guide New PMP Aspirants.

Here is my Study Plan and Lesson Learned [Trust me while writing it I am feeling very proud ]
1) Plan your study in 2 Phases.
Phase 1): Prepare yourself and Apply to PMI( 2-3 months)
1) Find out a mentor or Join PMP Forums like PMzilla/ PMHUB/LinkedIn forums and go through lessons learned to understand basics of PMP.
2) Subscribe to ( www.pmexamsmartnotes.com/ ) or other sources for their daily estudy notes and guide. Also use his discount coupon to subscribe to PM Prepcast
3) Recommend to subscribe to PM Prepcast & Exam Simulator bundle at once its cost effective .( www.project-management-prepcast.com )

4) Register to PMI( www.pmi.org/ ) to get yourself a PDF copy of PMBOK, Guidebook for EVM for free.

5) Complete Pretest and chapter end tests of PMPrepcast(Must)

6) Obtain your 35 contact hours and apply for PMP. It will take 1-3 weeks (depends if you are asked for Audit or not.)

7) Complete your first round of study for PMBOK guide along with PMPrepcast and other guidebook (I used one written by Kim Heldman).

Go through the exam notes sent by Shiva or visit PMStudyCircle, Edward-Designer, Deepfriedbrain etc sites. These blogs are maintained by veteran PMPs. They explain difficult concepts really well. I especially liked PMStudyCircle.
9) Take Pre-course and chapter end test of your PMP guidebook. Also take minimum first 5 mock tests from Christopher Scordo question bank(Its free for PMI registered members)
Phase 2): Schedule your Exam and become a PMP ( 2-3 months)
1) Find out a study partner to discuss your understanding about PMBOK topics. Not necessary your partner should be preparing for PMP. NOPS. I made my Wife as my Study Partner and started explaining PMBOK concepts to her. I was amazed with her out of box and innovative tips to understand and memorize difficult PMBOK concepts.(She is ex-professor of an Engineering college and now a happy homemaker)
2) Based on Phase 1 tests result and your gut feeling please schedule your examination date.( I scheduled within 45 days but due to busy schedule at work I felt It was a mistake. please consider worst case scenario before scheduling your exam date).
3) Activate your Exam Simulator (It’s still waiting for your command [ Really great thought process of Cornelius]
4) On weekdays please try 50 Questions Quiz( Timed or Learning||Random or KA Based or Domain based) Every weekends go for full 4 hours simulation tests. It was best feature I liked about exam simulator( though I tried only 1 full exam due to aggressive exam date, I will recommend to go for maximum you can. You fill find comfortable in actual exam)
5) Complete Remaining Mock tests from Christopher Scordo question Bank(Specially Ch#13 to Ch#18)
6) Please take maximum possible mock tests from below free sources.
Oliver Lehmann 175 Q & 75Q, PMP For Sure, PM Study, HeadFirst, Edwell, Frank T Anbari etc.
7) Create your own notes for quick revision. Also revisit blogs mentioned in point ( in phase 1. You will understand these blogs better now.
Try to understand and align your thoughts with PMI Ethics. (Think like an Angel)
9) Please memorize Pg 61 of PMBOK and EVM, Communication Channel, EMV, Standard Deviation formulas and practice them as much as possible.
10) Please DO NOT MEMORIZE ITTO PERIOD.
11) 1 Week before Exam
A) Start telling you that your PM Concepts are amazing. You know it right.
Close your eyes and revise PMBOK Pg 61, above mentioned formulas or write it down on paper on daily basis. Writing it down will help you creating BrainDump quickly.
C) Attempt an exam simulation with Braindump to be prepared on how to refer it in exam.
D) Take a very good rest and sleep just 1 day before examination.
E) Visit your examination center. Confirm about your understanding of Identity Card which you will produce. (I took examination in Osaka Japan so just in case I confirmed it as well.)
F) Understand the temperature of Exam center and plan your dressing for examination day. I found Osaka Test center very cool so planned 2 layered dress so that I can adjust the body temperature.
12) Examination Day
As my mentor(Mr. Jitendra Maharana, PMP, PMI-ACP) mentioned “ATTEMPT LIKE A KING”, I was filled with confidence and energy and attempted like a King.
13) Guru-Mantra: Your Exam is Unique and do not follow what other says about number of questions asked to them on a particular topic. Please prepare for all 5 Domains, All Knowledge Areas & Processes. Please do not memorize but understand them thoroughly.