I am glad that finally I could pass the PMP exam on July 06th 2015 with 4 Ps and 1 MP. It is great relief and great experience to have taken this test .
These are my lessons learned:
1) Understanding applied concepts from PMBOK to given project scenario is more important if you want to pass the PMP exam.
2) Knowing of theory from PMBOK guide alone will not be sufficient. PMBOK guide is only one of the references that will help you.
The more you dig through the lot of practice standards/reference books which you find in PMI.ORG as a membership complements, the more fruitful your
efforts will be in terms of understanding concepts.
Also there are professional blog sites like
www.project-management-prepcast.com
, PMExamsmartnotes.com, pmstudycircle, dummies.com which I felt like doing great job in clarifying concepts by their simple way of explaining things.
3) All the courses I have gone through only reinforced what is available in PMBOK. The PMPrepcast video lessons are really worth the investment if you are a person like me who want to hear the concept multiple times at your own pace until you grasp it.
4) Practice ! Practice!! Practice lot of exams. The tougher the practice exams in terms of applied scenarios that tests your knowledge, the easier will be the real exam
5)During exam, always maintain your confidence even you are running behind and try to make up the speed.
PLEASE DO NOT MARK A QUESTION UNANSWERED THINKING THAT YOU CAN COME BACK LATER!!! THE ODDS ARE YOU MAY NEVER GET TIME TO COME BACK ON THOSE MARKED AS UNANSWERED!!!
If you have to mark a question do it after choosing your best guess. That way you are safer.
My exam questions are mostly scenario type with very few direct questions ( may be 3 or 4) and luckily I got some formulae based questions although they were all indirectly testing your understanding.
My references
1)PMBOK Guide PDF copy from PMI membership as well as all the practice standards especially those for cost, schedule, WBS and earned value.
(Paid content - Membership is must as it saves exam fee as well the complimentary benefits)
2)PMPrepCast videos - (Paid course)
3)PM Exam simulator (
exam.pm-exam-simulator.com
) - (Paid content)
4)Grey Campus PMP course from Udemy includes two mock exams ( Paid course)
5)PMP course from Carries Academy ( Paid course through Groupon.com)
5)Crosswind Learning PMP exam series BootCamp manual (Purchased)
6)PMP Exam prep Boot Camp - Student work book - Free content you get on registration at
www.edwel.com
7)The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, Fifth Edition - Andy Crowe ( Book borrowed from colleague)
8)Headfirst PMP Critical path drill and the free mock exam from headfirst labs - Free content from headfirst labs
9)Many articles from
www.pmstudycircle.com
10)Many articles from
www.dummies.com
11)Many arcticles, sample questions from
www.oliverlehmann.com
12)PMP Exam Prep: Questions, Answers & Explanations, 2013 Edition by Christopher Scordo ( Complimentary access from PMI references)
I hope this will help someone atleast in someway.
Thanks,
Ilanthalaivan Balasundaram
