I passed my PMP on the first attempt. I studied a lot and I felt I was well prepared so I went to the exam confident of my knowledge but still once there I was extremely nervous.
I had been reading about the PMP for a while. Since I was not happy at my current job, once I decided to do it, I left to be able to study full time.
I register for the PMP PrepCast and all other related materials at the beginning of September 2015 and passed the exam on February 2015. Kids, family and the holidays kept me from studying the last 2 weeks in November and all of December, but the rest of the time I dedicated at least 5 hours each day from Monday to Friday. So about 4.5 months.
I completed the Prep cast, did the application which took about a week, then I started to go over the PMBOK Guide and Rita’s book, (an old edition a friend gave me), I would go over a knowledge area on both books and back to the PrepCast for clarification as needed and then do practice test on that knowledge area. The last month or so I only did long quizzes on the simulator and two practice exams a week.
I did the exam in Raleigh NC and felt the place was nice and the people were very sweet. Checking that the address was correct was enough for me, but I did get there about 30 minutes early. The chairs were comfortable, the screens big, they had ear muffs, the spaces were separated with tall partitions, it was fine. You could hear other people typing a lot but it did not bother me, once in a while the AC would go on, it got a bit loud and cold but not a big deal.
I was surprised about how fast the time was going by, I finished all the questions and had 8 minutes to review. The seconds before you see Congratulations in big bold letters are heart stopping.
As I said the screens were big and at the very beginning it was an adjustment because the font was also big and bright but as time passed and I was getting tired, I was glad it was all right there in my face.
The questions were a bit of a surprise; the way they were phrase was very different from the simulator, so it took a bit to get used to it, being well prepared was key for me. A lot of what would the PM do next or what document would he use. Only a couple very simple questions about EVM and the same about the critical path, very little calculations, most of the questions were about ITTO’s, the way they were written made them difficult to me. I think 95% of the questions were text based not very long.
I do not think it is necessary to memorize all the ITTO’s but it is a must to have a clear understanding of each process and the ITTO’s involved, in fact I think that the way the questions were formulated having the ITTO’s memorized would not guarantee the right answer.
My objective was to pass but also to learn and I feel I achieved both.
I really enjoyed Cornelius voice and style. I felt Rita’s book was a good contrast. The Exam Simulator was especially good to get used to doing all the questions in 4 hours. I subscribed to groups and forums. I really liked all the emails from the PrepCast team, it made me feel connected.
Now while I look for a new and hopefully exciting job with my new PMP, I am already getting PDU’s with the Agile PrepCast.
Thank you.
hope you will find a job quickly.