Cornelius.
So I was fortunate to spend all of December with you (In a virtual sense). I had always planned on getting my PMP and actually gained most of my experience in the movie business. Had the PMBOK for almost a year but it sat on my shelf gathering dust! My father got very ill in 2015 and when I flew back to the Uk to see him, he told me to focus on my goals and I would be successful. He is not here to see my success today but he motivated me to get on with it.
I came home from work on Dec 1 a free man; I always joke I had a head start on the Human Resources knowledge area as I had become obsessed with Organizational Development after seeing a wonderful start-up I worked at hacked to death by investors who had no idea how to grow a company. People were promoted into Project Manager positions because they were "Spunky" (Actual quote) as opposed to competent. I worked in a division for what is hands down the worst manager I have ever had to deal with. He drove out 12 people from a team of 13 and to this stay I always remember that "Dictatorship" is a "Group Decision Making Technique" because of that debacle.
When I arrived home on Dec 1 I cut each of the diagrams out that showed the knowledge areas with their inputs, outputs and tools and techniques and then began placing them on my wall (I called it the "PMP wall") once I had completed your modules. By the end of December I had been through your entire course. I was scoring 77.5% consistently in the various exams. I then started a new job and the company kindly agreed to pay for the PMP exam so I booked it out in May so I would not be distracted in the critical first 90 days of my new job.
This last month they purchased me the sample exams and I took them, moving my scores up from high 70s into mid 80s. I took the ITTO exam this morning before the real PMP and scored 89% so I felt I was definitely ready. Some things did throw me off about the actual exam though which I would like to share...
The first 50 questions has some rather bizarre questions where either I felt none of the answers were appropriate, or I could not narrow the answers down below two options and just had to guess. The last 100 were maybe around the same level as your exam simulator. I think at one point a question asked about an input but none of the options were actually genuine inputs to any process. I would recommend to your other students that in situations like this, go with your gut and mark the question. I got behind on time quite badly as I was racking my brains over these questions. I finally was able to compose myself and catch up. On review I confirmed that it was just this first batch that had the bizarre options and so either kept my gut or changed if I felt instinctively the gut choice was wrong the first time.
Originally I had gone into the exam aiming for 5 Proficients but knowing my best exam performance was 3. Honestly - 50 questions in, I wondered if I might fail the exam. So I was very, very happy when the next 100 questions seemed to return me back to familiar waters. The final 50 got a little rough towards the end but they just needed time to get the calculator out and do a bit of math - nothing to worry about unless, of course, I had not made the time back. My final score was 2 proficients and 3 moderates, and based on the prep exams I think your materials aligned really well with the actual exam.
I really enjoyed your course and felt like for the whole of December I had my own personal PMP mentor. I'll never forget the experience.
Until another time...
