I passed the PMP Exam on my first attempt Nov 21st, 2016. This was a journey nearly 18 months in the making (and two months of cramming).
I was convinced of the value of the PMP back in May 2015. I had a colleague that discussed it with me and I set it as a career goal. It took me nearly six months to get my application submitted--I used the PM Prepcast for my 35 contact hours, but going through years’ worth of project management records and describing the projects for my application took quite a while. My supervisor at work encouraged me to get my application submitted so my company could pay for my test fee in their 2015 budget year. My application was approved on Dec 28th of that year and I paid my test fee that same day. Little did I know my company was about to go through a layoff cycle and I was laid off the very next week. Having my test prepaid was super valuable (more than just monetarily) because it kept me going after this goal, even after leaving the company I’d been with for 16 years. My top priority was finding my next career; my second priority was studying for the exam. Fortunately for me, I landed my next job quickly, but with the quick transition I really didn’t have time for studying.
Fast forward to October 2016: Because I had registered for the exam immediately after being approved, I knew the clock was ticking and I would have to test by the end of the year. I had to commit. I picked a November date (before Thanksgiving) so I could enjoy my holidays if I passed, or study over the holidays if I needed to re-test in December. This only gave me seven full weeks to study. I knew it was aggressive, so I put together an aggressive plan. I immediately started listening to my PMPrepcast mp3’s and jumped ahead to the Chapter 40 interviews: “Interviews with Successful Exam Takers.” I found these especially helpful--the interviews helped me choose the prep guide that I would follow and convinced me of the seriousness of this endeavor. Based on a couple of recommendations in the Chapter 40 interviews, I quickly ordered Andy Crowe’s “How to Pass the PMP Exam on the First Try” book from Amazon. This gave my studying the structure I needed. I would study each chapter in Andy Crowe’s book, then listen to Cornelius Fichtner explain with more details in the PM Prepcast videos and podcasts. I would then test myself on the same topic using the written book assessments and the prepcast assessments. I aligned my studies by topic across the materials and they worked great together.
About this time, I also ordered Andy Crowe’s audio CD set. This was a helpful perspective because it went through all of the areas and processes in a conversational format, hitting on key words for memorization. One phrase that stuck with me from those CDs was, “when in doubt, follow the process.” Simple as this sounds, it really helped me during my exam. There were quite a few answers that seemed to repeat themselves and I was starting to question “could that really be the right answer again?” The “follow the process” phrase just rang in my ears as something of mantra--I trusted myself, and the process, and it paid off.
Summary of my seven week study plan:
• PM Prepcasts video and audio- Listen while running, driving, and doing chores around the house. (60 hrs)
• Straight up studying of Andy Crowe's book (30 hrs)
• Andy Crowe book practice questions (10 hrs)
• Phone app flashcards – practiced daily for phase and knowledge group memorization. (10 hrs?). The one I used most was called PMPPrep by Gooneo. It was simple and helped me with rote memorization.
• Handwritten notes – I learn best if I write things out by hand, So I focused on writing out the output of every process. (10 hrs)
• Multiple listens to the PM Prepcast integration chapter.
• The PMP Exam Simulator! This was a huge part of my success. 25 hours of test taking, 15 hours of test question review (40 hrs)
• Andy Crowe/Velociteach videos & practice questions (a trial version that came with the Andy Crowe book) (15 hrs)
• All of the PMPrepcast section quizzes and practice questions. (10 hrs)
I estimate that I spent about 70 hours of intermittent study preparations over the first year, then about 200 hours in the last seven weeks before the exam. I was able to do this while working full time. I made a commitment to focus on this as my top priority for the seven weeks, skipping every non-urgent commitment that I could (i.e. social events). I studied almost every night, for sure every weekend, and lived with my headphones on every spare minute I could (running, walking at lunch, driving). The PM Prepcast really made this possible!
While I feel like all aspects of the materials and my studying were vital to passing, the biggest and most unique preparation help was probably the PMP Exam Simulator--it gave me the practice I needed to mentally and physically prepare for this test. As I saw my scores improve, it gave me the confidence I needed to know that I was retaining those things I was studying. I took 4 full length practice exams and many, many quizzes--I cannot recommend this product enough.
