Passed my PMP exam on the 2nd attempt Tuesday August 15, 2017. Ended with 1P and 4MP.
I started this journey by attending an 8 week training class hosted by my state’s chapter of PMI. The class was 3 hours every Tuesday evening for a total of 24 contact hours. That was in April and May of 2017. On June 20 I took the exam and failed with 2BP and 3MP. I realized at that point that I was definitely not prepared after the 24 hours of training I initially took.
Deflated and discouraged, I came across the PM Prepcast while looking through a PMP group on LinkedIn. After reading reviews and individuals’ experience with the Prepcast I decided to invest in it and give it a try.
That was June 21, 2017. After downloading all of the content and printing the study guide and self assessments, I put all the printouts in a binder and watched the intro lesson. To keep myself accountable and set an end date, I rescheduled my exam and then created an excel spreadsheet with a study plan or “project schedule”. Every day had an “activity” or progress of the lesson material, including time for formula review, full length exams, and review of the full length exams. I also made sure to leave one day per week open so as not to get burned out. The last week of study leading up to my exam was very light and I used that time to repeat a couple lessons and focus in on reading some areas that I thought were a little “blurry”
The PM Prepcast, for lack of better term, was a revelation to me for understanding the concepts of the PMBOK Guide. Cornelius had a way of presenting and delivering the material that constantly had me saying (sometimes out loud to myself) “Aha! Now I understand what this process has to do with and why it is done in this process group!”.
As Cornelius and several others mentioned, taking full length, timed exams is a critical component to success. I took a total of three tests prior to the real thing and felt it helped prepare me. The best part of the Exam Simulator is that I could go back and see why I got the question wrong. Also beneficial was the summary report after each exam that told me how I performed in each domain as well as each knowledge area.
Final thoughts:
- Read the PMBOK Guide. Don’t just skim it or glance at it – READ IT. This is important even though the material is dry.
- Take full length practice exams and study your results. Getting through the practice test is one thing. Understanding what you got wrong – and why – will help you in the long run.
- Make a study plan. I did not have a plan for my first attempt at studying and taking the exam. I missed out on a lot of valuable study time by not making it a priority. Treat this journey as a project in itself!
- Do not memorize. Understand the formulas, processes, and ITTO’s. If you take the time to study and understand the material, it will make sense and naturally fall into a relationship that can be understood.
- Do not cram all of your studying into the week or day before your exam. Study hard up until a week before then taper it off. On the day before your exam, relax and do very little (if any) studying.
GOOD LUCK!!
Thanks for sharing lessons learned. 