My Introduction to PMP
I guess I could say it was a long journey because I heard about how daunting and prestigious the exam is during the start of my career. I wanted to write the exam much earlier but my site locations were held up in remote areas, that most of the time no internet at camp along with long hours of office. I had to reallocate depending on projects including offshore & onshore. This year I finally found my break and after 6 years, finally decided it’s time that I earn those credentials.
Why PM Prepcast
Couple of factors that led me to PM Prepcast was that a friend suggested it to me. It was not as expensive as the live classes that the coaching centers here in Qatar had to offer. The kind of work mode I was on, really needed to find some sort of study that was flexible. Good coaching but an even better exam simulator was what I was looking for.
My Basic PMP Prep strategy
First thing I did was to roughly go through PMBOK guide, just to get an idea of the content. I made a brain dump (mnemonics ITTO’s and formulas) and tried to write them down twice or thrice every day. I then later followed exactly what PM PrepCast advised. Writing the first pre-exam to know where I stand, then moved on with the videos. The videos had more than enough content with great explanation & examples that learning process was made as easy as it could get. I would like to add that my work experience did help me a lot in learning as I am part of the project management team working on EPIC construction projects.
My Personal Highlights during the Prep process
Something that I did personally was to make a record of the ITTO’s on MS excel as I went through each knowledge area. I had 10 sheets for 10 knowledge areas and one ITTO sheet that included all the ITTO’s for all knowledge areas. I used the following columns - Process Group, Knowledge area, Process, ITTO & Activities. I cannot stress on how much this exercise helped me for my prep. The excel (ITTO sheet) helps me catch those repeating ITTO’s (by filtering specific ITTO’s) and understand which process uses those ITTO’s and which do not. My repeating set of ITTO’s were OPA, EEF, Expert judgment, Meetings, Change Requests, Project management updates, Project documents updates, OPA updates & EEF updates.
The tricky areas for me were the Change requests, OPA, EEF, HumanResources, Communication & Stakeholder Management. I had to keep coming back to these areas to identify the nuances, get the flow and let the notion sink in. I have read the importance of change request far too many times from other lessons learnt in the forum as well. PM Prepcast videos does a really good job with these explanations and bringing about the nuances.
I also used Rita Mulcahy for a quick go through. I found the Rita Process Chart at the start of every chapter to be helpful. The buyer-seller contract vs risk chart and the mathematical problems related to contracts (Final Price, Fixed Fee & PTA) were good.
With time I found my brain dump getting shorter and shorter to finally having fill out ONLY the repeating ITTO’s, which hardly takes around 6-7 minutes to write down.
There were days and I guess even missed a whole week in between where I could not prepare due to other engagements. However, I still used to find 10-15 min a day where I would answer at least 10 questions using free mobile apps (PMP Testprep). They were quite refreshing and fun.
PM PrepCast Exam Simulator – the key to success
PM Prepcast’s exam simulator was by far the best aspect of the whole process. I remember the time I wrote exam 1, it was a complete mess. I could not attempt at least 30 questions as I didn’t have time with all the panic attack. I scored my lowest 67% and failed. The only motivating factor were the statistics that showed I got 82% of the questions attempted. I figured a way to calm down, to find a pace and set certain milestones to reach certain time. This led me to getting another 7 exams in a range between 78-85%. After the fourth exam I booked the nearest date I could get. The key to success with a PMP exam is practicing as much full-length exam simulations as you can. You learn at an exponential rate. PM Prepcast exam simulator has the best explanations and mentions the references where you can look it up.
Before the Exam
A day before the exam I made my revision list to around 5-6 items and practice the brain dump. On the exam day, I did the same, revised the 5-6 items and practiced the brain dump one last time. I reached an hour before, was waiting, preparing myself not to freak out with inhaling and exhaling long deep breaths.
During the Exam
The first few questions blew me away completely, I felt they were so hard, I couldn’t focus, started to freak out, but PM PrepCast simulation practice exam taught me to guess, mark and move on. As I proceeded, things started getting comfortable, was good with the time. I had around 10-15 min left after I finished all the 200. I moved on to the marked ones, realized the first few questions were tricky but didn’t feel it was as daunting as I first felt it during the beginning.
After the Exam
The time elapsed and the heart started pounding, finally when the message came it took me a while to find those congratulations. The emotions were indescribable especially after realizing that I not only passed but did better than I did with the PM Prepcast simulator. That “moment” was truly priceless. Thank you PM PrepCast team for being the support/backbone leading to that “moment”.
Avinash Mallinath, PMP.
