I have recently passed (6-Nov-17) the PMP exam and I wanted to share my experience and lessons learnt.
Background:
- I have always loved Project Management and its role in every single company or organization. That is why I have been involved in Project Management since I finished college
- Apart from being involved in actual Project Management activities during work I followed several resources of information related to Project Management, different approaches and trends, such as Agile and the application of tools and techniques in my field, Aerospace.
Preparing for the exam:
- First I did some web research looking for good courses in regards with quality, comments and price. After a quick trade off study I ended up with PM-PrepCast.
- After joining PMI and PM-Prepcast and beginning checking the online information I set up my own study project plan. If you do not have a plan to follow and stick to you will find yourself lost in so much documentation and materiel to read and study.
- Preparing myself to pass the PMP exam was not just a job of studying the PMBOK and watching videos, but trying to actually learn and understand the use and application of the different processes, tools, techniques and situational examples.
- 4 weeks before the exam I started going throw several simulated exams while doing some rehears on the processes and situational examples I found searching in the Internet. That gave me a good training towards the actual exam and putting myself in real scenarios where the different processes take place by one way or another.
- The day before the exam I checked the location of Prometrics in my city and pay them a visit. This was really important in order to avoid any stressing situation the day of the exam.
During the Exam:
- An Exam is always a stressing situation, but you need to avoid it. My experience is that half of your performance is related to how you approach the exam.
- As I was going throw the exam I realized that I was feeling more confident and calmed down.
- Time was not a issue to me and that gave me the chance to review those questions I found more difficult. Once you train for the exam you are ready to save a lot of time reading the questions and answering.
Lessons learned:
- Do not study just for the PMP exam, study to learn actual Project Management best practices and apply those in your everyday job. For me this was the best way I made myself part of it.
- Love what you study. If you like what you study you will learn faster and you will find yourself familiar with the different situational examples.
- Develop and follow a study plan. If you don't have a plan to follow you will find yourself lost soon.
- Do some research about the topics and concepts you find in the PMBOK. In the Internet you will find the same concepts explained in a different way and even with different examples. That will give you a wide view of any concept.
- Visit the place where the exam will take place few days before. It will reduce the stress the day of the exam.
Thanks PM-Prepcast team. I have enjoyed a lot and got my PMP certification!!
Antonio Bedmar
