Thanks in part to the helpful information from PM Prepcast / Exam Simulator and this forum, I passed my PMP Exam on my first attempt, Wednesday, 3/14, with Above Target performance in all domains! My study materials were a combination of resources including LinkedIn Learning (fka Lynda.com), Kim Heldman (Sybex), Sohel Akther (NY-based PM training instructor), and Pearson’s Exam Cram supplemented by trial materials from PM Prepcast / Exam Simulator as well as free questions online from Oliver Lehmann, Edwel, Project Management Academy and others, plus the free exams offered by Simplilearn (77%) and PM Study (85%).
In terms of my process and lessons learned, first, I was fortunate in a sense insofar as my wife went through a PMP Bootcamp last fall that her employer paid for. (My wife is not pursuing the certification – she was a last minute sub for one of her colleagues who got sick with the flu) That was how I got the prep book from Sohel Akhter, which was very helpful in providing questions that, while longer than what I encountered, were in essence similar to the exam.
Second, as I have a LinkedIn subscription, I used their offering to fulfill my contact hours requirement. While a good start (and a very cost effective way to accomplish this task at $30/month), the video lessons had some shortcomings as they stuck only to high-level overviews of processes and ITTOs. They also provided handouts with notes and tips for many sections, but there were still some things missing in terms of breadth and depth of coverage. I tried the free sampler of the PM Prepcast (Project Integration Mgmt video) a few weeks ago, and came away with the feeling that while both are similarly formatted (video lessons that you can stream or download onto a computer or smartphone), Cornelius’ lessons were more engaging and descriptive. Unfortunately, I did not know of the PM Prepcast & Exam Simulator or find out about this website until 17 days before my exam. Had I found this sooner, I would have signed up.
Third, for additional study materials, I utilized my local public library system – including PMP Exam prep books from Pearson (Exam Cram – 2015) and Kim Heldman – Sybex (2016). I’m fortunate to live in a location – NYC – where I can access libraries where these resources are available in both hard copy and eBook format. And the best part is, all it takes is a library card.
I supplemented these materials with questions from the PM Exam Simulator and other online sources mentioned earlier. The Kim Heldman and Pearson books also have online sites that offer practice questions and other test prep help. The site for the Kim Heldman book also allows one to download a PDF copy of the text, essentially provding the eBook version for free.
Overall, what worked best about this strategy was that having questions from many different sources provided several different angles at learning material and preparing for what might appear on the exam. Among the published sources I used, they each had their own styles, and interestingly each provided additional depth on some topics (i.e. each referenced a unique Quality or Management theorist or two beyond Deming, Maslow, Herzberg, etc.). That was both a blessing and a burden. Additionally, the Kim Heldman book, published in 2016, had some material and questions that were tied to concepts from previous PMBOK iterations which have been discontinued, in particular the Quality Baseline. Of the sources I used, those whose questions were closest to what I encountered were the PM Exam Simulator, PM Study, and Sohel Akhter's book. A lot of scenario-specific, management, and ethics-oriented questions. As I am a civil servant (work for a NY State Government Agency) who went through the Civil Service Exam process in 2015, I felt like I had an advantage as the exams were similar to some degree on content and format (all multiple choice questions to be answered in a 4-hour period).
Another thing I found in going through practice questions from many sources were inaccuracies. Overall, I would say about 1 out of every 100-150 questions I came across had an incorrect answer. And I found at least 1 incorrect answer in most sources that I used, including both published and free online sources. So one helpful hint to fellow PMP aspirants, if you come across a question for which the chosen correct answer seems odd, fact-check it by doing a Google search or consulting other sources. It is possible that the publisher made a mistake. That said, fact checking among publishers should also be better than it is, as should grammar use and sentence structure (i.e. saying something is “objective” or “an objective” are two different things). Maybe some quality audits are needed? BTW, this comment is specific to sources other than PM Exam Simulator.
One last improvement that I would like to see: the exam I took allows takers to highlight text from questions and strike out answers in the process, something that I did not come across in any of my online sources and I think would be very helpful.
To fellow PMP aspirants, I recommend focusing on concepts instead of memorization. I also recommend reading the PMP Code of Ethics cover-to-cover (it's a short, 8-page document) as well as the Exam Content Outline to make sure that your understanding of the PM tasks aligns with how PMI phrases them.
Also, one last tool I recommend checking out is the free Process Chart Game on Rita Mulcahy's website:
rmcls.com/process-chart-game
Again, a big thank you to Cornelius and his team for the assistance you have provided to me and may others on the journeys to become PMP certified. The resources provided were very, very helpful. After passing the exam Wednesday afternoon, I became a Premium subscriber to Cornelius' Project Management Podcast and look forward to listening to the back catalouge.
