I had about 4 years of experience in project management, even though I never held an official title as a PM. I decided to get a PMP certificate on Christmas Day of 2017, when our family sat together chatting and talking about the new year resolution. Without any idea or even a clue, I immediately went on line and did a quick search on how to get a PMP certificate. “PM Prep-Cast” website came up, and showed very easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions on how to become a certified PMP. I also read the reviews and testimonials from PM-PrepCast’s students, and purchased the “Prep-Cast and simulator bundle” right away. From then on, my PMP exam preparation journey started. It was for the PMBOK 5th edition, so I had the pressure knowing that I had to finish preparation and take the exam by Mar 25, 2018 (literally 3 months sharp!)
I downloaded the PrepCast Podcast on Dec 26, 2017, and loaded them up into my iPhone and iPad, and started to listen to them whenever I got the free time. I am a working mom, and work in a fast-paced Medical Device company, and have frequent business trips, so basically I don’t have the luxury to get a chunk of free time to study. So I had to squeeze every possible piece of time to listen and absorb the knowledge. In the meanwhile, I started to prepare for my PMP application eligibility (4500 hrs PMP working experience and projects, etc). I contacted my previous employer and sponsors to let them know that I was going to apply for PMP exam, and made sure they were OK with the projects and hours I put in. I finished watching most of the episodes in about 4 weeks and got my 35 contact hours, and submitted the PMP application. I got approved 5 days later without audit. And then I scheduled my exam which was 8 weeks away from then.
I continued to watch Prep-cast until I finished every single episode including all the interview episodes and all the “self-assessments”. Then I used about 3 weeks to read the PMBOK guide (I only read once) and since I watched the Prep-cast, it was much easier for me to understand all the terms and contents. In the last 4 weeks before the exam, I used weekends to do the simulators. I studied every single answer and explanation after each simulated exam (even for the questions that I answered correctly), which helped me to identify my weaker areas. Then I went back to watch the PrepCast videos targeting only on my weak areas and studied a little more. I practiced again and again, and studied with more focus, and passed all the 9 simulator exams with over 85% right. I was confident I was ready.
A lot of people suggested to drive to Prometric center the week before the exam or do a mock exam, but I didn’t do that since it is only 25 min away from my home. My schedule exam time is 12 pm on Monday March 19th. On the previous day, I went through the exam requirements and checked the stuff to bring, and then I realized that the name I used for scheduling was my preferred name, which is different from my legal name. That means the name on the schedule is NOT the name on my driver’s license! It so clearly says “Name exactly as it appears on your identification” on the exam reminder letter, but I had been focusing so much on the studying, and neglected this and made this huge stupid mistake! I called PMI on the morning of 19th, and told them about this and asked for a name change. But their answer was that I couldn’t cancel that day’s exam since it was only 3 hours away (no cancellation or rescheduling within 48 hours). I had to wait until the exam time passed, and Prometric center sent the “no-show” result back to PMI, and then I could start the name change process (normally takes about 5 business days). Only after the name change is done, then I could schedule a new exam. That meant, it was highly possible that I wouldn’t be able to take the exam before 25th and I had to start over to study the 6th edition! Just at that desperate moment when I couldn’t do anything except for waiting for the scheduled exam time to pass, I contacted dear Mr. Cornelius Fichtner and explained this situation to him. He generously offered me the free upgrade to 6th edition if I indeed needed it, and offered me some advice as well. Luckily for me (I did call PMI several times to ask for help though), my name change was completed on March 21 and I scheduled the exam on 23rd! And I passed the exam with all 5 areas being Above Target!
I owed this big success to PrepCast since I studied and prepared this exam mostly based on PrepCast. My key take-away is STUDY-PRACTICE-STUDY-PRACTICE, until you feel you fully comprehend and understand it. Don’t try to memorize them without understanding, since you might easily forget everything under the stress. I greatly recommend PrepCast to everybody who wants to pass the PMP exam with first try!
