TOPIC: Passed on First Attempt (11 June 2018) - 4 ATs, 1 T

I'm a frequent visitor to this forum and would like to thank everyone who has posted tips so I thought I'd also pay it forward. So here goes:

1. I tried unsuccessfully to read the PMBOK Guide (v06) but I couldn't digest the info (and fell asleep several times). I didn't even read the Agile section. Instead I purchased Rita Mulcahy's Prep Guide. This was my most valuable resource in actually learning the content. The first thing I had to do was get over how things are done IRL on my projects and get a handle on PMI-isms (i.e. the PM is completely in control of the project, follows all of the processes, has actual authority to do the work, etc). I ended up reading Rita's Guide twice cover to cover. The second time I was sure to answer all the exercises and sample test. I'd say skip the flashcards and just get the book. The process game was a great help as well.

2. PM-Prepcast is an excellent tool for prepping to take the actual exam. I found the questions more challenging than on the real exam (I know others have found it about the same difficulty) and even Rita's. I took 5 Prepcast practice exams and only passed one (66 to 77.5%). So if you don't find that you're not passing these don't get discouraged. Keep at it and be sure to review the questions you got incorrect (this really helped me understand how to apply the concepts that I read in Rita's Book). Also the questions on the actual exam are considerably shorter/less wordy.

3. Manage your exam prep efforts (e.g. set a study schedule). After 4 weeks of study I had to update my end date and re-schedule the exam (I also had to update my cost baseline). I'm very glad I did as I felt more confident on the actual date of the exam. In all I spent about 10 weeks preparing. I tried to do a practice test every weekend (a total of 9), with 3-4 days of study during the week with a dedicated free day (usually Sundays). The practice tests really helped me to pace myself in the exam and find a test taking strategy that worked for me (see my exam strategy in Item 8 below).

4. Use technology. I downloaded a couple free or moderately priced apps for learning ITTOs and taking quick quizzes while I was at the airport, waiting at the doctor's office, or anywhere I had more than 10 minutes of otherwise unproductive downtime. This made me feel less bad about the days I was only able to study (or focus) continuously for an hour.

5. Passive learning by listening to podcasts. There are quite a few excellent ones out there including, of course, the Project Management Podcast (FYI - that's how I found this exam simulator so thanks Cornelius!) . The discussions really helped me translate abstract concepts as I was learning and I also got great ideas to implement on my current projects.

6. Practice doing your brain dump. I came up with a mnemonic so I was able to recreate the table and some selected formulas in 7-8 minutes. I recreated the table every day for a month immediately after waking up and did the full brain dump at the start of each practice test. Having the table in front of me during the exam easily helped me solve at least 20 questions and helped to calm my nerves at the start so I could remind myself that I GOT this

7. After each practice test, I made a note of the knowledge areas that I did poorly in. After the second reading of Rita's book I went back and only reviewed those topics. For concepts that were only superficially addressed by Rita or in the PMBOK I turned to Youtube. Seeing these new concepts in video (as opposed to re-reading them) really helped them stick.

8. Test Taking strategy
- If I couldn't understand what the question was asking after reading it once I skipped it (didn't even look at the answers).
- I used the highlight and strikeout tools to quickly eliminate incorrect answers (at least two will be immediately apparent).
- If I was unsure of my answer I marked the question for review and continued to the next question.
- If I was sure(ish) of the answer I didn't mark it (I've learned that I second guess myself in the practice tests and tend to go back and select wrong answers).
- After the first go at all the questions I then went back and prioritised the questions that I skipped. By this time I built my confidence/rhythm so was able to easily answer most of them confidently.
- I then went to the ones that I marked. If I was reasonably sure of the answer I "unmarked" the question.
- Finally, I went back a third time to the ones that remained marked. I only had two of those but by this time I wasn't worried about running out of time so I was able to slow myself down and take all the time I needed to work through the problem.
All in all I was reasonably confident about my answers and wasn't panicking about the time. I was able to finish with an hour to spare and reasonably confident that I passed.

Best of luck to you, future PMP

Congratulations! ...and thank you for the thorough feedback.

Hi Simone,

Congratulations on passing the PMP Exam!

Hey Man!,

That's really cool. Congrats!
Thanks for sharing these tips and exam test strategy. I will definitely use it for sure. Coming up with idea of using mnemonic is really nice. I do understand that everyone has their own tricks.

I'm really interested how would you use this for similar terms but different meanings and scenarios such as Contingency Plan Vs Fallback Plan, Fallback Vs Workaround , Work Package Vs Activity etc.

Cheers!
leon