Wow! What a Journey these past 3+ month have been.
Today I took my PMP Exam.
It was a long and intense 4-hour exam for me; I did not have time to go back and check my many “marked” questions. I barely made time for a quick 5-minute bathroom break. I worked to the last question with one-minute left to spare at which point I made sure I did not leave any blanks. With only a minute left I decide to just end all the fun and hit the “End Exam” button.
Background & Strategy:
I work full-time and have a family, so my strategy was to study part time as much as I could on nights and weekends for 3 months. I broke that out as follows:
+ 5 weeks studying the Rita M book for the basics.
+ 8 weeks with PMP Prep Cast Exam simulator. (one new practice exam per week) …studying Q/A all week long.
My Prep Cast practice exam scores were: #1: Fail, #2: Fail, #3: 78.5%, #4: 75.5%, #5: 72.5%, #6: 77%, #7: 76%, #8: ITTO (skipped it)
I memorized:
+ Rita’s Planning processes in order
+ the PMBOK “K.A./ Process” chart (which I felt really helped me the most)
+ No PMBOK book was used.
+ I did find a lot of online materials I liked, just by googling “PMP <topic>” and these really helped. …Thanks to all you bloggers and folks out there putting info out for the rest of us!!
Brain Dump:
+ I did not do a brain dump as I did not need one since:
a) all the formulas were so ingrained in my brain, plus the charts above – I did not need to dump them on paper.
b) From doing the practice exams I would always run up against the 4-hour mark, so I figured I would not have extra time for one on the real test. I was right!
The Real TEST:
I found all the PrepCast practice Exams to be very challenging to the point I was not even sure I would pass. I found the real test to be exactly the same in this regard; I was not sure I would pass!!??
During the real test, I decided to just have faith in myself and my preparation, not give-up, and just give it my best. My end result on the real was: I passed with 4 “Above Target” and 1 “Target”.
Thanks:
Thanks to PrepCast Exam Simulator team – this really made a huge difference for me and allowed me to go deeper and deeper EVERY week into the material - which paid for itself many times over not just in passing but understanding the concepts.
All the best,
Chris
