I started prepping for this exam in Nov 2018 with a one-week in class boot camp by Knowledge Academy. The good thing about the bootcamp was doing it live with other people and the discussions that were had about project management and how it was being used in various fields (all the people in my class were from different Industries). Also, the teacher shared with us best practices for how to tackle studying for the exam and tips for completing the exam. With the holidays and year-end at work I didn't start studying until Feb 2019. I started by memorizing all the processes in each of the knowledge areas and then moved on to the major formulas (NPV, PERT, Earned Value Management, Communication Channels, Critical Path). For the exam you don't need to do a data dump of the processes but I did find writing down the formulas helpful as there were 5-6 of those questions in my Exam. Back to studying, I read through the first few pages of each knowledge area in the PMBOK, focusing on the input, outputs, tools & techniques and only reading in detail the the concepts that were either new to me or I didn't understand. I retain things better by writing them down so I made little cheat cards for each process, the purpose of the process and it's ITTOs. After reviewing each knowledge area I tested my understanding by completing Simulator questions on the PMP Exam Mentor phone app and Timed Quizzes on PM PrepCast. Five weeks before my exam I started doing the full exams on PM PrepCast. The PM PrepCast exams very helpful because the questions are structured very similarly to the actual exam and the explanations that they provide for each answer to each question at the end really help to clarify where I may have misunderstood something. I found the actual exam to be slightly more difficult than the PM Prep Cast exams simply because a lot of the questions were worded in a way that was sometimes confusing/misleading (unnecessarily). I get testing for understanding of a concept but I feel some of the questions weren't just about testing if you understood a concept, they were worded in a way that I couldn't even understand the question to decipher the concept. In any case I was able to pass successfully with an Above Target result (T, T, AT, AT, AT). These were my exam simulator scores:
81.5% | 74.5% | 87.5% | 80% | 84%
Before the exam I did the Test Drive with Prometric so that I would know what to expect on exam day. It was helpful going through the check in process, seeing where the exam would be, getting to use the computer application, knowing what I could and couldn’t do during the exam and knowing where to park ahead of time. All of these things alleviated some of my stress so I could focus just on the exam. I anticipated having to take a break mid-way through the exam but I ended up sitting it all the way through. I completed all 200 questions in 3hrs and 15 minutes an
d used 45 minutes to review the questions that I had flagged. I didn’t spend too much time mulling over an answer if I couldn’t answer the question quickly, I picked my first choice and then flagged it for review. I ended up using every minute of the exam.
I don’t think I could have passed the exam without doing the PM PrepCast quizzes and exams, they are a wealth of knowledge and really helpful in preparing you for what the real exam will be like. Worth every penny!
