Dear all,
after being successfull with the exam I wish to follow Cornelius' request and post my lessons learned. I will give you a ton of
detail about my process, for those how are interested in that.
So here is my journey to the PMP with my lessons learned (PrepCast and PMBOK only):
1) Signed up for the PrepCast Course (2nd Half of March)
2) Watched the first introductions and made a study plan
--> Based the Study plan on the excel register of all the lessons. Distributed them over a timeframe of approx. 2 months,
scheduling roughly 1:15 hrs per day in video-time
3) Watched the Videos and did the assessments (March - June)
--> Started as suggested with all the overviews, then went through it chapter by chapter and conluded the chapters with the assessment
(I scheduled 1:00 hrs per assessment in the studyplan)
--> While watching I highlighted important passages in the PMBOK and added Notes, which were plenty (roughly every 2nd page
had some additions, and every 5th was completely filled with scribbeling)
--> After every Knowledge Area, I read the whole KA again, to solidify (I had scheduled this with 1:30 hrs each in my studyplan)
--> I followed my studyplan rigorously and it helped me a lot to determine wether I am done for today and can stop with a good feeling or not.
--> Often I had piled up up to 3 hrs for the weekends, but with the plan I managed to get back on track
--> A flue and a business trip each added a week of delay to the schedule, which I accepted soon after the occurence,
focusing on continuing in the pace originally intended.
4) Took the final Prep-Cast Exam (Mid June)
--> Started to stress about it, but it is really easy after paying attention to the course.
--> Did it as a trial just to see if I need more preparation and I passed and scored 20 / 25 without any further preaparation
--> (Keeping in mind, that the earlier chapters I had last read or seen almost 2 months ago by then)
--> All in all approx. 80hrs went into that
5) Started my PMI-Membership (June)
--> CHECK SPAM FOLDER!
6) Registered for the PMP exam
--> Prepared my proof of eligibility documentation using my CV and contacts to my former Managers
--> Obtained approval from my former Managers for the claimed hours (was fortunately no problem in my case and done in 2 days)
--> handed in the documentation and waited for the Letter of Eligibility or Notice for an Audit.
--> No audit was requested for me and I had my Certificate of Eligibility within 5 days.
7) Scheduled my PMP Exam
--> I followed the instructions and scheduled my exam for 22-Aug-2019 (today), giving me roughly 2 months to prepare
8 ) Finished the slacking around!
--> Between the Prep-Cast Final Exam and the scheduling of the Exam, I did not work at all on the material for 2 weeks
--> I had studied every evening and enjoyed some time off...
--> I felt like this is a stage that must be kept short!!!
8a) My Ideal learning process (~ 4 Weeks) (skip 9 - 11 if you like, that's how I learned my process)
--> First do one trial Exam to understand how the questions are structured
--> Re-Read all the chapters and write everything worth remembering on flashcards
--> Print the ITTOs from the PMBOK PDF on Flashcards as well (at least from Project Integration to Cost Management)
--> Read at least 3 Processes per every 2nd day and add the Flashcards (also the ITTOs) to your Flashcard system
--> Learn the Flashcards every day, using a Leitner-style system
--> After Cost Management I got a really good feeling for the ITTOs in general, so I stopped doing them
*** Skip if you like ***
9) Started with Exam Questions (June)
--> Realized, I have to focus more on the details to succeed with the questions
--> Did roughly 200 questions starting with Project Integration until I realized I have to read again all the material
10) Re-Read the Material, 1 KA per day (July)
--> Wanted to read a Knowledge Area and then train the questions, but realized around Scheduling, that I need more detail
still and need to REALLY memorize things
11) Stopped with Exam-Questions and started making Flash-Cards (Mid July)
--> Instead of making notes on paper, I wrote anything keepworthy on flashcards, even ITTOs
--> Used my Notes from the PrepCast Course and my understanding of how the questions work for that
--> Started reading chapters and learning Flashcards in a Leitner-Style-System with great success
*** Continue here ***
12) Test Exam Phase ( 2 - 3 Weeks)
--> Start 2 - 3 Weeks before the PMP Exam
--> Plan ahead for all the 8 Trial Exams (4hrs needed for each)
--> I did it in 2 weekends and 4 half-days off
--> Do all the exams in short succession (not more than 2 days between exams)
--> Write down topics that you felt insecure with
--> Review wrongly answered questions & marked topics and make sure appropriate flashcards are in the system
--> continue with the flash cards
--> I scored 84% - 89% in all testexams after this preparation (even though only fully applied the process half-way through)
--> Tipp: All the test-questions in PrepCast were good and fine, but they had a certain "style" that I got used to.
The Real Exam questions had a slightly different "style" which threw me off my game a bit. It would have been good to
also do at least one trial exam in addition, that you would find with google, to get a second perspective.
12a) Special Attention needed for: (at least in my case...)
--> Earned Value Formuals... either know them by heart or understand the math behind the KPIs, you WILL need it.
--> Triangular and Beta Distribution Estimates... they will not likely let you go without one of them....
--> Resource Management Contract Types: I had quite a lot of questions about that too...
13) The last day
--> Relax and be calm
--> I took my pile of flashcards and read them throuh in the evening (~ 200 pcs.)
--> Went to bed early
14) The Exam (August, 22nd)
--> After the good Test-Exam scores I was pretty confident
--> The exam was very similar to the Test-Exams, so no problem
--> I passed with Above Target in all Process groups
15) Verdict & Summary
--> Working with the PrepCast material & PMBOK helped me a lot with my preparation, no additional Literature was needed for me.
--> I invested all in all roughly 200 hrs but never had to suffer anxiety or distress
--> I achieved this with 1:00 - 1:30 hrs daily with some breaks over 5 months
--> I read the PMBOK all in all 3 times (1st with the videos, 2nd after each chapter before the assessment, 3rd as exam preparation)
--> I planned for 8 trial exams but thanks to Murphy only completed 6,5, with an average 1st-Try score on all questions of 83%
--> If less time is available, I think it could be done in 150hrs and 3 - 4 months: Watch all the videos without reading in between
and mark the book, do only 100 test questions, then immediately read the PMBOK and do flashcards. Do at least 4 exams before the official one.
I hope it helps anyone!
Good luck to you all!
