Hey everyone! I wanted to share that I passed the PMP exam yesterday (8.27.19) on my first attempt with above targets in all the process groups! Here is how I did it:
Study Materials:
PMP Head First 4th Edition
Rita Mulcahy PMP Exam Prep 9th Edition
PMBOK 6th Edition
Udemy PMP Prep Course (To fulfill the education hours requirement on the application)
PM Prepcast Exam Simulator (Of Course!)
Study Plan:
My journey to get serious about taking the PMP exam began back in late May, I began my studies around Memorial Day weekend and scheduled my exam to take place right before Labor Day weekend here in the US. Looking for a good place to start I began my studies reading the PMP Head First book cover to cover which turned the dry language in the PMBOK and made it fun and digestible. Being a visual learner, the pictures and charts aided me tremendously. After completing the Head First book, I decided it was time to do a check on my understanding of the material and began searching for a solid exam simulator that would challenge me. My search lead me to the Prepcast simulator and man was it the best investment I ever made in terms of preparation for this exam. After taking a few quizzes I took my first full-length practice exam and scored a 79.5, I was ecstatic to know I did not fail but the exam also revealed I had knowledge gaps I needed to fill. My next step was to begin reading Rita’s book from cover to cover which was a huge help. I think where the Head First book taught me WHAT the processes of the PMP exam were all about Rita showed me HOW they all relate with one another. Also during this time I began to take more full length exams on Prepcast and eventually stopped taking the quizzes since I wanted the first time I ever see a question to be during the practice exam. I also in all honesty did not ever read the PMBOK cover to cover, I used it mostly as a reference book to gain a better understanding on things. While I felt my preparation was giving me a fighting chance to pass I think the one thing that secured this for me was the during the week before the big day I decided to go through all my wrong answers on the exam simulator tests (also on Oliver Lehmann’s exam as well) which helped me in terms of knowledge gaps.
Exam Day:
The process before you actually take the exam was as everyone on this forum had explained it would be, pretty straightforward and simple. The noise cancellation headphones was a welcomed option, and of course, I did my data dump of the formulas in the beginning. The exam itself surprisingly did not feature one agile related question, of course with 200 questions I may have forgotten I answered one but I don’t really recall seeing it. Exam felt like it was mostly integration and risk management, which the exam simulator did a tremendous job preparing me for. I finished the exam with about 20 minutes left which I used to go over my marked questions (I had a ton of them!). I let out a big sigh of relief when I hit the end exam button and saw congratulations!
Exam Tips:
1. Invest in the Prepcast simulator and try to do as many of the full-length exams as possible instead of just quizzes and remember to do a lessons learned on each. I know it’s a four hour time commitment but trust me it’ll be worth it, it’s literally the number one thing I’m contributing to me passing this exam! The exams were nearly as tricky as the real PMP which is what you want.
2. Focus mostly on the processes and how they relate to one another. I have heard many folks spending weeks studying the formulas which while it is good to know them the majority of this exam will test your knowledge of the process in a situational question. If you are doing a three-month study plan I would say dedicate no-more than a week on the formulas and move on once you got them understood to the point where you can write them down.
3. During the exam take your time and use process of elimination, usually you can get a question down to just two choices, from there go with the one you think makes the most logical sense.
Thanks to everyone on this forum who has provided me with great tips and feedback and special thanks to Cornelius and his team for helping me across the finish line!
Exam Scores:
Exam 1: 79.5%
Exam 2: 75%
Exam 3: 84.5%
Exam 4: 77.5%
Exam 5: 81%
Oliver Lehmann: 71%
