First of all, I would like to thank the staff of PM PrepCast for the fantastic job of preparing PMP candidates for the exam. The PMP Simulator is a fantastic tool. The questions are realistic and truly spans the breadth and depth of the various knowledge areas, process groups, ITTO, and the exam content outline. The Examination Report provides value information on your strengths and weaknesses in both the domain and knowledge areas. The detailed explanation of correct and incorrect answers provided complimentary/supplementary PMBOK 6 information. The cumulative statistics provided by “My Statistics” helped me measure my preparedness and provided a benchmark comparison on how I fair with other PMP candidates.
In my opinion, all of the above factors helped me pass my PMP exam on Thursday May 14, 2020 with an “Above Target” rating. This validates the statistics table found in the “Exam Feedback” tab of “My Statistics”, where it says that there is a 93% chance of passing the exam the first time if you take the 8 practice exams and score an average of 80% to 90%.
Again, thank you PM PrepCast for assisting me pass my PMP Exam. Great job!
As part of giving back to the PM community, I would like to share my lessons learned regarding the PMP online exam. It is my hope that they will help the PMP candidate with their exam writing.
Please test your system before the day of the exam. PMI will email you a week before the exam urging you to do this. Execute the instructions provided in the email to initiate the test. Successful execution of the test will ensure that your system, internet/network connection fulfills the fundamental requirements of the exam tool. Furthermore, the initial test will also prepare you for the following: (a). identification verification (take photos of you and your government identification), (b). environment check (take photos of the 4 corners of your exam area).
1) LESSON #1: Assuming that you successfully completed the system test and that nothing has changed with your setup, on the day of the exam, there is NO need for you to do the test again. Just go directly to the “start the exam” option. NOTE: The exam application will not automatically take you from the system test to the PMP exam screen. You will end up taking photos of yourself, your government identification, and environmental surroundings twice. I ended up losing a good 10 to 15 minutes of my pre-exam time (they require you to login 30 minutes ahead of time). For us PMs, starting on time is a must. I barely made it to the start of my exam. I felt rushed and tensed starting my exam. Not a great feeling to start in this frame of mind!!!
2) LESSON #2: Get used to pacing yourself using remaining minutes (i.e., counting down from 240 minutes down to 0 minutes) instead of hh:mm (i.e., counting from 4:00 down to 0 hours).
The user interface of the PMP exam was slightly different from the PMP Simulator. For the most part, the differences were minimal, and I was able to adjust to it. However, there is one aesthetic difference that really impacted my exam performance. NOTE: The time remaining is expressed in minutes instead of the hh:mm format, i.e., instead of showing 4:00 hours, it showed 240 minutes. During the practice exams, I learned to pace myself by increments of 1 hour, meaning, complete 50 questions at 3:00 hours remaining, 100 questions at 2:00 hours remaining, 150 questions at 1:00 hour remaining. Using the online calculator, I had to constantly map the remaining minutes to the hh:mm format to measure my pace. It affected my cadence and was a constant distraction to be doing the conversion.
3) LESSON #3: To initiate your mandatory 10 minutes break, you need to click on “Review End” to stop the clock and start your break. Not doing so will cause you to lose precious minutes.
The PMP online exam gives you a mandatory 10-minute break. This will happen when you reach question #89. However, the break will not happen automatically. When you get to question 89, clicking next will take you to a new screen where it will ask you to review any marked or skipped questions. The clock is still ticking while you are reviewing. You need to click “Review End” to initiate the break. This part of the exam workflow was not intuitive at all. There were no instructions provided on how to initiate your break. I had to contact my online proctor to ask how to proceed. She did not know either (LOL). I lost 7 precious minutes on this. The proctors do not have the ability to restore lost minutes.
4) LESSON #4: Pay attention to the Exam Content Outline. The task sequencing in each domain is key to answering some of the tough questions.
During my review, I focused on the Knowledge Areas, the Progress Group, and the ITTO. It was only in the latter part of my studies (i.e., 2 days before the exam) that I focused on the task sequencing of each domain (process group). I am grateful that I did since this knowledge helped me pass the exam.
5) LESSON #5: There is a definite need to capture the correct keywords and disregard irrelevant ones when reading the question and answering the exam. This is a skill that the PMP candidate must master. The more practice exams you take, the better your mind will be at deciphering these discombobulated questions!!!
The exam was really hard! I give credit to the person(s) / group of PMP experts who formulated the questions and answers. I gave them an A++ for complicating a very simple question on process, or knowledge area, or ITTO to something really baffling. You really need to take the time to read the questions and digest the answers to truly figure out the gist of the question and then map it to the correct answer. And, of course, we need to do this in 1.2 minutes per question.
I am so grateful to pass the exam. I will never have to worry about taking it again! Good luck to all PMP candidates. Study hard. Learn your materials. There’s so much to cover. Dedicating time to study each day and each night is the key to success. Be confident. You can do it!!!
