Passed My PMP exam today
As I passed my PMP exam today and shared the news with the folks with whom I took the online training, some of them requested me to share my experience so here is the detailed experience of PMP application process, Preparation and exam experience along with timelines.
Application and PDU:
I completed my 35 hours of training from simplilearn virtual classes, which I completed in the month of Feb 2020, I was 4 weeks weekend classes (4 hrs. each day). It gave me a good idea about the entire scope of the exam and an overview of PMBOK 6th Edition. I submitted my online application in the month of February Only and I got accepted within 7 days, I was not selected for audit.
Suggestion: Later on, I came across online course offered by Sandra M Mitchell on LinkedIn Learning which I found really helpful, informative and well thought through to start the journey and you can earn the required PDUs to complete the application by taking this course too.
Preparation:
Sources: PMBOK 6th Edition, Simplilearn Self learning course, LinkedIn Learning course (Sandra M Mitchell)
I started my preparation later in the month of April 2020, first I watched the entire self-learning course provided by simplilearn, I finished that once to familiarize myself with all processes and ITTO.At the same time I came across online course offered by Sandra M Mitchell on LinkedIn Learning so watched that as well(I prefer watching videos over reading books).Once getting the overview on entire course , I read the details later in PMBOK.
I booked my exam on 14th May and scheduled the exam for 5th June (Center based), giving myself 3 weeks to prepare for the exam and that’s where real clock to prepare myself for the exam began. Then I started making notes and going through content again and again. I did not memorize any ITTO just tried to understand how processes feed into each other and read the details on tools and techniques used in these processes thoroughly in PMBOK 6th edition. Although after watching the content and going through the PMBOK I was easily able to recall the main ITTOs and details on the same. I was spending approx. 4-5 hours each day in preparation.
After 10 days of preparation I attempted some practice exams which were available online and at Simplilearn site and I was able to score around 60% in those exams (4 hours test with breaks) and of course I was not satisfied with the results, only 10 days to go and I was not passing the test and then I spoke to some connections on LinkedIn who recently passed the exam and some of my friends who were planning to take the exam and they suggested to use PM Prep cast exam simulator for preparation and mentioned that the exam pattern they offer is very close the actual exam , so I took the free tests first(It offered 3 free exams (20 questions each)and was able to score 77/78 % in those exams ,what I really liked about this simulator was the explanation given to remove the incorrect answers , after reading those explanations I was easily able to find out the key words mentioned in the question, which process they belong to and I was able to eliminate the wrong choices, So I decided the buy the PM exam simulator and it was worth the investment.
PM Exam Simulator
www.pm-exam-simulator.com/
1 week before the Exam:
I started taking the tests using PM exam simulator and I took 2 full tests 1 each day and I scored 77% on first test ( completed my test on time with small breaks where timer did not stop) and 72% on second.I was not able to complete 2nd test on time because of loose focus and breaks ,however it gave me confidence that with right focus and time management I can easily clear the exam. Based on my results in the 2 tests I revisited the processes again where I scored below target and also started taking timed tests (short tests from 20- 100 ) each day and on most of the tests I scored above 75% (sometimes around 65% too ) ,however I made sure that I have correctly understood why my answers were wrong and what should be the right choice.
Also I had booked center based exam (exam date 5th June) and my exam got cancelled due to Corona Factor and I got the notification 1 week before the exam and then I rescheduled the exam again for the very next day(6th June) as one more test center was available nearby and they confirmed that they are open, however I have heard great reviews about taking the test from home ,however when I booked the exam earlier this was new and I was not sure if I should go for home online exam.
PMP Exam Experience:
I reached the exam center on time and started my exam. In first set of the exam I had to complete 90 questions and after that I could take 10 mins break (newly introduced). I am not very proud while I say that I performed poorly in terms of time management skills in the first half, however I read question and choices given again and again to made sure I am selecting the correct one which took a lot of time+ Exam pressure. With 90 questions completed I had already used 150 mins of exam time. With 90 mins remaining and 110 questions to go I was getting a bit stressed if I will pass the exam or not, however in the 10 mins break I motivated myself and decided to be more focused and faster and followed the same strategy. With 10 mins to go I had to attempt 20 more questions, I don’t remember the exact count now but I attempted around 10 questions with the best focus and pace and for the remaining questions I just read the keywords in the questions where answers looked obvious selected those and the rest just ticked.
Exam pattern was similar to questions I attempted using PM simulator, however there were many questions where It was hard to choose between 2 best choices where I spent a lot of time (my suggestion would be to leave those question for review and attempt in the end).
