Dear Forum Member,
I am delighted to share my lesson Learned for PMP certification exam which i took on 20th June 20 online and passed successfully with overall AT and domain wise (IN-AT,PL-AT, EX-T, M&C-AT, CL-AT).
Preparation: Following courses and material i referred for preparation:
1. PMBOK Guide (i did not refer any other book whatsoever)- never get bothered about how many time one must read this. Infect my strong suggestion is to read first part one time, take note and refereed as and when required. Once you understand the flows, it become quite interesting to read. i did not feel the requirement of any other guide. i did not read second or agile part. I watched Prepcast podcast to cover my Agile basic.
2. PM PrepCast with Simulator- I had gone through all video lesson presented by Mr. Cornelius Fichtner and i strongly recommend using his expertise to prepare you for PMP exam. I spend roughly around 100 hours on EXAM simulator post exam including reviews, tests and quizzes. I took all 8 exams in full length and score varies from 70% to 79.8% (this is by no means a set expectation). In these test i answered 74% questions correctly in first time. Reviewing your answers is more important than just finishing test. Took these test a learning even full length without bothering about your score. Do not compare your result with anyone.
3. I also joined Aileen program for one month:
www.aileenellis.com/pmp-exam-online-self...-program-with-aileen
: This is highly recommended too, as she will teach you how to find best answer even if you have no idea what questions is asking. Her teaching helped me to eliminate wrong choices and find the best answer in available choice.
4. Ricardo Vergas process flow explanation on you tube very helpful to understand the process flow- Highly recommended.
5. Do try free test provided by PMI to understand PMI approach- Caution: Take this too as learning mode and keep repeating until you got familiarized yourself with PMI mindset of questions.
In overall my preparation stretched to five months which i think a bit too much but everything is good if it paid off.
EXAM experience:
- I did complete my exam online and system is very user friendly. few things i like to suggest before taking online test like- complete system check in advance, disable all popup notification, keep tidy and clean your work station, do not read question a loud, do not try to move your body unnecessarily (as this may prompt proctor to re check your work station and potentially you will loose time). I was never interrupted by proctor throughout my exam.
- The question is mix of difficulty level like some are never seen before, some are too easy others are confusing or you may say ambiguous in nature. I feel the question in PMI is more scenario based then PMSimulator though i used the Simulator as learning tool. Lot of focus on Agile/Stakeholder/Communication. Very few question on direct ITTO and few easy one on EVA.
- Strange thing which i felt that, i was not sure of my choices which i was selecting because of nature of questions until end of exam when congratulation message appeared and followed my score card. so be ready to ride on unknown sea throughout four hours.
- I complete exam 10 minutes from finishing time and roughly spend 2 minutes for review. I did not change any of my earlier choices as it males no sense when one is not 100% sure and that the beauty of PMP exam. Going with your first choice is always better then end up making wrong choice latter on.
My suggestion for Test takers:
- Practice more and more and have strong believe in your study. On exam these all paid off even you are not sure of choices:)
- Never let yourself feel down while going through LL of passed student by comparing your score.
- Never bothered yourself too much for lot of reference material refereed by various students including me. you select the material which suits you more.
- Take note of study, exam review point and focus on sections/document which you are constantly missing, for example understand the difference between risk register/risk report, SH register/Assessment etc., your note will help you go through again and again in very short time. Do not refereed already prepared note by someone..prepare yourself is the key.
- keep going through the PMP online content published by PMI for task wise. This document is must to familiarize the thought process of PMI and also help to eliminate wrong choices. Do refer this while solving/reviewing PM prepcast simulator questions. Make no mistake, this is one document on which PMP exam is based.
Good luck to future participant. Do drop your email here, happy to reach out and help as much as i can in preparation.
Thanks to everyone in this forum and especially Mr. Cornelius Fichtner and Ms. Aileen.
