My PMP Exam Preparation Tips
Study resources & planning
PMBOK 5th edition and Rita’s Book 8th edition update, Shiv’s study blueprint and lots of online mock exams.
My exam was in March-2016. I started preparing PMP from Nov, 2015 which gave myself about 5 month to prepare (which, later I found to be a bit on the longer side).
Here is the schedule I followed –
Nov, 2015– Read all PMP Study Blueprint ebooks and PMBOK once
Dec, 2015– Read Rita’s book once and some mock exams
Jan, 2016– Made some notes from the mock exams and read Rita’s book one more time.
Feb, 2016– Took more mock exams and read the chapters that I still had problems with from both PMBOK and Rita’s book
Mar, 2016– Read the PMBOK guide only and read the notes that I took, also took mock exams.
My study plan worked just fine.
I played some video games and relaxed on the day before the exam (not a good idea, lol). [continue reading…]
Shiv, I passed PMP exam on 1st March 2016 in my 1st attempt, with Proficient in all 5 domains!
Preparation time: 4 months
Study resources
These are the 5 study resources (well the last one is simulator for test practice) that I used for my preparation.
- HeadFirst PMP (I read this before PMBOK),
- PMBOK
- RITA Mulcahy, 8th Edition (read along with PMBOK)
- Shiv Shenoy’s chapter-wise notes (Excellent source for revising the chapters quickly)
- PM PrepCast Simulator (9 tests) & EPMC mock tests (5 tests)
My PMP exam study plan
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Shiv, I’m very proud that I have now passed the PMP Exam on my first attempt.
Though my initial interest in obtaining my PMP started several years ago I found myself often not following through. On 2 separate occasions I went so far as to have my application accepted & still did not schedule the exam (for fear of not passing).
This ti
me that was not option. I started in Oct with the PM PrepCast (Cornelius Fichtner). Once I completed the PrepCast videos I devoted myself to studying 2 -4 hours a day every day using Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep & the PMBOK guide (as a reference).
I will admit I did not READ the PMBOK.
I concentrated on learning / understanding the formulas & paid special attention to the tools & techniques in Quality Management, Risk Management, & Procurement Management.
Let me add that I took as many practice exams as I could prior to my test date. The resources on PMExamSmartNotes.com and its Facebook community were a big help as well.
Thank you and good luck!
Tara M. King, PMP
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Shiv, thanks again for your valuable stuff. I passed PMP exam on 1st of March, 2016 on my first attempt. I thought it’d be nice to share my PMP exam tips with your readers.
My PMP Exam preparation
Preparation for the exam took me around 8-11 weeks. I started preparation 19th of October, 2015 with short breaks (Christmas, New Year…). I studied materials in the evenings and weekends, sometimes at work – on an average I studied for about 2-3 hours per day and 5-6 hours on weekends.
My suggestion is that it it you have possibility, it would be good at least one week before scheduled exam to take out of job (academic vacation).
Also Read – PMP Lessons Learned: Don’t just start with PMBOK guide – by Vignesh Kalyanasundaram, PMP
My PMP study materials
Regarding materials, I tried to concentrate on 4-5 sources.
- PMP Exam Prep Boot Camp, by Richard Perrin – source #1. I have read it at least 2 times very carefully, took all provided tests.
- PM PrepCast with PM Exam Simulation – source #2. I have watched it at least 1 time. Exam simulation is the most valuable part. IMHO, every student who wants to enhance success on the real PMP exam – MUST purchase this PMP Exam simulator.
- PMP® Project Management Professional Study Guide, Fourth Edition, by Joseph Phillips – source #3. I have read it first, before PMBOK.
- PMBOK 5th ed – source #4. I have read it at least 1 time very carefully. Basically, one chapter per day, in total 14 calendar days (13 chapters + ANNEX A1).
- PMESN PMP Blueprint – helped me a lot to memorize important stuff, I tried to review it at least 3 times per week.
Also Read: PMP Certification: How I Earned It Without PMBOK – Jackie W. Gibbs
Study approach
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Update: Good news – OSP International LLC has doubled its scholarship amount! This means you can get PM PrepCast and Simulator for free, and more! More information below.
Last week Karen Kinsman shared her PMP prep advice. This was especially important given the non-traditional PM environment that Karen operates in. In her post Karen touched upon how she got her entire study investment through PMI scholarship from Project Management Institute – Educational Foundation.
PMI-EF is a boon for people that need PMI scholarship for their PMP certification.
I requested Karen to share some more information, which she gladly did (thank you, Karen!) in the interview below.
Few resource links given in the last section might be useful to choose a scholarship that is suitable for you.
Shiv: Hello Karen, thank you once again for taking time out from your busy schedule to talk about PMP scholarship options that are available. Not many know about a possibility of scholarship for PMP exam. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cornelius’ OSP Intl too provides PMP education scholarship for people around the world! Can you please share how you came across the scholarship possibility during your study.
Karen: Sure. I was in contact with PMI Education Foundation regarding some other work I have been engaged in with middle & high school STEM educators (science, technology, engineering, math) around training them in PM skills as well as working with them on transferring that knowledge to their students via effective use of Project Based Learning opportunities.
I happened to mention to the person with whom I was corresponding that I was starting the process of preparing for the PMP exam, she told me about the PMI EF scholarships, and encouraged me to apply saying that often scholarships didn’t get used. Why waste donated services/resources??!!
Shiv: Can you please elaborate a bit on how one can go about applying for scholarship for their PMP study. [continue reading…]
Hi Shiv! Just wanted to send a note to let you know I passed my PMP exam on the 1st try. Below are a few nuggets from my exam prep experience in case they might help anyone else!
I am a nonprofit organization director (small K-12 STEM-H education outreach) within a University setting, so definitely a very non-traditional PM environment. So, my approach may be pretty different than that of folks working in a very traditional PM environment on IT, industrial/manufacturing, construction kinds of projects.
I really had to suspend my own experience of PM in my environment and focus on what PMI wanted to hear for the exam…meant putting myself in a headspace a world away from that in which I typically operate, but I am proof this CAN be done!!
If you have access to a really good quality face-to-face PMP Exam Prep Course…TAKE IT!
I took a great 6 week course at UNM Continuing Education that utilized Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep book. Instructor offered great tidbits that were very helpful as I worked toward taking my exam…things like PMI’isms to keep in mind (many covered in the Mulcahy book), etc.
I tend to be an auditory/visual person, so having the PrepCast video modules to go to either before or after my weekly face to face class was an awesome way to reinforce my own learning…and I could back and repeat any modules with which I had difficulty. [continue reading…]
