I casually started my PMP preparation at the behest of my husband. I got interested from the perspective of getting more knowledge and due to the competitive edge PMP has in any industry and also by the salary perks it can bring in. Also, I was passionate to learn and implement PMP concepts in my organization.
Having two kids to manage (5 yr old naughty boy and 10 yr old Barbie) along with work, I took up this challenge and set my goals.
One of the best things that happened was that I was introduced to Shiv’s PMESN blog & the Facebook community by my husband. I enrolled myself for his free PMP Study Blueprint email course. This was a real boost to my study plan.
My Study Plan – 3 Months to PMP
- I attended classroom sessions on PMP with Simplilearn. It was an excellent 4 day classroom session and automatically helps you earn 35 PDU’s. It was too good.
- Started my regular daily 2 hours learning from Feb 14 2015 (the day I enrolled with Simplilearn).
- I wrote down in an excel sheet my Mission, My Goal and the Benefits I would get when I completed PMP successfully.
- I studied everyday for 2 hours from Feb 2015 to May 5, 2015. Of course there were many days I could not learn due to commitments at home, etc. So don’t give up if you get hurdles on your way… it should only cheer you up more and make you more committed to learn ..:-)
- I read the Simplilearn ebook thrice, which was simple and easy to understand. I read the PMBOK guide twice.
- I wrote and saw all the processes daily along with the formula dump (all of them). This took more time initially and then I narrowed it down to 10 min 🙂
- I started off with mock tests in the month of April. But what I would suggest is to start off with PMP mock tests right when you complete PMBOK once.
Set target time so that you complete 100 questions on one hour (50 questions in 30 minutes). Even if you don’t know the answers in first glance, mark an answer or mark the question for review and move on. Don’t stop or get stressed. It’s only an mock exam.
Last piece of Advice
There are too many materials, blogs, suggestions, tips etc in the internet. Don’t get overwhelmed with information. Decide which is best suited for your style of learning and stick to it and don’t jump from one to another. This only wastes your precious time.
Last but not the least, every time we take up some goal to accomplish, we would be surprised to see a lot of hurdles or additional tasks coming in both on the personal front and on work. Never give up because of this. Proper planning and consistent study schedule should be able to help you overcome these hurdles and achieve your PMP goal.
If some days go by without learning, don’t be hard on yourself, look eagerly for next opportunity to start off immediately.
All the very best PMP aspirants, rock the exam! 🙂
Regards,
Gayathri, PMP
