My PMP Lessons Learned
I cleared my PMP on 25th Feb on my 1st Attempt!
Preparation time – 90 days.
A. Study books –
1) Head First PMP.
2) PMBOK.
3) PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy.
B. Class Training / Online Training –
1) Online Training – PM PrepCast by Cornelius Fichtner.
C. Sample Exams Source –
1) PMP Exam Simulator.
2) Oliver Lehmann’s PMP App.
D. Exam tips –
1) For Procrastinators like me, paying the exam fee is one way to get committed to exam preparation.
2) Decide for a Study strategy & STICK to it. Don’t add any more resources to your list especially when you are very close to the exam date. I did the opposite & wasted some money & time on this.
3) Instead of a Class Tutorial which lasts for only 4 days go for an online Tutorial. I selected PM PrepCast by Cornelius Fichtner along with their Exam Simulator (Suggested by Shiv Shenoy, PMEXAMSmartNotes) for my preparation & it was worth the money spent (You get a 1 year access, videos can be downloaded on your android/i-phones, 35 PDU’s, very good contents & keeps you engrossed due to Cornelius’s unique delivery style).
4) Analyzed my daily time spend & found out Whats app & Face book taking up some of my productive hours. Immediately removed those apps.
5) My Study Strategy – Followed Shiv Shenoy’s study tip of taking 1 process at a time and going through 2 to 3 fixed resources on that process. I started studying 1 process in a day starting with listening to PM PrepCast videos while driving to & fro from wprk. Later in the day if I got any free time I would read Head first book then PMBOK followed by Rita Mulcahy’s PM Exam Prep & simultaneously taking down notes on my laptop.
After completing a Knowledge area I used to take chapter wise test from all the above books to know my weakest areas. After working only on the weakest areas I used to take up the chapter wise test on PM PrepCast exam Simulator.
6) Once I finished all the knowledge areas, I revised my notes 2 to 3 times and took few more 4 hours tests. After getting more than 80% in some tests I stopped taking more tests (This was 2 days before my exam) and started working on my ITTOs using lots of Abbreviations & Mnemonics.
7) Post it notes on my walls & self made flash cards also aided me in my studies.
8) On the day of the exam I reached the Pro metric center 1 hour before my schedule time. Took around 45 minutes for doing all the security checks. The exam center was very thorough in their checks and provided earplugs, calculator, enough blank pages & pencils.
9) I used to complete my mock tests in less than 3 hours but I finished the actual exam in the last minute. This was due to the pressure of the exam.
10) If possible take a 1 week leave from work. This will help you to focus completely on your preparation.
I wish all the best for all the PMP aspirants!
Cheers,
Rohan Halwalkar, PMP
