PMI Registration: It’s being a year since I made my registration at PMI and since then I had PMP class to gain the PDUs.
Primary study resource: I have studied with Rita’s book.
Study approach: I have read Rita’s book 3 times and made all the exercises.
Other resource(s): I have the fastrack program and I made several exams simulations. Shiv’s blog has helped me a lot with the questions as well.
Study plan: I used to study 3-4 hours per day for 3 to 4 times a week for 1 year.
Ali Manrique, PMP – Understand mistakes you’re doing and improve on them
My experience was quite eventful. I appeared for the PMP test three times!
My first failure was because I appeared for the exam without having prepared enough, relying only on my experience. I had less than a month to read the Rita Mulcahy Book, superficially. I presented the exam and got poor rating in three of the five domains.
The second time around though I tried to spend more time and I studied Rita Mulcahy‘s book and the PMP simulator.
I took time off from my work, which involves constantly moving in three countries. I took care only to study the book and simulator from Rita Mulcahy,
I did not pay much attention to the PMBOK, and gave the exam. On the day of the exam I studied until hours before the test, I was late to the center, feeling very stressed. I found the exam very easy, and completed it in two and a half hours. Unfortunately I failed the test and that depressed me a lot.
Bouncing back
My third and final time, I decided to understand what were the reasons for the previous failure and with that attitude, I started my preparation. I took off 20 days at a stretch for my PMP study. I started on July 13 and appeared for the PMP exam on August 12.
Praveen Pandit, PMP – Don’t delay taking your PMP exam, just do it!
Its been 2 and half months I have been studying for an exam and today I succeeded in achieving the PMP certification!
While my 2 and half months study program I had maintained study process (time table) as listed below.
My PMP Study Resources
-
SimpliLearn Classroom Training and Online mock test - Rita mulcahy 8th edition (read only one time, yes you read it correctly. I tried to understand the concept rather than memorizing the book)
- PMBOK 5th Edition (read only one time, I must say after reading Rita mulchay’s book you will find PMBOK very much easier to understand)
- Shiv Shenoy’s PMP study materials including Brain dump (this is very important to remember, as it will help you most in the exam)
- Other Internet online practice exams and ITTO based exam
- And last but not least, I followed Shiv’s suggestion while attending the exam (First answer all easy questions and then answer formula based question and then trick questions – explained here [Look for strategy in PMP Simulator section])
Oluwafemi Sholotan, PMP Strategy to answer more questions on the exam
I am super happy that I passed my PMP exam!
I was skeptical and not confident that I was prepared for the exam after initial studies with PMPBK and Rita’s PMP guide. So, I did some searching online and found Shivs PMP prep guide.
I used the exam simulator, did my corrections on missed questions, tried to understand why I missed and why the right answer was right from the explanation.
I referenced the PMBOK guide and Rita’s PMP guide when required.
I got to the exam center on time, wrote down my brain dumps, started the exam, skipped all calculation and long questions for the last as earlier recommended by Shiv.
(Note from Shiv: look for this strategy under the PMP Simulator section here).
Gayathri Ramamurthy, PMP – Don’t get bogged down by hurdles
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.
Wayne Dunlap, PMP – Read every question all the way!
Shiv, I had a non traditional path to PMP success. I will start after application acceptance in order to focus on the specifics of the journey.
Preparation
After the application was accepted I scheduled my exam date 3 months out to make sure I had enough time to plan. Prior to application acceptance I took a course through Syracuse University to obtain the 35 credit hours but I knew this exposure was not enough for the exam but it did give me an introduction to the terminology.
I started the true exam prep on June 01 2015. I created a plan in MS project that involved using the PM PrepCast followed by reading Rita’s book, Headfirst PMP and then the corresponding chapter in PMBOK. I continued that routine everyday 7 days a week until I was complete with all resources.
Pralay Kumar Das, PMP – Don’t miss a single word from PMBOK
Hi Shiv,
I cleared my PMP certification exam. First of all I want to thank you for your continuous support by sharing materials, questions and support. Here I am sharing my experience of the complete journey.
Study Materials I used:
- Simplilearn PMP’s study materials
- PMBOK 5th edition
- Self made notes
Planning for Exam:
