I’m so happy to bring this week another of my student’s PMP® exam success. Neeharika Peri has 11 years of rich experience in IT Service Delivery and Management. She has a B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering and loves traveling & watching movies.
What made you take up PMP®?
As part of my work responsibilities I am required to ensure successful delivery on a consistent basis.
I manage both Predictive and Agile projects. There is no certification equivalents to PMP standards for a well-rounded learning about project management.
My organization had arranged PMP® training sessions – where I got my first experience with what is involved with this exam. I was tremendously influenced by the amount of useful information, which gave me the confidence that this certification would certainly help me become a better project manager.
I always had this blind spots while managing projects, not knowing what am I missing to proactively ensure that things on the project goes well.
Now that I am PMP certified, I feel pretty confident of taking up any complex and challenging projects. I know that I can cover all of the aspects of project management – right from scope, cost, schedule, to all the way of managing outsourced work.
I believe PMP adds lot of value to my profile and project management skills.
Which study resources did you use for the exam preparation?
Initially I thought of reading Rita Mulcahy’s book (ad) and PMBOK guide.
Project Management is a vast subject and involves lot of expertise such as managing scope, budget, schedule, people, vendors, communications, risks, and so on. It is very important to have a book that simplifies the understanding of the content and helps you to remember the key points under each section which is required to clear the PMP exam.
Hence, after reading few pages of the big books, I felt the need of some easy-to-understand visuals, techniques and phrases to remember the ITTOs & other complex information.
Hence I started to refer some reference materials on Udemy, YouTube but they couldn’t meet my needs fully.
Then my friend Prem, who has been a student of Shiv Shenoy, suggested to refer to the PMP® Exam preparation Kindle books from Shiv and I grabbed them.
I also took the Launchpad and The Complete PMP® Formula Guide online courses from Shiv – which helped a lot in my PMP® learning journey.
Also read: How Mariia passed PMP exam with this rock solid study strategy
How did you approach the exam and what was your study plan?
I’ve made at least 3-4 study plans but missed following them due to hectic schedule.
I started my PMP preparation seriously in mid-June, used to study 2 hours during weekdays and 3 hours during weekend. I took mock exams after finishing PMBOK and Shiv Shenoy’s materials.
To build a good study pace leading up to the exam, I took 2 weeks of leave from the office before my PMP exam.
In all I attempted 6 mock exams, reviewed the incorrect answers and revised the concepts where I was not scoring.
I ensured that I had at least 3 days gap between each mock exam to brush up my knowledge.
You mentioned you used our PMP® books & course in your preparation (thank you!). Could you please share how they helped you?
After having an 8-hour work-day, sitting for some more hours to read the soft copy or hard copy of PMBOK and Rita Mulchay was very difficult. When I got your Kindle books, they gave me the ease to read while resting and kept me on the track of my PMP journey.
Simple English, mnemonics, mind-maps in the books & the course helped me a lot to remember the concepts easily.
Did you face any challenges along the way?
Maintaining the momentum to read daily was a tough thing to manage amidst managing the busy schedule of professional, personal, and pandemic lifestyle!
I dedicated a specific time in my daily schedule only to study PMP and no other work – which helped me focus.
During the office breaks, I would take few mock exam questions, quizzes, or listen to videos of PMP training.
What was your approach to study during the week prior to the exam?
Like I mentioned earlier I took 2 weeks from work before the exam.
During this time I revised the concepts that I was unsure about. I didn’t stress myself much to learn anything new.
I didn’t refer any new reading study material & used only the sources I was comfortable and had used until then.
Also read: Sign-up for free PMP Launchpad training now.
What was your exam experience like?
I took the online exam.
When the exam began I had trouble connecting to the PearsonVUE exam server due to firewall restrictions on my office laptop. I had to switch laptop but the proctor was patient and helped me to begin the exam successfully.
The exam was a bit of a scare initially, but then I got into the rhythm of answering questions.
I opted for the 10 minute break at the end of first 90 questions.
I used the entire 4 hour of time of the exam.
It was really a relief to see the “pass” word after I submitted the exam 🙂
I cleared my exam with overall Above Target score!
Ad: There is still time! Get in now & use the 4-week plan to get PMP® certified before the new exam rolls in!
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Any specific study tips for PMP® aspirants?
- Choose your study resources according to your style of learning.
- If you are taking online exam, make sure you run the PearsonVUE check on your system regularly, and one last time the day before your exam.
- Dedicate specific time slot every day for PMP exam study, as it will help you be on track during your entire preparation.
- Mock exams will help you to assess your performance and improve, ensure you are not demotivated by the result.
- Write down the ITTOs and understand the relation between each process across the Knowledge Areas.
My best wishes to exam aspirants,
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