Week 14 - Follow the Paper Trail

If you have read my earlier blog postings, you should be familiar with my lament that I did not record my experience in the same format that it is entered during the application process.  My wife complains because I can be something of a pack rat, but it is because of this tendency that I was able to find the information that I need.

I just finished entering the dates for my projects, going back to 2003.  If you have seen my resume on my profile, you would be right if you thought "that's not quite 6 years."  I caught that, too.  Even though the records are not complete, I take this as a positive sign that I am not the world's biggest pack rat.  Several years ago I had to clean out my file cabinet at the office to make room for more papers.  I am guessing that I may have lost some project documents in the process.  I am also pretty sure that I archived some of my old records onto CDs that I haven't taken the time to search through.  At this point, I don't think it is worth the effort - I can demonstrate the necessary experience.

Now that the dates are entered, I just need to go through my projects and enter in the deliverables and hours, and then I will be ready to apply for the PMP exam.  YAY!  I should have it done by Sunday, if all goes well.

Important Tip #1 - Gantt charts can help identify gaps in experience, and aren't hard to make

I wanted to make sure that my documented experience did not have any gaps - that I have at least 5 years of working months documented.  So, I copy/pasted the project names, start dates, and end dates from my database, sorted by start date, into MS Project (not an endorsement, just a tool I have).  Voila!  MS Project created a Gantt chart for me that showed no gaps in my experience.  Yay, again!  Don't forget to change the start date of your "project" in MS Project to the start date of the first project on your list - not a requirement, just a helpful hint.

I was only concerned because several of the older dates were based on the dates associated with project documents - I know I was on the projects earlier, I just don't have any way to verify it.

Important Tip #2 - When using a Gantt chart (in MS Project) to check for gaps in experience, start with viewing the Middle Tier set to Months.

If you have several years of experience, it could take a while to scroll through the Gantt chart to check for gaps if you are viewing more than one Tier on the Timescale.  If you find gaps and want to take a closer look, go ahead and add a second Tier for Weeks or Days to see the detail.

[Sidenote - if you are not familiar with MS Project, you can change the Timescale by right-clicking on the date headings in the Gantt chart and then selecting Timescale.  This will present a dialog box with options for changing the Timescale.  By default, the Middle Tier and Bottom Tier are displayed, set to Weeks and Days, respectively.]

So, I am sacrificing a little bit of studying in order to get my application ready.  But, if I don't get my application ready, the studying won't help me with the exam because I won't be able to take it.  My point?  Time your application submission carefully.  You have a year after acceptance to take the exam so you don't have to be 100% prepared to take it when you apply.  I would avoid applying if you are not planning on taking the exam for more than 6 months, but don't put it off just because you don't feel you have studied enough.

Happy Studying!