The Big Time

I am glad to announce that I passed the Program Management Professional (PgMP®) Exam on November 29, 2021 with Above Target in all domains and very proud to be join this elite group of professionals. 

This credential was on my radar since 2019 but with the pandemic, some priorities changed and I had to postpone it. However, now achieving it marks an important milestone in my professional development journey as I did complete all 8 Main PMI Credentials and 9 Micro-Credentials. 

As usual, I am happy to share my lessons learned with the community members hoping that future candidates will find value in them. 

STUDY PLAN

PMI Resources: PMI Standard for Program Management - 4th Edition. If you are a PMP and/or PfMP, the  Standard will be more than enough provided that you read it several times in details. You will be surprised, but every time you go through the standard, you will discover something new in between the lines. 

Exam Content Outline: I can't emphasize the importance of the ECO. You need to deep dive and understand every single task, why and how you do it. 

Course: There is no course required as a pre-requisite for the application. However, it does not hurt to take a course if you feel the need to do so but I personally did self-study. 

Application: The application was very lengthy and rigorous unlike any other PMI Certifications Applications (Except for PfMP). It took me a while to complete my application (A total of 15 Hours of work). After submitting my application, I got initial approval in 5 days time, I paid the dues ($800) and the application went for Panel Review which took around 3 more weeks before receiving final approval (This was in 2020). 

Study Time: It took me a bit more than a month to study. One month might seem light but I used to study 4 hours a day and 6 hours on weekends in addition to that I took a few days off work to study extensively so it was more of a Bootcamp Personal Plan. At a normal pace, I would say 2 - 3 months (2 - 4 Hours / Day) should be reasonable. 

Simulation Exams: I purchased a couple of simulation exams available online on Udemy and others for training purposes. They were good in terms of boosting your level of confidence but again, the key is to deeply understand every aspect of the standard. 

Colleagues Advice: I connected with a few PgMP's who gave me solid advice and boosted my confidence a lot for which I am very thankful. They are a good example of people who share knowledge without boarders. 

EXAM EXPERIENCE

I am going to talk about my personal exam experience (Without going into details or specific questions). In general, I found the exam to be somehow easier than other PMI exams. I might have found it easier given how much experience and credentials I have or maybe not. Either way, below was my experience:

Level of Difficulty: The exam was not very difficult. In general, 75% of the questions were short in nature but I have to say that some were tricky so again, you need to have an absolutely excellent grasp of every word in the standard.

Exam Questions (General): Most of the questions were situational (Short Questions). You need to understand which artifact gets updated in every phases or change, what happens when and by whom, and above all you need to have a deep understanding of all tools, techniques and program activities. It is worth mentioning that you will encounter around 10% questions from outside the standard related to PMP. 

Exam Depth: The exam tests your understanding of every single aspect of the standard and the program management in general.

Exam Language: The language of the questions and answers was moderate. You might end up reading some questions twice but for the majority of the questions, it took me 30 seconds on average to read the question and answers and if you have a good grasp of the material, once is enough. 

Exam Time: The timing was  than enough. I finished the exam well ahead of time including the review of the questions I marked. 

Elimination Strategy: Surprisingly, and unlike other PMI exams, I was able to easily eliminate 3 answers for many of the questions. 

Exam Experience with Pearson Vue: Unlike my experience during the PfMP exam which was not very pleasant, this time, it went much smoother and I had no issues at all except for some difficulty in exam booking but this is totally understandable given the current pandemic situation. 

Good Luck to all future Aspirants !

The intent of this blog is to provide a summarized comparison between the current exam content outline Current ECO August 2021 and the updated Pilot ECO November 2021 in order to facilitate the way forward for future candidates.

DOMAINS and TEST PERCENTAGES

The domains in the new ECO will change as well as the percentages of test questions per domain. The below tables illustrates the difference between both:

PROJECT ENVIRONMENTS AND APROACHES COVERED

In today’s world, risk management practitioners operate in a variety of environments and utilize different project approaches.

The new exam will incorporate approaches across the value delivery spectrum from Predictive, agile, to hybrid approaches. Questions will be found throughout the five domain areas and are not isolated to any particular domain or task.

DOMAINS, TASKS AND ENBALERS

In the current exam version, each domain is broken down into tasks and at the end of each domain there is a list of knowledge items and skills that candidates need to be familiar with. Moreover, at the end, there is a list of Core Knowledge and Skills that apply to all domains – Refer to the current ECO August 2021 (Pages 4 – 14) for more details.

In the new upcoming version of the exam, each domain is broken down into tasks that are different than those included in the current version and each task is broken down into enablers which are basically examples of work associated with each task. The section for Core Knowledge and Skills required will be removed – Refer to Pilot ECO November 2021 (Pages 5 – 10) for more details.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND ELIGIBILITY

The application process, eligibility and how to record your experience and education remains unchanged.

To be eligible for the PMI-RMP certification, you must meet certain educational and professional experience requirements. All project risk management experience must have been accrued within the last five consecutive years prior to your application submission.
 

APPLICATION PRCOESSING TIMES AND FEES

The application processing time (Online, 5 Days Processing) and fees remain unchanged. However, processing time may vary if application was selected for audit.

PMI EXAM INFORMATION

• Number of exam questions, examination time and questions type are changing: 

• Exam retake policy remain unchanged except for those who take the pilot exam.

PILOT EXAM SPECIFIC NOTES

• As a limited time offer, participants in the PMI-RMP Pilot Exam will receive a 50% rebate if they schedule and take the Pilot Exam during the Pilot period (December 2021). The rebate will be given approximately 6 weeks from the close of the Pilot Period.
   
• Between 6 October 2021 – 31 December 2021 (or when 200 candidates take the pilot exam, whichever occurs first), candidates can choose to schedule for the PMI-RMP Pilot Exam. During the scheduling phase, you will see two options: Pilot or Current PMI-RMP Exam. Those who choose to take the Pilot Exam must choose the Pilot Exam on this screen and take the Pilot exam during the month of December. Please note it will take 2 months to receive your score if you participate in the Pilot exam.
   
• If you do not pass the Pilot exam, you will get the opportunity for a free retake of the exam once the full exam launches in April 2022.
   

REFERENCE MATERIAL

The list of reference for the new version of the exam are updated and can be found on page 17 of the Pilot Eco November 2021 so if you are taking the pilot exam, make sure your study plan is based on those references.

For easy reference, the below table lists the references recommended for each version of the exam.

Stay tuned for more to come ! 

During a conversation with a friend last week as we were working on a private project, he threw a joke that I should create a Certifcations Wall of Fame given that I earned lots of valuable certifications over the years. The joke turned into a serious conversation and thinking about it later, I concluded it would actually be a good idea so I decided to turn the joke into reality.

As I look at all those badges all consolidated in one view, I feel so proud of those accomplishments. I can’t even express how much each and every one of those journeys added value and helped me grow both personally and professionally. 

It took lots of dedication, commitment and hard work to build this concrete wall and guess what, I am ready for the next one. When there is a Will, there is a Way !

I am proud to share that I passed the Professional Scrum Product Owner II Certification exam and glad to add this certification to my Scrm Backpack: 

As usual, I would like to share some tips that may benefit future aspirants: 

Preparation 

1- Follow the same steps (Combined) for PSM I, SPS , PSPO I

2- Follow the PSPO II Learning Path - Lots of valuable information there in the blogs and articles. 

3- Do the open assessments on scrum.org website such as Scrum Open, Product Owner Open, Scrum Measurement Open & Open Nexus.

4- Scrum (A Pocket Guide) by Gunther Verheyen is a highly recomended reference.

5- Read the Evidence-Based Management Guide in details. 

Exam

1- Exam is 1 Hour and consists of 40 Multiple Choice / Multiple Answer Questions. 

2- Passing grade is 85%. 

3- The tests your experience and knowledge beyond any guide. It is a very tough exam  so you need to have experience and know Scrum in depth. 

4- Most questions are scenario based or require in depth analysis. 

5- I found this exam comparable to the PSM II Exam in terms of diifficulty so one should be well prepared. 

Knowledge

During this journey, I learned a lot about: 

1. Evidence-Based Management 
2. Business stratergy
3. DiSC Model 
4. Product Vision
5. Product Value

Good Luck to all New Aspirants ! 

I am glad to announce that I passed the Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP®) Exam on July 15, 2019 with Above Target in all domains and very proud to be one of the 713 members of this elite group of professionals.

As usual, I am happy to share my lessons learned with the community members hoping that future candidates will find value in them. 

STUDY PLAN

PMI Resources: PMI Standard for Portfolio Management - 3rd Edition. The 4th Edition was issued last year but there was no announcement that the exam changed to reflect the new edition so I mainly thoroughly studied the 3rd edition and briefly went through the 4th edition - If you are a PMP and/or PgMP, the Portfolio Standard will be more than enough provided that you read it several times in details. You will be surprised, but every time you go through the standard, you will discover something new in between the lines. 

Exam Content Outline: It is important to go through it at least once to have an idea of the exam content and other details. 

Course: There is no course required as a pre-requisite for the application. However, it does not hurt to take a course if you feel the need to do so but I personally did it fully self-study. 

Application: The application was very lengthy and rigorous unlike any other PMI Certifications Applications (Except for PgMP). It took me a while to complete my application (A total of 16 Hours of work) - After submitting my application, I got initial approval in 10 days time, I paid the dues ($800) and the application went for Panel Review which took around 3 more weeks before receiving final approval. 

Study Time: It took me a bit more than a month to study. One month might seem light but I used to study 4 hours a day and 6 hours on weekends in addition to that I took a fews days off work to study extensively so it was more of a Bootcamp Personal Plan. At a normal pace, I would say 2 - 3 months (2 - 4 Hours / Day) should be reasonable. 

Simulation Exams: There aren't many resources out there in terms of simulation exams for PfMP so I only went through Rania Al-Mughrabi Questions Bank. There were useful for review only but not close to the real exam at all. 

Colleagues Advice: I connected with a few PfMP's who gave me solid advice and boosted my confidence a lot and I am very thankful for them. They are a good example of people who shares knowledge without boarders. 

EXAM EXPERIENCE

I am going to talk about my personal exam experience (Without going into details or specific questions):

Level of Difficulty: The level of difficulty could be easily compared with PMP. In general, the questions were short in nature but I have to say they were very tricky and the answers were even trickier. I kept hearing that the exam is easy from people posting their personal experience but I assure you, it is not easy at all and you need to have an absolutely excellent and thorough grasp of every word in the standard.

Exam Questions (General): Most of the questions were situational (Short Questions) but very tricky. You need to understand the ITTO's, and which part of the output gets updated in every process and above all you need to have a deep understanding of all tools and techniques. It is worth mentioning that you will encounter around 10% questions from outside the standard related to PfMP, PgMP and PMP. 

Exam Depth: The exam tests your understanding of every single aspect of the standard and the portfolio management in general. It goes above and beyond the text book. 

Exam Language: The language of the questions and answers was moderate, You might end up reading the question and answers 3 times. Again, they were short (1 - 2 lines) but very confusing and the answers were even more confusing so ensure you understand everything, without memorizing and ensure you read every question in details. 

Exam Time: The timing was  than enough. I finished the exam in 3 Hours 10 Minutes and then took 50 Minutes to review all questions I marked for review. 

Elimination Strategy: Unlike other PMI exams, in many questions, it was not easy at all to eliminate answers. 

Exam Experience with Pearson Vue: To be honest, I was not as comfortable  with Pearson Vue as I was with Prometric. They had to take the palm prints of both hands and if you want to take a break, someone has to come log you out of your exam session, you have to give your palm print, go out, then palm print again, then they log you in and this is all time wasted at your expense. I find this a bit extreme considering that candidates who apply for exams like PfMP are professionals in managerial positions. I also find not having at least one break allowed for a 4 hours exam somehow unfair and in a way annoying. The purpose of the exam is to test your knowledge and experience, not to test your self control and stress level so I believe candidates should be allowed a 10 min break at the 2 hours mark. 

Good Luck to all future Aspirants !