Dear Community,
I prepared for my PMP exam by using the online courses and the PMP Exam Prep Simplified book of Andrew Ramdayal. After doing all the practice questions I bought the TIA mock simulator, which is heavily advertised in reddit groups and youtube.
According to Andrew everybody who achieves +80% is ready for the real exam.
I did 2 mock tests and achieved 75% - 85% in total, therefore I thought I´m ready for the exam.
During the PMP- exam I faced many issues and failed the exam with AT/NI/NI:
- the questions in the exam were much more difficult than the questions in the mock simulator (longer, more complex, etc.)
- many topics in the exam were unknown to me and not covered in the preparation book
- the time was not sufficient to answer all the questions. I had to skip ~20 questions just to stay on time.
- I wasn´t able to understand a couple of the very long and complex questions. English is my second language.
-- According to the exam analysis I have to focus heavily on "Process" and "Business Environment".
The last few weeks I've been thinking about how I can better prepare for the 2nd attempt and developed a study plan:
1. Practicing the basics and the technical language
- Study of PMBOK 6th Edition, reading the book twice
- Study of PMBOK 7th Edition, reading the book once
- Study of Agile Practice Guide, reading the book twice
- PMP Exam Cram Session of Joseph Phillips on Udemy
2. Practicing of the basics with many mock questions
- free 100 practice questions of Oliver Lehmann
- Rita´s Process Chart Game
- free PMP Exam Prep Practice Test of simplilearn
- 135 Exam questions of Joseph Phillips (included in the Cram Session)
- Performing the PMI® Authorized Online PMP® Practice Exam
Do you think the preparation will be sufficient to build a solid foundation for passing the exam? Please let me know your thoughts!
Markus KopkoAI Enabler for Project & Program Mgmt | Founder PMotion.ai / The PM
AI Coach| PMotion.aiHamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Jul 05, 2023 3:28 PM
Replying to Frank Miller
...
Dear community,
I just wanted to let you know that I passed my exam on 5th of May with AT/AT/AT! I followed your recommendations to prepare for the exam and this is what worked for me:
1. I read PMBOK6, PMBOK7 and AGILE PRACTICE GUIDE once. Reading the books gave me a good overview of the processes and basic knowledge.
2. I have gone through Rita´s book twice. This book was a real eye opener for me: The exercise book explains all areas very carefully and in detail, with the practical questions at the end of each chapter deepening and testing the understanding.
3. I used Ricardo Varga´s Process Flow Diagram to keep track of the processes during my studies.
4. PMI- Study Hall Plus: The app is a must! I completed all the tutorials and case studies. At the end of each chapter I solved the practical questions and started with the exam simulations 4 months prior to the exam. The questions in Study Hall are divided into 4 levels of difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Difficult and Expert. I concentrated very much on the levels of difficulty “Moderate” and “Difficult” and tried to solved as many questions as possible. The processing of the solved questions is very well implemented: For each question there is a short description of why a solution is right or wrong and a direct chapter reference to the books: That's why I think it's important to read the books at the beginning. When I received the rating “Proficient” in each ECO category I scheduled the exam.
5. Mindset: In the exam, PMI requests a certain "Mindset" to solve the questions / tasks. When I solved the questions in PMI Study Hall, I automatically acquired the "mindset" necessary to pass the test. There is no need to buy extra books or simulators. Save your time and money!
Summary: Preparing for the PMP certificate is hard work. My professor at the university always said: Diamonds only form under pressure.
I would like to thank PMI for the excellent training opportunity and also this community for guiding me through this process.
Don't be discouraged! Please identify the reasons why you failed PMP Exam. Review test results to identify weaknesses. Focus on understanding PMP concepts rather than memorization. Use practice tests to improve. Consider a study group or PMP prep course to improve your preparation strategy. Think positive! Saving Changes...
Hi all! I have recently taken PMP exam and I would suggest the following to anyone who is planning to take the test.
- Andrew Ramadayal 35 PDU Course
- David McLachlan Youtube videos on Predictive, Agile and PMBOK 7th Edition questions
- Study Hall Mock Exams & Practice Questions
- ThirdRock Notes
- Memorize EVM, PERT and other formulae
- Keep revising the PMI Mindset
*Note PMI exam is all about mindset, if you are trying to memorise all process groups or knowledge areas, it's not gonna help. As key is to understand how to select the best possible answer as a Project Manager. Saving Changes...
Rajan ShahProject Management| InfosysLangley, BC, Canada
Jun 24, 2023 11:26 PM
Replying to DeAnn Hubberd
...
I will be taking the PMP exam in a few months. This thread gives a lot of great resources. Thank you! What are AR's videos?
@Frank Miller - Have you retaken the exam?
AR = Andrew Ramdayal Saving Changes...
Camilo PereiraFounder| Compass PMOSan Salvador, El Salvador
Jul 05, 2023 3:28 PM
Replying to Frank Miller
...
Dear community,
I just wanted to let you know that I passed my exam on 5th of May with AT/AT/AT! I followed your recommendations to prepare for the exam and this is what worked for me:
1. I read PMBOK6, PMBOK7 and AGILE PRACTICE GUIDE once. Reading the books gave me a good overview of the processes and basic knowledge.
2. I have gone through Rita´s book twice. This book was a real eye opener for me: The exercise book explains all areas very carefully and in detail, with the practical questions at the end of each chapter deepening and testing the understanding.
3. I used Ricardo Varga´s Process Flow Diagram to keep track of the processes during my studies.
4. PMI- Study Hall Plus: The app is a must! I completed all the tutorials and case studies. At the end of each chapter I solved the practical questions and started with the exam simulations 4 months prior to the exam. The questions in Study Hall are divided into 4 levels of difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Difficult and Expert. I concentrated very much on the levels of difficulty “Moderate” and “Difficult” and tried to solved as many questions as possible. The processing of the solved questions is very well implemented: For each question there is a short description of why a solution is right or wrong and a direct chapter reference to the books: That's why I think it's important to read the books at the beginning. When I received the rating “Proficient” in each ECO category I scheduled the exam.
5. Mindset: In the exam, PMI requests a certain "Mindset" to solve the questions / tasks. When I solved the questions in PMI Study Hall, I automatically acquired the "mindset" necessary to pass the test. There is no need to buy extra books or simulators. Save your time and money!
Summary: Preparing for the PMP certificate is hard work. My professor at the university always said: Diamonds only form under pressure.
I would like to thank PMI for the excellent training opportunity and also this community for guiding me through this process.
Frank
Congratulations, Frank! I know this comes a little late. It's been almost two years since you passed your PMP exam. However, this thread has inspired me with its insights into the challenges of passing the exam. I am dedicated to training students and helping professionals pass their exams.
Thanks for sharing your journey, and thanks to the community for being so supportive. This is what having a community is all about, right?
Hi Frank I used Andrew Ramdyal PMP Exam Prep Simplified. i purchased it from Amazon,
I passed the first time.
Here is my study plan:
Started to study around febrauary 2024.
Read the book 2 times.
After that started watching the videos from the TIA Course that comes with the book for 2 hours daily 5 to 6 days a week.. Started around March and completed the first time of videos about April. Then started watching the videos for a second time around until July 31.
Also Watched David McLachlan Agile 200 questions from you tube
I purchased his TIA simulator around august 1 until Septemeber 25. I was scoring around 95-a100 in his tests. Then I also did the tests that were included in the simulator as other mock tests but those really helped me out because most of those questions looked like some that I got in my PMP Test on September 27 when I passed the first time.
I scored AT,AT,T.
I think I watched the Mindset videos more than 10 times. Saving Changes...
Marouane TOUNDAMProject manager| ADELTE - The Boarding CompanyMarrakech, 07, Morocco
Jul 05, 2023 3:28 PM
Replying to Frank Miller
...
Dear community,
I just wanted to let you know that I passed my exam on 5th of May with AT/AT/AT! I followed your recommendations to prepare for the exam and this is what worked for me:
1. I read PMBOK6, PMBOK7 and AGILE PRACTICE GUIDE once. Reading the books gave me a good overview of the processes and basic knowledge.
2. I have gone through Rita´s book twice. This book was a real eye opener for me: The exercise book explains all areas very carefully and in detail, with the practical questions at the end of each chapter deepening and testing the understanding.
3. I used Ricardo Varga´s Process Flow Diagram to keep track of the processes during my studies.
4. PMI- Study Hall Plus: The app is a must! I completed all the tutorials and case studies. At the end of each chapter I solved the practical questions and started with the exam simulations 4 months prior to the exam. The questions in Study Hall are divided into 4 levels of difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Difficult and Expert. I concentrated very much on the levels of difficulty “Moderate” and “Difficult” and tried to solved as many questions as possible. The processing of the solved questions is very well implemented: For each question there is a short description of why a solution is right or wrong and a direct chapter reference to the books: That's why I think it's important to read the books at the beginning. When I received the rating “Proficient” in each ECO category I scheduled the exam.
5. Mindset: In the exam, PMI requests a certain "Mindset" to solve the questions / tasks. When I solved the questions in PMI Study Hall, I automatically acquired the "mindset" necessary to pass the test. There is no need to buy extra books or simulators. Save your time and money!
Summary: Preparing for the PMP certificate is hard work. My professor at the university always said: Diamonds only form under pressure.
I would like to thank PMI for the excellent training opportunity and also this community for guiding me through this process.
Frank
Congrats Frank, I'm starting my PMP journey next week ! Thanks for sharing ! Saving Changes...
Faiz RasoolEducator/Trainer| PM Training SchoolAuckland, New Zealand
All the great comments and Feedback for PMP Aspirants. We mostly help NZ and Australia based Project managers to Pass PMP like Pro and stress free. Saving Changes...
