Rebecca BraglioCommunity Engagement Specialist II| Project Management InstituteNewtown Square, Pa, United States
Have you taken the exam? Passed? Failed? Failed and then passed?
Help out a fellow project manager and post your tip on studying for and taking the exam. Here are some we''ve gathered from members so far:
J.l Laroche: Try not to try to absorb all the PMBOK content by heart, focus on the main stream of processes and knowledge, the tools and the results and you will be fine don''t worry. remember to get first through all questions, answering the evident ones and flagging the others and then get back to the flagged ones, and think of it, even if you''re unsure of the answer, always, always pick one, if you''re wrong you will not loose points and you have 1 on 4 chances to get it good...
M. Hartsough: When reviewing those questions you flagged, don''t start second-guessing yourself. IMO, in all probability your initial answer was correct. Don''t change your original answers unless you definitely found a better one. Remember to answer from the "PMI Perspective". The PMI Perspective isn''t necessarily how you or your organization manages projects.
F. McCaskell: take a break every 50 questions - no matter if you don''t think you need it. This will prevent you from being burned out at the end.
C.Tong: don''t think the exam is easy or you won''t prepare yourself well Saving Changes...
Chintan Jariwala, PMP, CSMProject Manager, IT Business Analyst| Sailfin Technologies India Pvt LtdSurat, Gujarat, India
How much time needed to study is up to the individual. It took me 3 months to study for PMP too. However, I dedicated 1 whole month to the Mock Tests. At least 1 test a day for the whole month. Practicing on the Mock tests are important as it will show your understanding of the concepts as well as your ability to understand the questions properly.
When I started studying, I used 3 books. Head First PMP, PMBOK, PMP Exam Prep ( Rita Mulcahy ). Read every chapter from these tree books & then gave mock test for KAs. If your focus is more on exam, Rita''s book can help a lot.
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1 reply by Steven Zachary
Jan 01, 2016 11:52 AM
Steven Zachary
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This is a great strategy, I think i'd do this strategy as well with a lot of tests. 3 months seems reasonable.
~ I highly suggest using Core Performance Concepts'' PMP Exam Success by J. Ross Publishing. It is the curriculum we use in my PMI chapter for our PMP Prep Class. The author is very knowledgeable and the book is highly rated. https://www.jrosspub.com/achieve-pmp-exam-success-5th-edition.html
~ Volunteer with your local PMI chapter. This made a huge difference for me in keeping my desire to pass the exam alive and in putting me into contact with folks who were supportive and had already passed the exam. http://www.projectmanagement.com/blog/PM-Interface/11187/
~Study every day, recreate the process/knowledge matrix every day, find a systematic study method.
Dont:
~Assume you''ll probably pass because you already do project management
~Assume you can read the PMBOK the weekend prior to your test and then pass
~Assume you''re good at "these sorts" of tests and then give yourself a week to prepare
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1 reply by Steven Zachary
Jan 01, 2016 11:54 AM
Steven Zachary
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I did the same thing with CFA, took it far to lightly. We learn and grow from these experiences.
Saving Changes...
Krishanu NaugProgram Manager| CBRE Bangalore, Karnataka, India
I have cleared my PMP exam this year with 2 P & 3 MP, I have attempted as many mock exams possible and only followed PMBOK guide. I believe if you read PMBOK well , 2-3 times then you don''t need any other book. However, Rita Mulcahy''s book is a good read. Saving Changes...
Sean FullerTechnical Account Manager| ECX Systems, LLCTyler, Tx, United States
A couple of things I didn''t see anyone else mention already are:
1. I used the PM Prepcast which gives video and powerpoint lessons to teach you to pass the PMP exam. I watched the lessons from my computer in my office and from my smart phone while at the gym or any time I had time to kill.
2. I also used the commercial PM Exam Simulator that contained 1,800 practice questions and very accurately simulated the actual exam. I learned a lot from researching questions I got wrong on the simulated tests and got comfortable with the wording of the questions and the tricks employed to trip you up from selecting the BEST answer. Saving Changes...
There is so many website and questions on the net. Be careful about the answer so that it does not create confusion. It is a continuous process with good planning and do lots of mock exam questions.
Rita book is the best.
Understand the concept and ITTO should not be memorize but understand the link and logic behind it. Saving Changes...
Michael GeilichSenior Director of Software Engineering| RSGWhit River Junction, Vt, United States
I passed on the first try as well (will we hear from anyone who did not?).
There are many for-fee courses and books for preparing for the exam. I bought one book, the Altwies/Preston book Achieve PMP Exam Success and that was all I needed. I think a different book would have served just as well.
Other than reading the book, I found free sample exams online and took them. Turns out that was great preparation because the online exams were harder than the actual test.
If you know the terminology, can derive some basic equations, and memorize the process map you should do fine. Saving Changes...
Jhonasttan RegaladoFunctional Manager| Deutsche BankMamaroneck, Ny, United States
The PMP exam is a long and hard test which requires mental stamina alongside sharp thinking. Some of these steps may have been posted already, but this is the approach that allowed me to prepare and pass on the first attempt. If you treat your studying / prepping for the exam like a project with milestones, you will achieve success. Most importantly, sit with your family and set the expectations for the next few months so that they can support and cheer you until test day.
A strong shout out to my good friend Hernan Cabrera (provided me with a lot of guidance in regards to studying, testing and building a test sheet), my wife Yasmin and children Neidyn, Jhona and Gabi. I could not have achieved success without their involvement and support through out my journey.
This was my approach during the entire process performed over three months:
1. Read ''Head First PMP'' alongside the accompanying chapter in PMBOK guide for a good start on memory mapping the knowledge areas, processes and ITTOs. I strongly recommend reading both books with this approach and completing every exercise in the Head First PMP book. Break your reading bouts into thirty minutes to one hour, twice a day.
2. Get 6 hours of sleep every night, thus allowing your brain to digest the information into the long term memory.
3. I Strongly recommend taking a one week training course after getting through the first read of the books.
4. Look for opportunities to apply your learnings to your daily routines at work and home.
5. Schedule one hour blocks twice a week to test for one hour and review the test for the other hour. I separated the testing and reviewing into two days, allowing me to sleep on questions that challenged me during the test.
6. After finishing a first run of both books, schedule a series of 5-6 full exams for five consecutive weeks (preferably on weekends) to build up stamina for the test. Continue to split the testing and review sessions into two consecutive days. E.g. test on Saturday and review on Sunday.
7. Use the time during the week to review in PMBOK those areas where you got the wrong answer or need further clarification.
8. On the last full week prior to the test, focus your time to creating a brain dump sheet to use during the test, from memory twice a day - once in the morning and once before bed. For my approach, I developed a sheet that includes that complete mappings of knowledge areas and process group(PMBOK guide p. 61) for which you need to know the sequences across all knowledge areas, the common formulas, conflict resolution list and stakeholder categories. The goal here is to produce the sheet within fifteen minutes. This is the same time you will get for the tutorial section at the beginning of the test. Use this time to build your sheet. You will reference it through out the test and will help decrease the time you spend on some questions due to the quick lookup.
9. Avoid heavy testing on the last week.
10. I used a few mobile apps to cover about 5 - 10 questions a day through out the journey.
11. Get a good night''s rest and go into this test knowing that you are ready.
12. Take a break for a few minutes on the hour to look away and let your mind refocus.
Good luck and hope this helps you achieve your PMP certification. You can do it!
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1 reply by Abu Hasnat Muhammad Monzurul Bhuyan
Nov 28, 2017 12:09 AM
Abu Hasnat Muhammad Monzurul Bhuyan
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Good Fun...As you are taking GRE exam for desired score. This is not a format for a professional exam. I strongly disagree with this faulty format of PMP exam.
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Dr. Hemant KagraPrincipal Chief Signal & Telecom Engineer| East Coast Railway, Indian RailwaysBhubaneshwar, Odisha, India
A lot of suggestions have already been made. As they say, all roads lead to rome; but that road is most suitable on which you are most comfortable. I passed in June this year with 4 P and 1 MP.
1. I devoted approx. 4 months for the endeavor. One month each for Head First, PMBOK and Rita Mulchay books, and the last month for mock tests. I tried about 4000 questions, mostly with the free question banks available on the internet. And when i could score approx. 85 - 90 % i mock tests, i knew i was ready for the Big Day.
2. As far as memorizing ITTOs is concerned, there are diverse views - to each his own. I for one, devised mnemonics for the inputs and tools & techniques only and memorized them. No need to memorize the outputs because most of the outputs are inputs for the next process. And in the exam, i jotted down these on the scratch paper in the first 15 minutes. As per my experience, there are at least 30 questions which directly refer to ITTOs, and these can be attempted in a ziffy, if you have the ITTOs readily available.
3. Another important areas is the numerical questions, of which mostly people are not comfortable. It is vital ingredient (there are approx. 30 - 40 numerical questions) but mostly neglected. I solved large number of numericals, which gave me speed and accuracy. Besides, i also jotted down the formulas on the scratch sheet in the first 15 minutes. That really helped me while solving the numerical questions, as one tends to get confused during the exam due to pressure and similarity of the questions.
3. In the exam, i did three passes of the questions. In the first pass, attempted all the questions, except numericals, and marked those questions of which i was not sure for review. In the next pass, did all the numericals and again marked those questions of which i was not sure for review. In the final pass did all the questions marked for review. And in fact i was able to finish 15 minutes early.
Of course now the exam pattern is going to change from the new year, so dont know what strategy would work. So god speed and hope my experience helps you in some way.
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1 reply by Steven Zachary
Jan 01, 2016 12:01 PM
Steven Zachary
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Good point, the exam format is changing, so a new strategy will be required.
Product Operations Program ManagerBarcelona, Cataluña, Spain
Prepare well the Earned Value Management topic, get very familiar with the formulas and concepts. There are quite a few questions on this theme and will give you the chance to secure the answers. Saving Changes...
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