Have you taken the PMP Exam? Post your tip!

Cleared the PMP exam on first attempt in good standing this Dec 2015. It took me about 10 months to prepare for the exam but yes, whole preparation time could be reduced to 3 months depending upon how much time you allocate to your study on daily basis.

Start by studying PMBOK guide and PMP Head First side by side chapter by chapter. Highlight important points in books. Then fulfill the formality of taking the 35 contact hours course. After that, solve questions in Rita's PM Fast Track, Process Group wise and note the points/explanations of the correct answers to questions which you marked wrong, on a separate note book for reviewing them later a week or two before the exam. At last, take the 2 practice tests of Rita and 1 at the end of Head First book.

No need to learn by heart the inputs, tools and techniques, outputs of every process except the formulas. Just make a map of understanding them as a whole in your mind. Table 3-1 and 4-1 in PMBOK Guide are important to keep in mind all the time.

Lastly, there is no hard and fast rule, you can design your own learning/preparation steps and techniques through experience as per your convenience. 3-5 years extensive project management/coordination experience will really facilitate in preparation and passing the test.

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.

I first failed my PMP, and a couple of years later, I passed it. It is a tough exam, so plan on studying. Below are some Dos and Do Nots

Do:
~ be able to recreate from memory the matrix of knowledge areas and process groups, including the processes. http://www.focus-on-training.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pmi_process-groups_knowledge-areas-1024x741.jpg

~ Know the formulas inside out backwards and forwards. Be able to solve for any variable given known figures http://edward-designer.com/web/pmp-calculation-formulae/

~ 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.

~ Use BCDE study method for reading the PMBOK or your text. It helped me a great deal! http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/bcde.html

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

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.

I'm similar here, once I'm at about 75% - 80% consistently I feel good about it.

Hi Yassine,

Did you find the practical experience helped with your score?

Awesome resources Markus thanks!

Wait, there are 600 ITOs? What?

Talk about overkill you could spend 3 months on that. I'd be using acronyms galore. Watermark Learning is good for this.

I do agrre guys, but note:
It have to be 75%+ in EVERY NEW mock exam. Repeatings didn't count ...