Passed my PMP exam today. My scores are listed below:

Initiation : Proficient

Planning : Proficient

Executing: Proficient

Monitoring and Controlling :  Proficient

Closing : Proficient

Was quite happy with the score as Proficient indicates performance is Above Average level.

Due to various factors, I started my preparation on Dec10th with the exam scheduled on Jan12th. Here are my advice to aspirational PMP folks.Please take this as general advice and suit it to your convenience. In PM terminology, treat them as standards and not regulations.

So, in my case, i had approximately 5 weeks to prepare. I had already planned for a week off with the family and hence , my total time was 4 weeks. First thing, 4 weeks is more than enough time to prepare for the exam. I spent an average 2-3 hours a day and 4 hours on the weekends..On an average about 20-25 hours per week. According to me, abt 75-80 focussed study hours is more than sufficient to clear this with flying colors. Key word here is "focussed". Make sure you make every hour count.

Next, decide on a good study material. There are lots of books in the market and anyone of them will do depending on your choice. Even PMBOK is enough if it is something that you can understand and read through. I chose Andy Crowe and it worked for me. Didnt like headfirst as there were too many pictorial representations and the "fun" way of reading was too distracting. Rita was too painful. Again, all of these are very good books, but pick one that you feel matches your style and stick to it. Best way to do it would be to goto a library , browse a couple of pages from each and pick what suits you. Or go online and read a few sample material and pick your choice. Either way, what matters is how thoroughly you review the material.

Strategy for preparation. Here is what I suggest based on my timelines. Spend the first week thoroughly going through the book of your choice and understand every single page. Do not memorize the tools or Inputs or outputs. Just focus on understanding the material. Do all the exercise exams at the end of each chapter that most books come with. What you should memorize are the 42 processes and their logical order. Also, memorize the 15 odd formulas. They are very simple.

By end of week one (25hrs), you should have gone through the book thoroughly, able to replicate the knowledge areas and formulas. It sounds hard but it not really is, believe me.

Week 2: As soon as you are able to do the above, take a sample exam(full 200) from many of the free online sources. If you do week1 steps well, chances are that you will score a decent mark (~65-70%) in your exam. Do not get demoralized if you get lower. Understand that this test is just a test of what you assimilated in week1. Review all the wrong answers and take the test again. Thats abt 10hours gone from the week. Spend the remaining time in the week to once again review your choice of book thoroughly. Second time reading will be much faster, you will understand it better and you should be able to complete it within the week. Before you take any exam, replicate the 42 KA's and the formulas in a blank sheet and then take teh test.

Week3: Get into PMBOK with gutso. Just as you did with your choice of book, go over it thoroughly including the glossary. You will find it much easier since you will be familiar with all of the material by now. Start focussing on the inputs,tools and outputs. There is no need to memorize them but understand the order and definitely understand how and why the tools are used in each process. You will need to know how the documents flow through the various processes. In my case, I was never really 100% sure of the whole inputs/outputs and tools but generally had a very good idea abt the major inputs, outputs and tools in each priocess. Take full length sample exam, review and take exams again. Some sample abbreviations for tools for some of the major process areas would be helpful. You can get them from teh pmzilla forums.

Week4: Final week! Go over your choice of book again. You should be very familiar with it now. Go over the PMBOK again. Spend the remaining part of the week just taking sample exams, reviews and exams again. Go back to the specific scetion of book if you see a pattern of weakness in specific areas. By this time, you should have a good feel for the sample exams and your overall preparation.

One final note, as I was taking these sample tests, I started feeling more and more comfortable and my scores that started around the 70% range were tipiing to over 80 in the last week on a regular basis. I would advice against taking any super difficult tests just to prove to yourself that you can pass even the most inanely difficult test. In my opinion, all it will do is confuse you and fill you with a feeling of dread before you take the test. Just prepare well, be confident of your preparations and let your brain kick in.

The day before the exam,  do not go overboard. Just go over your notes. Revise areas that you feel are a bit week and go over each KA and formula. If you fancy an occasional beer or wine like me, my advice is , do not have it before the exam. It dulls the brain and you do not want a bad headache on the day of the exam. Sleep weel and if possible, schedule the exam as early as possible. I am not an early morning person, but I got up early for the exam and felt bright and refreshed.

My exam was at 730am. I got there an hour early, settled down in my car with a hot coffee from SBucks. Went into the exam hall quite confidently. Was a bit surpised at all the precautions they took in security. Settled down for the exam confident. The exam itself was not what I expected. Most questions were not like the ones you encounter in sample tests online. The first 20-30 questions, had to spend a lot of time but soon settled down into a rythm. For some reason, I seemed to get a lot of questions on RIsk and I hated that area. Another thing I would suggest is that , if you get into a rythm (i.e..answering several questions on a trot that you think are right and feeling good), do not stop for a break or go out. Just continue with the flow. The brain is in a "zone" mode. Why stop it? Did not take any breaks. Finished answering all 200 in 2:30mins and then went back to the marked questions for review. Was just barely able to complete the review for marked questions 1 minute before the finish. As you have guessed, marked a lot of questions that I wanted to review later. The exam questions were quality ones and did make you think a lo more than your normal sample exams.

One final thing, in my opinion, a lot of people get into almost a deseparate mode when taking the exam and are a mental wreck before the exam. I met one such guy in the hall before the exams. My advice is, treat it as it is. Its an exam that tests your basic understanding of Project Management as defined by PMI. This is not going to be the end of your life nor the beginning. As with any other educational qualifications, it is helpful for yourself and your career but its not that critical to get a heart attack over it. Think of it as a challenging video game. If you pass the basic level, you feel good but got to move onto the next level. If you do not pass the basic level, just try and play the game again with more skill.

Have fun playing.