Passed First Try 3/14/2012

Submitted by tckitty on Thu, 03/15/2012 - 00:53

I'm just so thrilled and wanted to share the good news and of course, to thank you for this awesome website.  I used this forum on topics and questions where I wasn't clear and needed clarifications.

My test result is 3P and 2MP and I used the following material during my three months of studying. 

  • Company online training - Horrible but it gave me the PDUs
  • Headfirst - Great as an high-level overview to make you understand the relationship between the 5 process groups and 9 knowledge areas, but definitely not enough details.
  • Andy Crowe's - More detail and a bit more in depth and easy to understand too.
  • PMBOK - Used as reference, the glossary is very important to study b/c you really need to know the PMI definitions. I learned that when I was doing mock exams on various websites. Also, if I had to do this again, I will try to read it back-to-back. I did try at the beginning but it can't hold my attention.  My suggestion is to read this after reading the above two books, then it should be much easier.  Lesson learned for me!
  • PM Study - Used free + purchased Test #3
  • Oliver Lehmann - Used both online and PDF test
  • Simplilearn - Used free only
  • InSite  - free 1-week access from Andy Crowe's book
  • TechFaq360 - Used free only
  • PM Exam Simulator - Used free only
  • PMPerfect - Used free only
  • iwebprep.com - Used free only
  • Voight (http://www.voightps.de) - Used free only
  • Preparepm.com - Used free only
  • Greenexcelinc- Used free only
  • PM Zilla - For reference & research
  • DeepFriedBrainProject - For reference & research
  • I might have use a few other websites but I lost track.

I am an extremely nevous test taker and I have a tendency to stare at questions.  So to prepare myself, I attempted a lot of mock exams.  The mock exam were great to find my knowledge gap but more importantly to get me used to the 200 questions/4-hour format test.  And I'm sooo glad I did all that practice, it really helped me to get ready psychologically.  My practice scores started at high 60 and increased to high 70 towards the end.  I think I even scored a couple low 80s on the easier tests.

I'm an afternoon person so I scheduled a noon appointment. Know your schedule, is crucial to plan your exam day!  I ate a light lunch because I don't want to be walking in hungry, but just enough to last me 4 hours. The test center is near a day care and it made me really nervous and I could hear the kids playing outside.  I ended up using the headphones provided by the test center and it was much better, it really did help me concentrate during the test.

I did use the tutorial time to do my brain dump but just like what most people experience, I didn't really use it that much because by that time, I can visualize the 42 processes. I used it to double check my thinking and it also helped to calm my nerve at the beginning.

I didn't take any break, I just stood up and stretch when I needed to. I had about 20 mins left when I'm done with the exam and I used it to review my marked questions.  I didn't get through all my marked questions but I did correct a couple of them that I knew for sure was wrong, otherwise I didn't correct the other answers, I didn't want to take any chances unless I was 100% certain.

I think the test was hard but at the end of the exam, I had the feeling that I will pass but with low ratings. So when I saw the ratings, I was genuinely surprised and very happy.  I did get a very weird question and I'm pretty sure is one of the test questions, it was so odd and out of place.  And for some reason, I don't recall any specific code of ethics questions, I guess they did a good job blending them into the other questions or maybe I was too nervous to recognize them.

I agreed with what many people have posted, do as many practice exams as possible to get familiar with the situational questions, because the real exam will be different than what you'll see in the mock exams.  It's far more critical to understand, dissect and pick out key words/phrases in the questions.  Another thing I learned is to use the answers to help me understand the question, because afterall one of the answers has to be correct/best for the situation so you can use that as clue to figure out what the question is really asking about.

I skimmed through the PMI document about the differences in the Aug 2011 updated exam.  I can't discuss the content of the exam but I would say that the changes PMI mentioned in the document was reflected in my exam experience.  But don't get me wrong, you will definitely have some calculations to do, so please be prepared for that.

I hope this is helpful and it's been a great journey for me.  Please don't hestiate to leave a post if you have any questions, I'll try my best to answer them as long as it doesn't violate the PMI code!  :)

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PMP Exam Tips, Tricks and Lessons Learnt.
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krantikumar50

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 03:19

Good and congrats tckitty!


 


How did you manage the ITTO part of the exam?


 


Congratulations again.


 


KK....

tckitty

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 13:59

SInce there are sooo many, I only remembered the critical input/output for the processes (i.e. Develop Project Charter -> charter), others I have rely on logic.  I also used the following generalization.

  • Expert Judgment – T&T: ALL Integration processes
  • ALL 3 baselines - Input: Plan Quality
  • Scope baseline - Input: Define Activities, Estimate Costs, Determine Budget, Plan Quality, Identify Risks, Plan Procurement
  • Project Mgmt Plan - Input: ALL Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, Closing processes but NOT to any Initiating and Planning
  • Variance Analysis - T&T: only in Monitoring & Controlling process group
  • Work Performance Measurements - Output: only in Monitoring & Controlling process group
  • Work Performance Information - Input: most Monitoring & Controlling and Perform Quality Assurance in Executing
  • Work Performance Information - Output: Direct and Manage Project Execution
  • Change Request - this one you kind of have to remember because it's an important topic throughout PMBOK, I suggest you remember where input and output are for this one.
  1. Input (CR): Perform Integrated Change Control,
  2. Input(Approved CR): Direct & Manage Project Execution, Perform Quality Control, Administer Procurements
  3. Output: ONLY IN Planning of Plan Procurement & most of Executing and Monitoring & Controlling
  4. Except NOT IN Executing of Acquire Project Team, Develop Project Team, Distribute Information

 

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admin

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 03:55

Congratulations !.  Question , out of the free tests you have taken which ones you recommend as close to PMP ?


What is your experience level and how many total hours you would have spent on PMP Prep.


Regards

tckitty

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 14:26

Good question...I should have addressed about the prep tests.

I would use InSite, PM Study Free #1, and PMPerfect early on to gauge at the general understanding of the PMBOK.  These are more straight forward questions and I took InSite and got a high 80s.  But there's not much situational to prepare you for the real thing. But you know if you grasp the core concepts using these tests.

I would recommend Oliver Lehmann (both online and PDF), PM Exam Simulator, PM Study #3 (purchased) towards the end to test for situtional questions.  I honestly didn't see any identical or similar questions but I would say is critical to see the variations of the situational questions.  These three mock exams really helped me to prepare the unexpected. 

But use all the ones I mentioned because I think what works for me is the variety of questions I have seen. I wasn't as afraid to attack the situtional questions, even though they are nothing I have seen before. In most cases, I was able to immediately rule out 2 of the 4 and then I just have to analysis which of the 2 left are they really looking for.  I'm so thankful there are so many free tests, otherwise I'll be broke now.  LOL.

I'm a pretty green project manager, I used to be a .NET C# and SQL Server developer.  I was at a point in my career that I had to make a decision a few years back and I changed track to manage software development projects. I had already done my MIS at that time, so I could go either ways.

My manager encourages training, so I'm lucky, I can use worktime for my company online training!  The initial two months, I studied average 4 hours a day, remember I was doing some company online training.  The last month, I spent every evening (roughly until midnight) and most of the weekends studying. 

I used weekends for doing 4-hour block testing, I would let the clock running while I grabbed a snack, drink or bathroom breaks.  I needed to know for sure what the 4 hours felt like and how much I can actually spare and still complete the test.  I had done Microsoft certifications in the past but 50 questions is nothing compare to 200 questions.

 


nitin537@gmail.com

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 16:25

Hi ,


Congrats on clearing your PMP which is awesome effort.


Questions for you:


1. How many days of preparation is required for PMP and your study preparation hours per day.


2.Is the 25 questions that has no mark value will be part of the 200 questions or it would be separate set of questions?


3. How many formula based question can we expect in the exam?


4.Which is the areas that needs more concentration for the exam ?


Thanks in Advance.


Nitin


 


 

tckitty

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 18:40

1. see the above post, roughly 3 months.

2. The 25 questions are part of the 200 questions, you will not know which is which. But there's one question that was so out of the left field that I knew it must be one of the 25.  Otherwise, I didn't notice other being different.

3. I didn't note down the exact number of questions but I would say easily 10-15.

4. They spread pretty evenly and they mix the process groups and knowledge areas.  So you do have to know all of them well.

pmp_man

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 06:47

All question you have asked has no fixed rules i.e. everyone will give their own individual techniques that worked for them.


1. Generally 3-4 months i.e. 2 months of complete reading 2-3 times PMBok and Rita. About 2 months time spent on practice Mock test.


2. Don’t worry about those 25 questions, not sure why people talk and ask about it. PMI does not document what it does to these 25 questions and whether it counts or not. For you its test of 200 questions and you need to score over 65% to pass.


3. After 31-Aug-2011, I heard from people that formula based questions have reduced. I did notice the same, while I gave PMP 3 months before, I hardly saw about 10 formula based questions and it was easy to answer if you read the question well and apply just your common sense.


4. About 90% of PMP questions are situational; you will not even know which process area the questions belong to i.e. question quality is that high quality.


A tip – There are lots of Free mock questions available across, please do not get tempted to all. Low grade questions and some that claim tough questions would both divert you. Make sure you practice about 1000 good quality questions that resemble PMP type. I am a second time, and honestly my failure was because of misguidance. I can refer you a website i.e. www.pmpforsure.com


They have very good quality questions, I tried it before giving the second time and passed.

satius

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 21:57

Hi,


Hearty Congratulations:). Well done..


I need some quick info, please advise. (  I am planning to schedule it soon. )


I am preparing mock exams and in pmstudy paid exam# 3, I scored 82% and exam#2: 82%. (attended couple of days back) exam1#74%( attempted month back)


Do you think that is it OK score to get go ahead for real exam?? or need to prepare a lot!!


 


Thanks


satishus

tckitty

Thu, 03/15/2012 - 23:29

Looks like you are scoring well.  Have you attempted other free exams? I would say at the minium give Oliver Lehmann a try and see how you feel.  I think Oliver's test might be on the same level in terms of difficulty.

In my case, I just kind of knew I was ready for the exam after my many practice exams.  I guess you can say I "clicked" and understood oh...so these are the type of questions I can expect.  Like I said, I didn't see any questions from any of my practice exams.  But the concept is the same, you know they will ask you input and output of processes, you know they will ask you about understanding of ITTO, you know they will give you a situation and ask you what's the best next step, and you know there will be ethics questions.

I hope I make sense.  And I don't think I violated anything here, these are very general statements. 

Admin - please delete this if you think is not appropriate.

satius

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 17:33

Hi,


Thank you very much for your response. Yes, I attended other many practise exams too. I attended Oliver's


and 2 months back I scored approx 60% I guess, but recently I scored approx 75% I remeber.


And Insite (7 days free access) etc, I scored approx 90% and headfirst (free): 75% ( 2 month back).  Attended pm exam simulator Free one also.


scored well approx 70-80% I remember ( 1 1/2 mnth back).


After reading many pmzilla forums, some times getting confidence, but sometimes its scary for me to schedule and attend the exam thinking that I still reallly need to prepare a lot!!!?? not sure.


What do you suggest me :)


Thank you

tckitty

Tue, 03/20/2012 - 17:48

I felt the exact same way.  It's better to get over with it while you retain the most information!  What's the worst thing that could happen?  Seriously, that's what I kept reminding myself, it's not a big deal if I fail, I can take it again and I would know what to expect next time and how to better prepare for it.

Schedule the exam date, otherwise you'll never go.

Do make a visit to the test center prior to the exam to make sure you know where it is. 

Pick a time that works for you!  I'm an afternoon person so I took the noon test.

 

satius

Tue, 03/20/2012 - 21:00

Hi,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. Yes, thats what I am thinking and will do it in couple of days with out any further delay.

Hope everything will be good :)

 

Thanks again

 

tckitty

Wed, 03/21/2012 - 13:57

 Good luck!  You'll do just fine/  I'm so glad I can help.

satius

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 03:18

Hi,


I just wanted to let you know that I got scheduled my exam this afternoon and passed it :)   Got Proficient in all 5 areas. It was a very good experience..:))


Thank you very much for your encouraging words.


Thank you

tckitty

Mon, 04/02/2012 - 04:05

Congratulation!!!  I'm sooo happy for you!!! 

nishant079

Mon, 04/02/2012 - 10:39

Many Congratulations !