Hello All,

I am happy to share that I cleared my PMP exam on 16th.

Results are as below:-

Initation - Moderately Proficient

Planning - Proficient

Execution -  Moderately Proficient

Monitoring and Controlling - Moderately Proficient

Closing - Moderately Proficient

I am regular reader of forums on PMzilla. And this is my first post on it.

Just to say  Thank you to all who contributed into this Forums.

It was a real amazing journey from the 1st failure in Jan12 to April12.

I was failed in my first attempt only because havent get a lot time just before the Exam.

But agin that was part of sucess -  "Lessaon learnt".

The first thing I did was analysed  the PMzilla responses of the people who successfuly passed their exam. There is a common trend in all their responses. 

The Best thing I received  is "'Rajesh Nair'  Notes" - Revised 5 times.[Helped me to answer around 30-40 question very quickly.]

I started with reading 'Rita Mulachy' first. Then read PMBOK.Initially I did not likes Rita book but in 2nd reading I got taste of it which builds confidence. Helped in sloving some tricky questions.

 Then secound round of both the books.

Lastly, I gave did 150 Questions  Head First PMP exam.

All Questionsin 'Rita Mulachy' - Thrice. {Very Very useful}

Around 400-500 Extra Questions from different free websites.

Some tips

1] Don't use too many texts. PMBOK is must plus one more. I preferred 'Rita Mulachy' and only referred Head First for some concepts.

2] Please don't memorize without understanding. The questions in the exam are not straightforward. So understand the significance of a process/ tool/technique applied.

I never looked at lot of flow diagrams in PMBOK. Just understand process logically.

I played  process/ tool/technique Rita's game many time with my SON.I numbered  1 to 50 back of the cards.I used to arrange them in process order. And he checked number wise. ;)

Created my Podcast for Procument/Cost/ Project framework in last fews days.

3] Atleast give 2 to 3 exams before the final exam to see where you stand in terms of preparation and time. Especially if you haven't appeared for a 4 hour long exam before.

4] Also make your own notes of key terms that you would like to revise a day before the exam.

Especially formulas. And Key points from your preparation tests. 

6] Also, after giving few practice exams I noticed that my first guess was always right. So I believed on the first guess and it worked very well for me in the exam. However, this is my way of approaching it and you can adopt any strategy as long as you get the right answer.

Do not wait too long on any questions "Marked" for review . There are lot of simple question from 100-200 range. [Attempt all questions :)]

Big questions are around 4-5 lines. Most of the time  BIG questions are relatively simple to answer.

You can discard 2 option straight away but other 2 options were very close.For example

Who are the stakeholder?

1)All who are interested in outcome of project

2) All people in a company performing  the project.

Team wants Head phone. PM arranged thise through Sponsorer?

1) Esteem 2) Belongongs 3)  Recognition

7] Also, 'Rita's Process chart' is very important. You don't have to mug it up just understand why each item belong to this process group.

8] Very important :--- Do not neglect problems based on Std deviation, EMV, CPI/SPI, Critical Path and others, there will be a lot of questions on the same and would be very easy to score. Vey very easy .

Just write all formaulas in Sheet in 10 min before exam starts.

9] Solve all questions that follow every chapter of Rita Mulachy book atleast twice.

Resources used:-

1] 'Rita Mulachy 7th edition'  , 'PMBOK, 'Head First'

2] 500 Questions.

3] 'Rajesh Nair' notes - Brilliant for the person like me where you can not devote lot of Study time.

4] Glossary of terms (PMBOK 4th edition - Pg 426) - a must to get all concepts right.

5] Used http://www.brainbok.com/home#ITTO to go through Inputs and Outputs for processes.

6] Finally, all resources and tips shared on PMZilla

 So finally feel very proud to have received PMP designation after a lot of hardwork.

Thanks PMZilla and members for sharing resources and tips that helped a lot in preparation.

Ok guys..if you need any suggestion please reply to this thread and I will try to answer your queries to the best of my abilities.

 Again thanksto PMzilla and  Rajesh Nair.