Passed the PMP Exam in the first attempt - 11-JUL-2013
Submitted by progelab on Sun, 07/14/2013 - 12:13
Dear PMZilla readers,
I passed the exam on 11-JUL-2013 on my first attempt. 3P’s and 2MP’s. Completed the exam with 3 minutes to spare and I had taken a 2 minute break to the restroom.
As a grateful member, I am posting my experiences below.
Materials used:
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Resource Name
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Type
|
Value to Me
|
Frequency Used
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Rita Mulachy
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Hardcover
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HIGH
|
2 times
|
Audio books
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Audio
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HIGH
|
Several times
|
Online Classroom(Velociteach)
|
Virtual
|
VERY HIGH
|
Once
|
Classroom Training
|
Training
|
MEDIUM
|
1 time
|
Internet material, YouTube
|
Internet resource
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HIGH
|
Several times
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Andy Crowe
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Hardcover
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MEDIUM
|
Reference Only
|
Head First PMP
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Internet resource
|
HIGH
|
Reference Only
|
Kim Heldman
|
Internet resource
|
MEDIUM
|
Reference Only
|
Joseph Philips(AIO PMP)
|
Hardcover
|
LOW
|
Reference Only
|
PMP Certification Mathematics
|
Hardcover
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LOW
|
1 time
|
Background:
I’m a Project Manager in an MNC and have been performing the role for 2 years. Not full-fledged, but just about enough to call myself a PM.
I’m not a very studious person by nature and tend to take things easily. However this is the first time I had spent so much of my money for a certification program as well as really liked the subject of Project Management. I took a class, but frankly should have prepared really well before I took it.
My total time for preparation was about 5 months. But as regards sincere preparation – just 5 weeks.
Material specific Points:
· I can’t underestimate the value of listening to the Audio books, as the repeated listening helped me understand concepts at a subconscious level.
· YouTube is a splendid resource at helping understand certain concepts. For ex: Dave Litten’s video on Earned Value is the best I’ve ever seen. In fact – YouTube is all you will ever need for the exam.
· I stuck Rita’s Process chart in several places including the potty. The chart helped me on a lot of questions in the exam. Memorize the default KA and PG mapping and write them down in the exam scratch note. They helped correct some of my mistakes on the exam.
· The best last minute review was Raga 355 points(http://pmzilla.com/raga039s-355-points). I’m sure this post boosted my points in every Process Group. Thank you and bless you Raga.
· The PMP Certification Mathematics by Vidya Subramanium was actually not useful. Lots of mistakes, no proofreading done and really stupid problems. Does not represent even 1% of what comes on the exam. Don’t waste your money on it. The Internet will through up better problems.
· Rita Mulcahy was verbose and extremely detailed. BUT, she does not refer to a chart as a result of which it reads like a book. At the end there is no reference to ITTO’s. It’s the biggest disadvantage of Rita.
· Surprisingly Andy Crowe’s companion resource – Velociteach had excellent videos and exams that helped me immensely. I got a very deep understanding of the subject. In fact, it’s the first step towards any aspiring PMP student. Spectacular. If the 1 week trial gets over, I would suggest buying another copy of Andy Crowe’s book just for the Insite website access.
· I did NOT memorize the ITTO’s as the exam edition was changing. And I considered it a very stupid thing to do. So I just used intuition and logic to map ITTO’s. If you read the material quite well – you don’t need to memorize.
· I did NOT ever read the PMBOK also, because I believe that Rita or Andy read them well enough. I had enough people tell me it was a very dry book so mentally I wasn’t prepared to read through it anyway.
General Observations:
· The essence of the PMP exam is comprehension. PM Knowledge + Comprehension = PMP Success.
· Don’t download each and every resource from the Internet as it’s a big waste of time. Zero down on 2-3 books and stick to them till the very end. I have about 20GB worth material and hardly used them. Don’t ask me for it.
· The math in the exam is really twisted around a simple concept. So PLEASE try to understand why you do EV, EVM, Critical Path etc. Don’t memorize the formulas and expect a direct question. Every math question I got was shrouded in lot of details and it takes a great amount of concept understanding to see through the question.
· The essence of the PMP exam is decoding the question to associate with what you have studied.
· Attempt at least 3000-5000 practice questions and ensure you get >70% in them. Then you are ready.
· When taking the exam – calculate your progress. It should be 50 questions for every hour. Your SPI should always be <= 1 on this. J
· While studying – the Pomodoro technique worked for me spectacularly. Google it.
· The Internet is extremely useful for small doubts, so use specific keywords and enhance your understanding.
Things to absolutely memorize:
· Mapping of the Process Groups and Knowledge Area charts.
· Rita’s process groups chart – atleast know the sequence if you cant memorize it.
· Understand all the formulas. But write them in the exam scratch note. Mostly EV formulas. Rest are intuitive.
· Book Definitions of all concepts. Example – WBS.
· Contract Types and Conflict Management strategies and usage in scenarios.
That’s all I can remember for now. The PMP exam is a great eye opener for many people. It shows them that there is some intelligent well thought out process to do things and not the haphazard way we are used to. It can give you the right to demand certain things in your job. Do it once and you will be addicted.
If I had to redo the exam all over again - this is the sequence I would follow.
-Velociteach's Video tutorials and practise exams.
-Rita Mulachy - 1 time with Head First and Andry Crowe for cross-reading.
-Audio books to fill the gap when I'm not reading.
-Take a full fledged exam to know HOW to precisely study.
-Reread Rita and Head First again.
-Take 50 questions for each specific topic read to really cement the foundation concepts.
-Take a full fledged exam to get more clarity on topics.
-Reread Rita.
-Take random tests from the Internet amounting to atleat 3000 questions. Oliver Lehmann has compiled an excellent list of free resources for this. Use it fully.
Progressive Elaboration is the keyword to studying. Dont rush the exams and dont be disheartened if you dont score well on the practise exams. Just keep slowly learning and absorbing. Only the main exams count.
All the Best.
seppburgh2
Sun, 07/14/2013 - 15:31
Permalink
Congrads! I just passed
Congrads! I just passed myself on July 6th. Rita was the best for me, my company offered her boot camp in-house 4 weeks prior to the test and it was well worth it for encouragement (yes I can do this.) For three weeks I focused on her book plus notes from a prior boot camp taken in 2012. Since I attended Rita's class, had access to down load her full test software and this I used to gauage my knowledge and readyness. Just as a reference, I took two weeks off from work to study 10 - 12 hours a day. I am a full time IT PM working in a PMO organization.
Do have a question for you, what is ITTO? I may know it by the full name, by ITTO has me dumb struck.
One of the nice things when I go home was tossing years worth of notes and books into the recycle bin. Gave out more current books that would help my fellow PMs at work for their studies.
Good luck, it is over!
progelab
Mon, 07/15/2013 - 04:49
Permalink
Thanks.
Thanks Seppburgh2. Yes - the feeling of bundling the books and reams of paper and material away is a fantastic feeling. You have to tear up some paper to really get the feeling that the exam is over.
Congrats to you too.
I forgot to mention - I did use Rita's FasTrack for some Process Groups like Closing and it was VERY GOOD. The exam really tests you on Closing. I got atleast an MP because of Rita's FasTrack.
Sorry - ITTO is Input, Tools & Techniques and Outputs. The 512 ITTO's which is a mammoth task to memorize.
admin
Mon, 07/15/2013 - 11:36
Permalink
Congratulations and good
Congratulations and good detailed post. Thanks for giving your feedback on PMP Maths by Vidya, it would be helpful for others