Dear friends,

I am very happy to say that I have cleared PMP ,today in the first chance.

I am thankful to my friends,my family,my soon to be born kid and their prayers.

Preparation

The idea came in 2009,but there were lots of reasons to stop me from  preparing for the exam,girl friend,job change,marriage,etc.

Then it all started again in Jan 2013,the hunger to change STATUS QUO.

The very first thing ,I did was to take a print out of the 42 processes.

I joined an institute in May to get the PDUs and the trainer MR Anand Rao,was really very good, explained the nuances of the PMP World.(Yes its not the real world,but very close to it).

I have to say,last Jan,one of my mentors who is a PMP ,suggested me about the pioneer Rita Mulcahy and her Book.

I dont know and I just googled and became her fan,(She died in 2010).

Her book has a motherly touch,its like someone talking to you and walking you through the phases of the exam.

By far,its the best book anyone can have for the exam.

I even ,sensed that she was helping me everytime.

I studied the Rita very closely 1 and half months,topic by topic(7-8 hrs avg)and then PMBOK 2 times.

I skimmed Rita again,the marked points,and the concepts.

I will say PMI concepts are immense,the perspective is different and has to be grasped well,etc.

Material

PMPZILLA is good and very cool.

1.)Rita and also Fastrack(Its a study material rather than questions and Answers)

2.)PMBOK

3.)Scordo(Did 4 papers ,50qS each scored 77.8)

4.)Head first PMP ,online exam scored 80.(I was very happy)

5.)PMPStudy3 paid one-got 71.2

6.)Fastrack ,I was scoring around 74-75.

6.1.)Read the PMP handbook(Page 50) of Pmi Code Of Conduct and Ethics,it will help you to analyse anthing related R,R,F and H. , any situation PMI will throw at you in the exam.

7.)Internet,please be online everytime you are sitting for preparation and google anything you find ,its ARABIC or FRENCH.

I meant,there shouldn't be a word in PMBOK or Rita whose phrases or words doesnt make sense to you.

Please make sure,you understand it.

Exam Day

I felt ,I was doing a check -in in the JFK airport ,New york,and the time was POST 9-11.

There were people holding passports,metal detectors,frisking(You are allowed to go in with only your clothes that you are wearing  and nothing else).

Yes you can take the ID and the locker key.Prometric says ,that the exam is fully Audio and Video recorded.

The Prometric is a very high standard Examination testing center,it was really impressive.

The EXAM

Please ,wear your EAR BUDS,if you get easily distracted by surrounding noises.

Another advice-Mem dump is very recommended it saves time (Choose what you need to dump),when PMI is making you construct bridges and saving people around the world in the EXAM.And mind it,its just 4hrs.The exam had lots of distractors,unwanted data,setting booby traps to waste time,also when in a FIX ,please use R,R,F,H of code of Conduct  and also the option RISK .I just gave a lot of importance to RISK in Project Management ,so did the PMI.

Yes,after clicking SUBMIT,the 15-20 seconds were like 15-20 years,and its like you are waiting for congratulations to appear on the screen,and it just appears.I had a NDE ,near death experience,it took a while to sink everything in,I was literally being guided by the staff ,to complete the formalities,unable to utilize any of the brain cells which were already over -worked and yes  I had only 2 hrs sleep ,the night before,I closed my books around 12:40am,but i got sleep at around 3:45am only.

Yes,very happy again,I am about to open a 12 year old -Dewars scotch bottle after finishing this short tale.

I am very happy to add 3 letters PMP after my name .

Regards

Mahesh PMP