PMBOK 5 LL

 

5 MP’s - First Try - PMBOK5

 

Well I finally did it after 18 months.  I passed the PMP Exam Monday August 5 which was the very last day of my eligibility period.  I waited so long that I actually had to change gears and prep for PMBOK 5.  I am here to tell you if you are familiar with PMBOK 4 going to PMBOK5 is actually a smooth and easy transition.  

 

INITIATING

 

PMBOK 5 Updates

First of all the layout and logic of the process groups makes more sense...instead of Quality Control its now Control Quality.  All the M&C Processes start with Control xxxxx which makes it much easier to memorize the Process Groups.  PMBOK has also added a Plan xxxxx Management Process to each Process group which makes a ton of sense since you have to Plan each process prior to developing tasks.  Although there are now 47 process groups instead of 42 all in all its much easier and makes much more logical sense.

 

The PMBOK

The book itself has all the same information but it too is organized in a much more logical manner.  A new Appendix at the back of the book groups Process by Knowledge area.  Its a great tool to see all processes by Knowledge Area without having to flip back and forth thru the book.

 

PLANNING

 

The Study Plan

Like I stated before I had to quickly switch gears and go from PMBOK4 to PMBOK5 when I rescheduled my exam from July 26 to August 5.  If you are doing the same DONT WORRY.  I would say 95% of what you studied from PMBOK4 will carry over.  I do recommend using updated PMBOK 5 mocks (I will tell you where to find below), updated books including Rita 8th Edition and PMBOK5 material exclusively.  Now dont throw out those PMBOK4 flashcards you made but I would suggest upgrading all your Study Guides and Books to PMBOK5 just so you are not wasting your time.

 

My study plan materials consisted of the following -

 

1. Electronic Copy of PMBOK 5.  If you are not a member of PMI I highly recommended you do so as every member gets a free copy of the PMBOK in PDF.  You also get access to 1000’s of free mocks from the PMI Reference Library.  They havent all been updated to PMBOK 5 but the free PMBOK, the free mocks and the networking opportunities pay for themselves after your membership fee.

 

2. Rita 8th Edition updated to PMBOK5- Amazon a little steep at $90 but definitely worth it.  The book is updated and in color and is the next best thing to God.  I am not kidding.

 

3. Head First PDF copy - PMBOK4 - although PMBOK4 this book simplified the most complex concepts to grade school level.  I would frequently reference this book for EVM questions, HR Questions (conflict management), Quality Questions and Risk Questions.

 

Thats it.......for physical copies of books

 

Other Resources

 

1.  PMZilla - Honestly this site is the best kept secret in PM circles.  The wealth of information to guide you thru the PMP preparation process is mind boggling. I owe the site creators and the members a debt of gratitude.  

 

With this LL I am paying back the 100’s of posters who shared their LL and tips on this site I have been reading over the last 18 months.  Really without this site I would be lost on everything.

 

From differentiating between Control Quality and Validate Scope to telling me the number & color of scratch pages to expect at the testing center; this site is INVALUABLE.  Read it often!

 

EXECUTING

 

PLAN OF ATTACK

Since my eligibility was ending in two weeks; I was forced to basically CRASH the exam.  I ordered a rush delivery of Rita’s Book, I purchased mocks, I paid the rescheduling fee basically anything and everything I had to do to pass the exam before the eligibility ran out.  No way in hell was I going to redo the application.  

 

Please note: A word of caution on my CRASH PLAN; I had postponed and delayed this exam multiple times since August 2012 when my eligibility began.  I took my 35 hrs in March 2012 and studied regularly until September 2012.  I kept delaying and delaying and delaying and delaying and delaying until I scheduled for July 26 and then delayed again which only left me with one date, August 5, literally on the very last day of eligibility, which was today.  (If they had a Procrastinator Management Certification I would have gotten 5P’s) .  

That said I had a good base of PMP knowledge so I was basically starting on 2nd base.  (Dont know an analogy in cricket but I’m sure the commenters will let us know...Hahahaha!)

 

14 Days to PMP

 

Again since I had a good base of knowledge from the studying for 4 months in 2012 I could get away with just hardcore cramming on PMBOK5 two weeks before the test.  

 

NOTE: If you are just starting to prep for the PMP; I would highly highly recommend 4 solid months of studying a few hours a night AND THEN complete this 2 week Crash Plan.

 

If you have already been studying then here is how I got my PMP prep completed in 14 days*.   

 

The Study Plan

 

TIME

1. Every weekday evening from 7pm - 2am - 7 hrs per night 10 nights = 70 hrs

2. Saturday and Sunday (2 total weekends) - 8am - 11pm - 15 hrs per day 4 days = 60 hrs

130 total hours - basically eat, sleep, breathe PMP

 

CONTENT

1.  Read Rita cover to cover - 1 time.

2.  Read PMBOK - cover to cover 1 time.

3.  I fast tracked the reading by reading the PMBOK and Rita at the same time.  PMBOK is actually a great read, albeit boring, but ALL the content you need to pass the PMP is written in the PMBOK in black and white.  

 

Rita’s book is outstanding.  She really has tailored to book to helping you pass the exam.  Every chapter she harps on you to complete the examples, highlights certain areas PMI likes to test, provides great examples and definitions so you can translate the PMBOK. Best of all she provides really really great practice exam questions that are the best in the business hands down.  They really mimic the exam.

 

4. While reading I made flash cards (4x6) for each of the 47 process groups.  I wrote down the Process Group Name on one side.  On the other side I wrote the process group definition, the knowledge area, the names of the process groups before AND after and all the ITTO’s.  For me reading and then writing the information down and then reading it again helped it stick.  I read if you expose yourself to the information a minimum of 3 times it will stick so thats what I did.

 

5. One separate 3x5 cards I wrote every definition down that I didnt fully understand or grasp in PMBOK.  (e.g. Analogous Estimating,  Voice of the Customer, Cost of Quality).  I printed the glossary of terms from the PMBOK.  Read the definition again in the glossary and then wrote it down.  (remember 3 times to stick). I wrote the term on one side and the definition on the other.  By the end I had created over 400 3x5 cards that I would review before every mock exam.  I would not recommend buying flash cards as the ones I bought sat unused in the corner.  By actually reading and then writing down the information on your own it helps make it stick.

 

Upon completion of the chapter I would review all the flash cards for Process Group and terminology for 15-20 minutes.  When done I would take Rita’s Practice Exam.

 

6.  Repeat above process for all 13 Process Groups. I finished going thru all 13 process group Days 1-7.  Basically 2 per night.  I kept track  of my scores for all 15 of Rita’s practice exams (includes 2 additional practice exams on Proj. Mgmt Process).  I summed all the scores at the end to see where I would end up.  

 

In all I scored a 70% on all Rita’s Practice Exam’s during first pass thru.  The questions mimic the style of the PMP questions and are actually a little longer and sometimes trickier to navigate.  All in all its good practice for the real thing.  Ritas questions are challenging and on somewhat on par on what you would see on PMP exam.

 

7.  Once done with Rita Practice Exams I did a 4 hour Summary Review of PMBOK5 and Rita’s book before taking ANY other mocks.  For terms I was still having trouble with I wrote them down in my notebook again in an effort to make it stick.

 

8. Once complete prior to mocks; I went to PM Zilla for the rest of my study material  Heres what I used

 

- Raga 355 .  Excellent.  Not updated for PMBOK5 yet but i challenge anyone to find something he missed.  Anyone!

 

- PM ZILLA Forums - The PM Zilla Lessons Learned and General discussion forums are gold.  I would spend hours during work lunch breaks reading the forums for tips and tricks.  USE THESE FORUMS.. THEY ARE YOU FRIEND USE THEM OFTEN.  The people on the site are extremely friendly and helpful.  If you notice they are also successful PMP’s now.  I bet I saw 9 Pass PMP post to every 1 Failed post.

 

-PM ZILLA - PMP Comprehensive - Anil, Rajesh and Rajesh I used for reference.  Good tools but I find for me complex things stick more when I lay them out.  Didnt use them too much.

 

-ITTO Mnemonics - Really didnt use this too much because by time you memorize PVoffExPm you might as well memorize the damn Tool and Technique.  REMEMBER THE TEST IS NOT SO MUCH ABOUT MEMORIZATION BUT UNDERSTANDING CONCEPTS.  HALF THE BATTLE OF PASSING THE PMP IS KEENLY UNDERSTANDING LOGICALLY WHAT INPUTS WHAT, WHAT TOOL OR TECHNIQUE TO USE AND WHAT ARE THE OUTPUTS.

 

MY ITTO tips

1. Print all 13 process group overview page (e.g Page 106 PMBOK 5 - Scope)

 

2. Staple them together in order and study the ITTO’s thru the PM Process.  Read them over and over and over until the pattern emerges.

 

3. Read all inputs to process, outputs and tools and techniques.  The goal isnt to memorize all 678 ITTO’s but look for logical relationships.  Once you start taking mock exams many terms, tools, outputs will be seen over and over again.  Focus on those constantly repeated ITTO’s, understand why they are there and what they do in the overall process.  You will recognize these common ITTO’s very quick with practice exams.

 

MONITOR AND CONTROL

 

MOCK EXAMS

 

Mock exams are great.  Several of them even look like the real PMP Exam. TechFAQ and PMStudy look almost identical to PMP screens in layout, usability and feel.  Get comfortable on them.

 

20 EXCELLENT MOCKS

I actually stumbled across the most comprehensive list of Mock Exam here on PMZilla from Rajesh T. Rajesh is the man!!

 

He list over 20 different mocks with the number of questions, mock difficulty, weblink and cost.  

The majority of them are free.

They include some of the known ones but several other good ones as well

I used his rankings marked EXCELLENT to decide which mocks I took

 

See it here:

 

http://pmzilla.com/passed-pmp-dec-13th-2012-%E2%80%93-5p%E2%80%99s

 

NOTE: ALMOST ALL OF THE MOCKS LISTED HAVE UPDATED TO PMBOK 5!!!!!

EVERY SINGLE MOCK QUESTION I TOOK WAS UPDATED TO PMBOK 5 EXCEPT SCARADO - OVER 1100 QUESTIONS SO THEY ARE OUT THERE.  ALL THE MAJOR SITES HAVE UPDATED MICKS TO PMBOK5 AS OF LAST WEEK

 

MY MOCK EXAM CRASH PLAN

I took all my non-Rita mocks the final weekend.

I averaged 500 mock questions per day.  

 

Mock Plan - Saturday and Sunday

- 100 questions in the morning

-Study and review knowledge gaps for 2 hours

- 200 mock in early afternoon

-Study and review knowledge gaps for 2 hours

-Pee, say hi to wife, eat, crawl back into office

-200 mock in evening

-SLEEP!

 

Repeat on Sunday

 

Here are my Mocks with scores:

 

- Exam Central Mock 200 Free - 69% - Average

- PMPforSure - Practice Test 200 Free - 64%- Tough - HIGHLY RECOMMEND

- PM Study - Practice Exam 2 - PAID - 64% - Difficult - HIGHLY RECOMMEND

- Scorado 11 - 78% - Moderate

- Scorado 13 - 60% - Difficult - RECOMMEND. CHALLENGING

- Oliver 75 - 66% - Moderate Difficulty - RECOMMEND

 

Note: PMStudy Free 200 was Impossible to get.  Its only open to First 50 people and no one knows what time it starts counting.  In the end I paid the $25 for Exam 2 because everyone said PM Study was the best.  It was definitely worth the money as it was the closest to the real thing in terms of content, comprehensiveness and difficulty.

 

Scores were ok not great but I didnt get deterred I was not going to be denied.  I redoubled my efforts and used Pareto techniques to focus on not only my weakest areas but the weakest areas I knew were going to be on the test per PM Zilla Forums.

 

Its all about maximizing effort!!!

 

EXAM DAY

 

- No sleep for the weary.  I know everyone says the day of the exam take it easy, clear you mind but being in full CRAM mode I  completed another 100 question mock in the morning of the exam and Studied for 2 hours after to review material.

 

I drove to the Center early and sat in my car for 30 minutes and studied up until I got out of the car to enter the exam center at 3pm.  FULL CRAM MODE!!!!  Again with the eligibility expiring I needed EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of studying possible.

 

EXAM CENTER

 

I got to the location 30 minutes before hand

I put my snacks and water in a locker and went in crossed fingers and said prayers.

 

Once seated; I did a brain dump and listed all 47 processes, all EVM, Herzberg, Three Point estimates, Communication Channels in the 15 minute tutorial time.  I only referred back to dump sheet maybe 3-4 times which is a good thing because it meant I knew the info

 

EXAM

 

I took every second of the 4 hrs.  I finished all 200 questions in 3 hrs 45 minutes.  The last 15 minutes I went back and reviewed the marked questions.  Changed maybe 25% of my marked questions and let the time run out.

 

HEART POUNDING, POUNDING, POUNDING

I finish the Test Center Survey

The screen goes blank

My heart is in my hand...please please please

10 seconds go by......

 

BOOM...CONGRATULATIONS........5 MP’s

 

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I did it.......

 

THINGS TO FOCUS ON TO PASS PMP EXAM

 

-EVM is all over the exam. Know it inside and out and not just the basics. Understand the concepts BACKWARD AND FORWARD because the questions isnt gonna say X+1=2 what is x.  LEARN IT. Do NOT take it for granted.  

 

-Situational Questions.  TONS of THESE. You will get better at these once you complete the mock exams.  The only way to learn these is to Practice, practice practice with Mocks

 

-ITTOs - understand the concepts.  Especially understand the tools and techniques and key outputs that are inputs to multiple processes

 

-Understand ITTO’s for Procurement, Quality, Risk and HR.  They are listed by Rita as the most difficult Process Groups.  Lets just say she knows what she is talking about.....hint hint.  These are covered extensively on exam.  

 

-Study contract types understand everything you can about them

 

-PDM

 

-Risk responses, Conflict resolution are areas to definitely focus on

 

CLOSING

 

The exam is fairly difficult and comprehensive.  If you score well on either PMPforSure or PMStudy (70% or higher) you should get by.  

 

The key is to take as many mocks as humanly possible to get the gist of how the questions will be asked.  Exposing yourself to at least 1000 questions is a must to pass this exam.

 

When complete if you pass or fail come back to PM Zilla and post your story and lessons learned for the group.  Its Best Practice in Project Management and Life

 

Best of luck

 

NRG...now officially a PMP.....