Wow, it really feels great! Passed PMP today in Sweden! Can only confirm what others have said about the test. It is the most difficult and demanding test I have ever taken! Yes more difficult than any test during four years of university studies.

Here are some comments about my journey and some tips for the rest of you PMP aspirants out there...

Took PMP training last spring 2013. Did my first PMP test already in June 2013 because of the fact that they were soon to give up testing on 4th edition, the one I took my training in. I did the test... and failed :-(. After the "crying period" I got a grip of myself and analysed what went wrong in order to not fail the next time. Here are my leassons learned and some tips. Please remember, this is just to inspire and help, not meaning that the exact same preparation will work for you 100 %

1. Give preparation lots of time. I have read and heard about a few successtories where people have passed PMP exam in a very short time. Well let's face it, that won't work for most of us. It is not just a test to pass. The aim of PMP certification is that you should become a better PM and adapt the PMI standards in your way of thinking and working. This takes time. My opinion is that you will need at least three calendar months of active preparation and study in order to pass.

2. Experienced Project Manager? Yes, that goes for many of us. I have about 10 years of PM experience. That really helped. But please remember, when doing the PMP Exam, it is not asking for your personal opinion, nor your experience. The exam is checking whether you have understood the PMI definition of good PM practise and standards. So understand that eventhough you don't agree on everything, answer "the PMI way".

3. Do reading and mock tests in parallell. Most people seem to have done all the reading first and then focused on mock tests only at the end. I did it in parallell and that really helped in understanding.I read PM Book Guide 5th Ed. and Ritas Book 8 edition in parallell, little byt little in a few months time, then did mock tests continuously to see if my level of understanding had increased and in order to map my week areas. First I did mock tests with smaller bundles, such as 20-50 questions a time, but now in the end, increased that to 100-200 questions and with the clock ticking, in order to practise time management and disposition.

4. Take notes when you study. I read both PMB5 and Rita twice. Marked everything I thought was important and the last week before the test, I just went through what was marked. When doing mock tests, I took notes of every single term or subject I felt unsure of. Then after the tests I looked up every one of them, either using PMB5 or Ritas book or Googled them. Please be aware of if you use google, not every result is of good quality. But there are a few really good and trustwordy sites. This is one of them (www.pmzilla.com). Other good sources are: http://www.deepfriedbrainproject.com/ and http://www.oliverlehmann.com/.

5. Use Prep Exam Apps on your smartphone/tablet. I bought a couple of PMP Exam Prep Apps on the Appstore and downloaded to both my iPhone and iPad. That really helped and was a fun and different way of studying. It also helped me to utilize waiting time such as you have when travelling. There are apps both with a lot of mock tests, but others also including formulas, dictionaries, flash card games etc.

6. Form a study group. If possible try to join a study group of a few people. I bundled up with two others from my PMP Training class. We have met a couple of times and studied together, explained and discussed. If you don't have this possibility, try to be active online, for example here on pmzilla. Most PMP's are really helpful and willing to share. That is one of the things you will commit too, once a PMP ;-).

7. Make a study plan and stick to it. Don't just read and practise randomly. Make a realistic study plan and stick to it. If possible, try to ask your Manager to be allowed to study during work hours also. This really helps.

8. Work with mental visions. This was really important for me. I was really so dissapointed after my first try where I failed. After that I had a mental vision of "you can do it" "you WILL pass on your next try". When ever feeling demotivaded or tired, I thought of these two tings, over and over. It helped.

9. Get committment from your family and employer. Being the mother of two children at ages only 4 and 6 and with a husband plus working full time as a senior Project manager with daily challenges I realised I will have to make a plan for getting committment from the people nearest me in order to fix this. I explained what I needed to do and when and for how long I needed to focus. Without the support from them, backing me up and letting me do my thing, I would not have made it.

10. Don't work on other certifications or heavy deliveries in the same time. I have seen a couple of posts here where people who have failed seemed to have been busy with a lot of other important and time consuming stuff at the same time. I had to rebook my exam date a couple of times, because of important project deliveries at work. I realised I will need to focus om PMP when the date gets closer without letting project deliverables suffer from that.

11. Book a date. Don't just study, book a date for your exam, as soon as PMI has approved your application. Having a target date really helped me. It is not the end of the world if you need to rebook it. But with a date it is easier to plan and also to increase focus as that day gets closer.

12. Remember some things by heart. You cannot just read and do PMP Exam. Though, you DO nead to do a lot of reading, and yes, there are actually things you will need to know by heart. Once you understand them, learning them by heart will be easier.
- Formulas, there is a summary page in Ritas book for example. Read them, practise them, and learn them. Write them down a couple of times the last few days
- Learn the 47 processes by heart. Table 3.1 in PMB5 (page 61) is a really good overview picture that helped me a lot when trying to remember them.
-ITTO. Yes, you should at least TRY to know most of them by heart. I did not get all of them to stick, but the better you know Input, Tools&Technology and Output, the better chance you will have of passing.
-Earned value analysis. Please be aware of that there are several formulas for calculating EAC. If you get EAC questions, read them carefully, that will help you knowing which of the formulas to apply.
-Also be aware of for calculation of network diagrams, PMI says you should always start with calculation of day "zero", not one, as is common elsewhere.

13. All chapters are important. Don't just read stuff on the internet and buy comments like "these chapters are most important". I am not entitled to disclose any of the questions I got, nor are you. We will not even get the same test. Remember that ALL chapters in PMBook Guide are important and where you need to focus the most depends on where you have your week spots.

14. Preps for the exam day. Try to have a study plan that gives you space the day before. This day you will have to focus on getting prepared rather than learning new stuff. If you feel very unsecure the day before, it is probably better to reschedule. I spent my day before just repeating formulas, the 47 processes and looked at ITTO a last time (about 2-3 hours in the morning). Then I was travelling to Stockholm, had a really silent evening at the hotel, ate a good well known dish (don't try new food the day before;-)) and just relaxed and watched television. Also made up a strategy for my time disposition. Decided I should absolutely try to accomplish 50 questions per hour the first two hours. If I hade more than two hours left, I should allow myself a break. Also decided the exact time when I should leave the hotel in order to be at the test institute well on time. Had a good nights sleep and a hotel breakfast in no rush. This helped me calm down and feel good.

15. Exam day. Please be aware of that you have a valid ID with you and bring some fruit, something to drink, a piece of chocolate or whatever you like, so you can take it in a break. You are not allowed to bring it with you into the exam room, but you can take it in a break. Please note that the clock is ticking, even when you are on a break... Once started, write down formulas and other stuff worth remembering just to release it from your "cache memory". This gave me a feeling of stability and also proofed I really knew them. Remember your time disposition. Don't spend more than appr. 1 minute maximum per question except the calculations of network diagrams, some earned value calculations etc. If you feel really unsure, just pick something (still 25% chance of picking the right choice) and mark it for review. The test is tough as it is. If you also will become short of time, this will be really stressful. Try, if possible, to pass through the 200 questions in 3.30, which will give you 30 minutes for review. I did not make this. I used about 3.45. I did not have the chance to review all my marked questions.

16. PMP study tips. As mentioned I read PMBook Guide 5th edition. This should always be the main source of knowledge for every PMP aspirant. Some people seem to look at this book as a reference book. Well it is not. It is the most important book. I also read Rita Mulcahy's PMP Examp Prep book, 8th edition. This was a really good book, easier to digest and with loots of good test questions of good quality. From what I have heard Andy Crow's book and Heads First also hold high standard. For network diagram training I read and used Heads First really nice downloadable free documentation: http://www.headfirstlabs.com/PMP/criticalpath/HeadFirstPMP_CriticalPathD... . If you read this you will absolutely get the grip of network diagrams. For mock tests I have used the different apps I downloaded to my iPad such as: "PMP Trainer" and "PMP Rise Up". The later one is not fully aligned to PM Book 5, to what I did discover but it holds a perfect and extensive dictionary. For online mocktests I can for sure recommend Oliver Lehmans 75 sample questions http://www.oliverlehmann.com/pmp-self-test/75-free-questions and also the 175 for free you can download in a pdf http://www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/free-downloads/175_PMP_Sample_Ques.... They are really difficult but according to me I can confirm what many others also said: they are of really good quality.

If I with the above given "lessons learned" have inspired at least one of you out there to get encouraged and pass your upcoming PMP Exam, well then I have just started to be successful in my mission to share and help also others to become better Project Managers. Good Luck! I am more than willing to answer any kind of questions these lines may have brought to mind!
Kind regards, Anna, now PMP:-)