Passed PMP!

Submitted by DKVyas on Thu, 10/13/2011 - 10:26

 Hi All,

This is my first post on this forum to share my happiness with you guys. Yes you got it right...I have passed the PMP. I gave the exam today and was very excited and relieved to see the word "CONGRATULATIONS" ( I am sure I never felt this way anytime before on seeing this word). And yes, the results are now available immediately.

I want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences & LL on this forum that I am sure helps many (like me) in their preparation for PMP. I want to do my bit by sharing my LL which may help those who are planning to take PMP in future.

My Lessons learned:

I studied for about 6-7 weeks. I started with PMBOK but was not able to grasp it initially and so turned to Head First PMP. I must say that this is a great book to understand the Project management basics.

Once through the entire book and chapter exercises I then started reading PMBOK. This time it made a lot of sense. I studied PMBOK and Head First together.

Then switched to Rita's chapter end questions. I did not go through the Rita's book but attempted all its questions at the end of each chapter and that was very helpful for the exam and to understand the concept.

I also attempted the following free exams (did not took any paid exam)

Head First PMP- Scored 87.5%

Oliver Lehmann (175 ques)-  Scored 74%

Oliver Lehmann (75 ques)-  Scored 64%

PMStudy (first exam) - Scored 79%

I also attempted few other exams but these were just 25 or 50 ques exams and this was just to try the different types of questions. However I suggest not to go with all the free material available in the net and only try the reputed ones (like the ones above...you may also try Rita)

I felt the exam was quite the same as the practice exams that I tried but I must admit that Oliver Lehmann's exams are much tougher compared to actual exam (but worth attempting).

Lastly, thanks to all on this forum and continue the good work! All the best!

Cheers!

Dhanesh

Forums: 
PMP Exam Tips, Tricks and Lessons Learnt.
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slash1814

Thu, 10/13/2011 - 11:37

Congrats! Have you written the exam from India?

jcp1

Thu, 10/13/2011 - 15:14

Did you get MP in All or Proficient in some and MP in some? Can you share that please that will help everyone how instant score sheet is calculated now...

NGC

Mon, 10/17/2011 - 23:25

 Hi everyone, 

I just passed my PMP exam today and wanted to share my experience as I have been reading the posts from other users which helped me greatly.

I wrote the exam on October 17, 2011 in Canada. My results were available at the test centre.

I have to admit that I have been highly nervous about this exam, as I ony have about 4-5 years of experience managing projects, and most were smaller projects. I do not work as a professional PMP, the project management functions are just one part of my job. Also, English is my second language, but I have mastered it enough to have a job that depends 100% on my verbal and writting skills.

I was mostly nervous because the days before the exam I was not scoring as high as I wanted on the practice tests. I had been cautioned that I should be scoring above 80%, but that didn't happen at all.

PMStudy - scored 69%

Oliver Lehmann (75 questions) - Scored 62%

Oliver Lehmann (175 questions) - scored 75%.

I also used Rita's simulator, and was scoring between 65 and 80% on her tests.

I studied for 6 weeks, averaging 10-15 hours a week (mostly done through cramming on the weekends). I read the PMBok once and took detailed notes, then read Rita's book once and took all the tests after the chapters and did all the key exercises multiple times. Did not memorize all the ITTOs, but used understanding to answer related questions and was doing well. I knew the order of the Planning group very well and I think this really helped with a number of tricky qyestions.

I was a nervous wreck before and during the exam. Now, I have taken many exams in my studies (I have an MBA and a science degree from a very tough university), but even the GMAT didn't seem so nerve wrecking to me. The first 50 questions were horrible: I was taking 1.5 minutes a question, had to reread them all multiple times and was shaking from uncertainty. Then the questions became pretty reasonable and the final 30 were very straightforward. I had 45 minutes left after finishing question 200, which I used to go over the first 45 questions and change a couple of my original answers. I also took 3 breaks totally about 20 minutes altogether.

TIPS:

- I had no questions on personal and social responsibility

- Way too many questions on risk management, most were application questions.

- Also got a bit too many I think related to communications management and general stakeholder management.

- The calculation questions were pretty reasonable, not as tough as on OL practices.

My final score was Proficient in Initiating, Planning, Monitoring&Controlling, Closing. Moderately Proficient in Execution (which is worth 30% of the questions!!!) Most importantly i got the CONGRATULATIONS and PASSED!!!!

Finally, to be honest I am not particularly sure why I did well on the exam. I honestly thought I was not prepared, I was overly nervous, and I very often plain and simple wasn't sure which was the corrent answer between the 2 most plausible. I even thought of rescheduling the exam for later, then started creating scenarios if I failed. People say that I worked very hard and I'm generally strong on exams, so maybe that is what helped me.

Good luck to anyone else who is going for the exam. I hope my experience makes those nervous wrecks a little bit more comfortable and confident that there is hope.

Cheers!

user78

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 07:10

 


Hi Dhanesh & NGC,


 


Many Congrates about this achievement  !!! Must be feeling good now :)


 


Could you please share your experience on following points :


a.)    Which practice test was more in-line with actual PMP exam ?


b.)    In total approx. how many ques were there on Math and difficulty level ?


c.)     Approx how many total ques were based on situations ?


d.)    Approx how many ques were straight forward ?


e.)    Any particular area like Risk, Procurement, from where more ques are coming ?


 


Many thanks in advance for your help.


 


 


 


 

user78

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 07:08


Hi Dhanesh,


 


Many Congrates about this achievement  !!! Must be feeling good now :)


 


Could you please share your experience on following points :


a.)    Which practice test was more in-line with actual PMP exam ?


b.)    In total approx. how many ques were there on Math and difficulty level ?


c.)     Approx how many total ques were based on situations ?


d.)    Approx how many ques were straight forward ?


e.)    Any particular area like Risk, Procurement, from where more ques are coming ?


 


Many thanks in advance for your help.


 



 


 

DKVyas

Thu, 10/20/2011 - 09:21

See my answers to the questions,


a) I think that among the free tests that I tried PMStudy & HeadFirst were more in line with actual exam. Oliver Lehmann is bit tough.


b) I guess this varies from person to person. But you can expect anything between 8 to 15. I do not remember the actual no. that I got but I guess it was 10.


c) This again varies from person to person because no two exam questions are same. But note that majority of the questions are based on situations.


d) For me it was almost 10-15 SF ques but this may again vary.


e) For me I found more questions from Risk.


Though I have answered your questions I would suggest not to go through these perms & combs for the exam. Read properly and attemp as many mock tests as possible. Try to score around 75% or more in all exams, then you are well prepared to go for the main exam.


To answer earlier questions yes I gave it from India. As far as my result is concerned I got MP in 4 and P in 1. However I dont know how is it going to help anyone else. I suggest try to score as much as possible.


Good luck to all !!


Cheers!!!


 


 

DKVyas

Thu, 10/20/2011 - 09:21

See my answers to the questions,


a) I think that among the free tests that I tried PMStudy & HeadFirst were more in line with actual exam. Oliver Lehmann is bit tough.


b) I guess this varies from person to person. But you can expect anything between 8 to 15. I do not remember the actual no. that I got but I guess it was 10.


c) This again varies from person to person because no two exam questions are same. But note that majority of the questions are based on situations.


d) For me it was almost 10-15 SF ques but this may again vary.


e) For me I found more questions from Risk.


Though I have answered your questions I would suggest not to go through these perms & combs for the exam. Read properly and attemp as many mock tests as possible. Try to score around 75% or more in all exams, then you are well prepared to go for the main exam.


To answer earlier questions yes I gave it from India. As far as my result is concerned I got MP in 4 and P in 1. However I dont know how is it going to help anyone else. I suggest try to score as much as possible.


Good luck to all !!


Cheers!!!