Passed my PMP on 30th Jan!

Submitted by SiriK on Sun, 02/08/2015 - 14:40

Am happy to share that I passed PMP on 30th Jan. Many thanks to this group for its continuous endeavour in helping those preparing for the PMP exam.

Am glad, am sharing my experience back to this forum.

Preparation time: 3 months

Had attended a PMP workshop in the first week of Nov to get the PMP concepts clear. Started reading PMBOK5 and its corresponding chapter in Rita Mulcahy. Marked important points. Solved chapter end questions from Rita, Edwel, question set provided by workshop and those from Headfirst. Each chapter took nearly 5 days to read and solve. After solving questions from each set, I corrected my gaps for the wrongly answered questions. I maitained a rule book to log all my answers, a brief explanation against the wrong answers and percentage gained for that test. Answering questions from FOUR books after each chapter was indeed tiresome and required a lot of patience, but I knew this effort would definitely pay off.

From the first test on, I set my time as 1 min/question. Except for Procurement, I scored on an avg 62%. For a few initial tests, I observed that although the question was easy, I d get it wrong on overlook. I often missed "Except", "NOT". Hence forth practiced with this in mind for the rest of my preparation. This helped me have a keen eye for the questions on the exam.

I finished this whole exercise by around 6th of Jan. On 7th I gave a (time set) free 200 PMstudy mock exam and a free 200 Headfirst exam to check my readiness.

Scored 79% in HF and 68% in PMstudy. At this point, I felt I was still struggling a bit at ITTO and numericals. I took suggestion from Mr. Sriprasad (SABCONS workshop). He suggested me - "Write down/typedown all the ITTOs KAwise in an excelsheet YOURSELF". Yessss, this trick worked. This is when I clearly understood the process flows and started finding PMBOK real interesting. Because, while your first pass, there is every chance you may miss considering an Input or an Output important. Practiced more Numerical from internet, set my exam date to 30 Jan.

Meantime, solved 13-15 Scordo question sets available in PMI site, did a pass thru PMBOK5 glossary and re-visited "My Rule Book". Practiced dump sheet once in a day for a week before the exam. Since I opted to give it on 30th Jan, I had to comprise for the available slot, 5.00pm to 9.00 pm.

The first 80 to 90 questions (on the real exam) max were from M&C and were tough. At this point, I was way behind time and was losing confidence. My heart pounding, I was only praying I could keep pace with time. Next on, the questions were either numericals, or from HR or from Risk or from Comm& SH. I could complete the exam dot on time and did not have time to review. Finished the survey and was excited to see "Congratulations"!!. God! Mission Accomplished!

Shared the news with Mom-In-Law at home. She knew all the hardwork that went in and was ready with home made halwa that she made.

In short, to me, preparation requires,

1. Three (3) months study time. 5 hrs a day.

2. Read PMBOK5 before attending the workshop. To get the flavour of PMIsm s.

3. Attend a workshop. To get hold on PMIsm s.

4. Read PMBOK5+Rita mulcahy (go slow with Rita. All the important topics/points to pass the exam are touched upon in this book. Mark them. Revise them before the exam. At times, you need to identify the Knowledge Area and Process group while answering a question ex. Quality Management. The way she prepares you, you'll appreciate, Risk - ITTO Imp, Perform Integrated Change Control Imp)

5. Solve Chapter-End questions, correct your gaps (note them down).

6. Solve only 'GOOD' questions available in internet.

7. I recorded my own voice while studying for a few topics. Played on my way to office and back home. Am sure, if u do, you 'll compliment your own voice.

8. Understand the process flows. Ex: http://pmzilla.com/pmp-exam-tip-validated-deliverables-and-accepted-deli..., Project Closing.

9. Set time, practice elimination, identify/remember key words when giving mocks. This will help manage time and answer situational questions on the exam.

10. Stick to your preparation plan. Give your exam and Pass!

Other useful resources:

iZenbridge videos, Abhishek's notes on PMZilla, http://pmp.aamirafridi.com/_rpg/index-3.html, Android apps for flash cards, Your car/phone to listen to recordings/videos.

Last but not the least, keep visiting PMZILLA, to keep yourself motivated reading other's success stories. Lengthy, was 'nt it?

Thanks again,

Sirisha Kolla. PMP

Forums:

General Discussion

admin

Tue, 02/10/2015 - 07:52

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Congratulations on your PMP.

Congratulations on your PMP. Thanks for the detailed post.

What are "Good" Questions you mentioned above ?

SiriK

Tue, 02/10/2015 - 13:17

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Thank you, Admin!!

Sorry I agree that line was vague!

'GOOD' - I meant:

1. Quality questions from recommended web sites.

2. Solve only those questions relevant from PMBOK5. Because there are quite a few available on noted sites. Unfortunately, few of these sites are not updated to include questions from PMBOK5..