All ,

I passed PMP this week . I thought of sharing my learning’s  below -

·         Go through PMBOK once ( twice is very good ..:) )

·         Go through once Head First - this will remove the fear of exam and makes you comfortable .

·         Go through minimum twice RITA . Always avoid the literature in RITA book where it states that ' if you are unable to answer this question it will be difficult to pass the exam..' -  I don’t agree with this statement . Please don’t ever think of these kind of statement in the book which affects your confidence , just move on to next topic in the book .. :)

·         Order of reading : Head First -> Take mandatory 35 contact hours course -> PMBOK -> RITA -> RITA -> Your notes (RITA + PMBOK) -> Online exams

·         While reading RITA book , prepare a word document of main points , max of 100 pages , similar approach for PMBOK. Start referring only this material prepared prior to one week before exam

·         Don’t try to remember ITTO's  instead understand their flows and purpose of particular process. As per my experience , there is no need to spend additional or extra efforts for this. In exam I have seen very few , may be 1 or 2 questions on ITTO . Instead of spending efforts to remember ITTO flows you can spend in other areas like what particular process does which will help you to score the exam.

·         Start taking online exams how many ever possible ( I took just 3 exams , Lehman – scored ~50% , Head first – scored 85% , PMStudy – scored 60% ).   Real PMP exam won’t be tough compared to online exams .. J

·         Make a note of topics in one word document  like  different types of Risks , Estimation techniques , Leaderships types , Power types , different control charts , team forming techniques (forming , norming ..)  and last but not least different types of Procurements. List out these type of points , I'm sure you will get minimum of 10 -15 questions surrounding these concepts. This is scoring area in my exam as well ..

·         Practice problems related to PERT , EVM calculations - Max of 10 questions you can expect and in exam calculations will be easy in exams compared to practice examples mentioned in books.

·         Understand the concepts of Procurement knowledge area well  and practice the problems. In exam you can expect minimum of 10 questions in this area.

·         Also spend some time on understanding the different type of organizations and PM role in them.. These are low lying fruits to pick for the exam.. I remember 3 – 4 questions in exam which are very easy to score.

·         Understand the details of Project charter and scope management

·         HR and Communication management are topics very east to score and can expect 10 questions in this area

·         Most of situational questions appear in Monitoring and controlling area. Just remember , whenever there is change in scope or additional work , it has to go through Change control process. This concepts can help you to answer minimum of 3 - 4 questions easily.

·         For EVM formulae’s just remember the pictorial diagram mentioned in RITA book.

·         Just don’t get panicky if you are unable to answers questions initially in exam.. Most of the questions can be answered with common sense .

I took first one hour to answer 50 questions since most of the questions have lot of explanations and spent time in understanding. You will have enough time in exam ( 4 hours)  . On average in exam if you can answer 58 - 60 questions per , I will consider it as a  progress. Also mark questions wherever you have ambiguity about answer. You can revisit later.

Take minimum of 2 breaks in exam ( not more than 3 minutes each). Have some liquids and refresh .. This will give fresh thoughts to solve the questions..

All the best ..

Kumar S