Dear Colleagues,

I cleared my PMP exam on my first attempt on the 22^nd of November 2015. I would like to thank to my family and wife their support, especially her, who demonstrated that together we can do great things. Thank you Cari.

I started with PMP almost 2 years ago, since I discovered the certificate. I started reading about the Certificate, the process of getting it, etc. finally in March I got the preparation course and I started a long long way (In meantime I got married :D ).

Here are my recommendations for those who are preparing for getting the PMP. I started with Rita’s book, I killed it and then I jumped into PMBOK which was a bit dry for me. I discovered the Head First book which helped me to jump into the PMBOK smoothly. I would recommend that you first start with HEAD First book, then use the RITA’s book and finally jump into PMBOK. At the stage of jumping into PMBOK, I recommend to study it in parallel with HEAD first and RITA’s book, it will help you to assimilate, organize and align your ideas.  

At the end of each chapter, you have to test your knowledge, try the questions by chapter and review them once you finish, even those questions that are correct. It will help you to understand and assimilate all the info much faster as well as to get used with the questions. You don’t need to test yourself with real time exam, which will come later, at this stage it is important to master that big amount of information as good as possible.

Once you kill the mentioned books, it is time for testing yourself! I recommend to start testing with 50-quesitons exam giving you real exam time. It is important to control yourself under such circumstances, you have to learn not only the theory but also how to control the exam and its timing, this is especially important for non-English speaker who will need extra time to read and understand the question and answers.

I used the following resources with the following marks:

Oliver Lerhman (75 Qs)  - 60%

Oliver Lehman (175 Qs) - 67.4%

Head First Exam (200Qs) - 81%

Brainbok.com (50Qs) - 74%

PMP Exam ESI International (200 Qs)- 53.5%

PMforsure (100 Qs) - 65%

PMZilla (200Qs) - 61%

PmZilla (Extra 100Qs) - 60%

Rita Fasttrack Super PMP Exam - 60%

Rita Fasttack PMP Exam - 84%

Please, once you finish your test, review it, even those questions that are correct as I mentioned but avoid memorizing questions or answers, it doesn’t work.  In fact you don’t have to memorize anything, just assimilate and understand the processes and its inputs/outputs. I didn’t need to memorize anything, neither formulas, after that much practicing you assimilate everything and it comes almost automatically.  Take notes when reviewing results, I will be easier to understand your gaps.

Every time I scored less than 70% I was devastated, I always thought I was really well prepared but those tests showed me that I could always do something more. Be kind to yourself and transform any kind of frustration into motivation to keep learning and improving. Therefore, during your testing period, go once again through the books, refresh your knowledge and organize ideas.

The days before the exam, just review your notes and relax, rest and get ready for the exam. It is important to rest and eat well the day before.

The day of the exam my only recommendation is: ENJOY. Feel the concepts flowing and enjoy taking decisions and showing that all your effort was worth to get certified. I am sure you will.

I passed with:

Initiating - MP

Planning - P

Executing - MP

Monitoring and Controlling - P

Closing - BP

Good luck and here I am if you need anything.

P.S: I forgot to add that I used this forum a lot which gave me motivation and helped me to face the exam. Thank you all who participate in this forum.