Lessons learnt- PMP cleared [1st attempt] on 31st Oct,2012 with 4P & 1MP.

shruti_acharya

I cleared my PMP today with 4P and 1 MP (in Initiation) with 4 week prep and would like to thank DeepFriedBrainProject for all the posts on PMP concepts that really helped me. Also Sumit K was a big inspiration.
I wanted to share a few points that might help others..
I had completed my 35 PDU's from a Celtem in bangalore last Oct and then took PMI membership last oct. After a long break I decided to finish it before my PMI membership expired this year and so applied for the exam that got approved on 3rd Oct, 2012. I booked today's date and started my 4 week preparation.
1. studied Rita's book 7th edition [first read] seriously solving each exercise & tests for 10 days. [ I was on 2 week leave]
2. Started solving 18 Mock Tests from PMI's Book - PMP Exam Prep Questions, Answers, & Explanations: 1000+ PMP Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions. For each failed scenario, I referred the soft copy of PMBOK studying it.
[ Usually 1 hr during lunch break at office]
3. I also started reading 2 chapters of Rita again per day after office.
4. I started taking online tests - 175 + 75 Lehman, Brainbok sample test, Head first sample test , Simplilearn. For failed scenarios I cross checked and studied PMBOK again. I liked using soft copy for the quick search. In each I scored 70-79%
5. I solved the questions in Q & A's for the Pmbok Guide by Ph.D. Frank T. Anbari
6. Read all PMP related posts on DeepFriedBrainProject - http://www.deepfriedbrainproject.com/2008/12/pmp-certification-exam-prep-study-notes.html
7. I took PmStudy 4 hr paper on Dussehra. and scored 78% .. I was very nervous after the results as it said that a score of 85% and above guaranteed Pass. But 70-80 meant more practice was needed.
I did a quick glance through PMBOK 3 days before my exam and then just concentrated on reviewing all the questions I had got wrong in tests solved so far. I noticed that I had mis read many questions and so got them wrong. so my strtegy was to go slow in real test.
8. Finally today I just read through glossary one last time and went to the test. I did not find the test tough, but found that I was taking too much time.. The last 50 questions I have solved within 50 secs.. and completed with 7 minutes to spare. I had marked about 30 questions.. and 3 questions I had specially noted on paper which i had max doubt. So i could just check those and not the marked ones. I was really happy to see 4 Ps

Tips for exam
1. Read Risk mgmt & cost mgmt thoroughly. Lot of questions were on this.
2. Pay lot of attention to alternate teams.. PV was never called planned value.
3. Very few questions were lengthy. But I had to reread almost all questions twice .. maybe because it was the afternoon slot.
4. I never had to memorize the ITTO.. and could sail through. A little logic goes a long way.
Best of Luck!
and a big thank you once again.
-Shruti

Harwinder

Hi @shruti_acharya

Congratulations!

You just passed the exam today and here you are sharing your experience and lessons learned in such great detail with all of us. Really commendable. Thanks so much.

I'm glad you found the posts on Deep Fried Brain useful. You have motivated me to keep the content updated and relevant. Thanks again.

I wish you all the best. Keep in touch through this forum, and feel free to connect with me through the FB page, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Best regards.

gilbertgk

Congratulations!

I just started a week ago by reading Rita's book. Currently I am in CH3. I am not sure if it is only me but I am finding CH3 very hard to understand. Especially that it contains all the knowledge areas and it is not detailed enough. some of the processes order does not make sense. So my question when things does not make sense what should I do? I hate memorizing things that does not make sense.

Example: in the Intiating process: How can I divide the large projects into phase before understanding the business case.
Why do I have to Assess what to purchase before I determine the team in the planning process.

Things of that nature.

Thank you for sharing. dont forget to add PMP next to your signature