Passed my PMP in first Attempt:- 19th January 2013

dhavansingh

I have posted this on Pmzilla but I learned a lot from Harwinder, Decided to post it here too!

I successfully passed my PMP on Saturday 19th January 2013 in first attempt. I am really happy to share my lesson learned from my Preparation:
I signed up and became PMI Member in February 2012. Due to Consulting Job & Travel, I was not able to start my preparation immediately and had to wait till October 2013. I bought PM Prep cast to get 35 Hrs of PDU. I really appreciate Cornelius Fichtner for providing such a informative Prod cost which gives you a good understanding of PMP. His Ability to explain small things makes a huge difference.

I submitted my application on October 30, 2012, got approved in 3 days and scheduled my exam on 19th, exactly after 2 Months 19 Days and started my preparation. There are many books available for PMP Preparation, but I chose to start with PMBOK, I read PMBOK once and was not able to grasp 80% of Concepts.

I read online reviews and bought “Head First PMP”. I started studying and found this book really helpful, Every Concept is easily explained and very easy to relate to PMBOK.Meanwhile I joined Mile High Chapter in Denver, CO and met one of my Office buddy who was also preparing for PMP. We agreed to study together on Weekends and spent 4-5 Hours every Weekend (4 Weeks). It was really helpful because, we were able to discuss complex Topics and clear our doubts.

Books, I followed
• PMBOK– You must have it(I would recommend a hard Copy)
• Head First PMP

Here is my study plan:-
1. Read PMBOK and Headfirst PMP once and Tried to google the difficult Topics and prepared my Notes.
(Thanks to Deep Fried Brain, PMZilla, and other valuable Online Bloggers)
2. Practices online Free Tests. I scored 58% in first Test (Oliver Lehman 75 Free Questions). I read many lesson
learned blogs online and found all the successful PMPs score 80+ in these Tests. I figured, I need to study more.
3. Read PMPBOk two more Times(Total 3 Times)
4. Practiced few more online Practice Tests and my Score Went up 15 to 20%.
5. Whenever, I needed inspiration, I read this Blog by Noaman Sayed
https://noamansayed.com/2012/01/my-pmp-study-plan-materials/.
If you are preparing for PMP and doing Self Study and haven’t gone through any formal Training Program, Please go through this. Its very structured and very inspiring Blog

Tests I took:-

1) PMI Study 1 – free test [76%]
2) PMI Study 3 – paid [72%]-Took a day before Exam
3) Head First – 82%
4) Exam Central-78%
5) Oliver Lehman 75 [58%] and 175 [72%]

During Exam on 19th January 2013

I went to prometric centre before 2 hours and they let me start before my scheduled Time. I found the questions relatively easy. My Plan was to finish the Test in 3 Hours and review rest in 1 Hr. I took 3:30 Hours to finish My Test and last 30 Minutes to Review.

When I answered around 100 Questions, I was more confident and I knew that I was getting closer to my Target. However, I kept on going and didn’t take any break

Type of Questions:-
1. Almost 30 % were Numerical Questions(Cost Control & Project Selections, Network Diagrams)
2. Almost 20% were Purely based on Tools & Techniques(Take Quality, Risk and Human resource seriously,
There were many question around these 3 Areas)
3. Rest of the Questions, were conceptual, you will not even understand the questions until you understand
the Concept behind each knowledge Area/Process Group
Well, After 3 Hours 59 Minutes ended my exam and saw results of my exam. I was thrilled when I saw the
word “Congratulations”. I had following result:
• Initiation – Proficient
• Planning – Proficient
• Executing - Moderately Proficient
• M & C – Moderately Proficient
• Closing – Moderately Proficient

Lessons Learned and my Recommendation:
• Do not follow others Study Plan, Make your own.
• Don’t follow all the recommended books; follow whichever books suits your study style and experience.
• Almost 90% Applicants follow Rita Mulcahy Book and only talk about PMIsm/RM Fast track, I tried reading it and I
was really disappointed with her approach–ve approach to teach and brag about how good her book is, It didn’t
suit my study style and Dropped It. I am sure, it’s the most succefull book for PMP Exam but you need to decide if
it suits you.
• This is highly recommended:- Create your own Study Material for All the Tools & Techniques and Formulas
and review Time to Time, Update it with new Notes/Concepts
• Study by Topics and practice more.
• You don’t need to cram the formulas, if you do enough numerical tests you will remember all.
• Brain Dumps before exam:- I wrote all the important Processes & their T&T. (I didn’t write the formulas)

I thank all of you guys for your help. Best of Luck to all my fellow PMP Aspirants. If you believe in yourself, you will pass it in first Attempt.

If you need any help, you can reach my at dhavansingh@gmail.com

Harwinder

Hello @dhavansingh

Congratulations on passing your exam.

Thanks for sharing your story and your kind comments. You have shared some really good information and I would say that your lessons learned post is among the better ones out there.

I wish you good luck for future. Stay in touch.

Best regards.