Passed PMP on 26th Jul

Shekhar

I took 4 days classroom training from Astrowix in Sep/Oct11 to earn 35 PDUs.
I had planned of PMP certification last year but could not give it due to financial constraints.
This year i started my preparation from 12th May and applied to PMI on Jun End.
I almost had a heart attack when i was informed that i have been selected for audit immediatly after paying the fee.
But patience prevailed and audit was successfully completed-thanks to Harwinder for very useful tips for facing audit and taking precautions while applying, it helped me a lot .
I read Mohan Prasad Mani Success story and it inspired me a lot.I used to read it when i felt negative and down during preparation.
I also followed some of his exam tips like sequence of sample papers and compared my result with his to set a benchmark.
I refered Rita Book and PMBOK as study reference.
Rita book really impressed me and people who criticize this book should understand that it really helps the aspirants to get an insight and focus on areas in depth where we can 't even think of normally.
It helped during exam while applying and analyizing the normal concepts in various new ways.
This is the secret of PMP exam to apply PM knowledge in a way you have hardly thought of.
Reading PMBOK was a punishment for me but i went through it as Harwinder and other have strongly suggested
to go through it.I think it helped me in 20% of the questions.

· PMPrep – Rita 3 times – The magic three makes u confident
· Oliver Lehman 175 - 73%
· PMP Exam Prep: by Christopher Scordo SSI Logic © 2011 - took mock test 17 and 18 -scored around 85%
· Oliver 75 – 72%
PM Study – 72%
Astrowix Sample Paper - 82%
200 PMBOK Q&A -85%
Took total Practice Questions around 2500

Last 5 days of preparation

· Run thru PMPrep Rita – 2 days
· Run through PMBOK – 2 Days
· ITTO – just a glance
·Last Day – Rajesh Nair notes
· Write and practice formulas and process & KA chart
· Relax –Take rest

I wrote down all Formulas on sheet and it helped me during exam as we tend to forget due to nervousness.
It was a very hard earned cert for me and i had to really put efforts at each stage to reach the next stage.
Even the exam questions were quite tough with hardly less than 5 direct/1-2 line questions.
Most of the questions were very wordy and it was taking lot of time to read and understand what they are asking.
I had only completed 50 questions in first 1.5 hrs,i had to really push through rest 150 questions in 2.5 hrs.
I had no time left for any review.

Initiating- P
Planning- MP
Executing -P
M&C - P
Closing -P

At last i would like to thank my wife and kid who tolerated me last 3 months as i could hardly devote any time to them and they never complained and persisted with me.

Regards
Shekhar

Harwinder

Congratulations, @Shekhar.

Good perseverance and great result! You deserved the success. Thanks for sharing your lessons learned in detail. I'm sure it will inspire many others. Hope you've subscribed (Follow) to the post for follow-up questions from other members.

Best regards.

manoj625

Congratulations, Shekhar. for your success. I have got a question I failed thesame for more than once, can you tell me how to prepare in future. Before Aug 11 was 2MP 4BP now 2MP and 3BP. Pls help/Giide.

Shekhar

Please elaborate the books you referred and mode of preparation as these are very crucial for success. You need to have in depth understanding rather than memorization of facts.