Passed The Exam - First Attempt - 25 July 2009, My experience
13 views
Skip to first unread message
danand123
Jul 26, 2009, 4:41:46 PM7/26/09
to PMP Cert Online Study Group
Dear PMP Aspirants,
I passed the PMP exam last night and thought about sharing my
experience with preparations and the actual exam while the memories
are still fresh with me.
Background -
I am a Product Manager with a mid-sized company and managing
'Projects' for about 4 years now.
I decided to become a PMP in June-08, purchased PMI membership and
started preparing without scheduling the exam. I found all the
possible excuses not to complete even one round of reading of PMBOK
till May-09. One day received an email from PMI for membership renewal
and then realized the importance of scheduling the exam and then
studying. On 25th May I scheduled my exam for 25th July (giving myself
exact 2 months (60 days) for preparation).
Preparation -
First thing I did was to buy 'Head First PMP' online and read it from
first to last page. Its a joy to read this book. I did not skip any
exercise. I think most of my preparation was done in first 15 days
with this book. I got Rita's book from library but found it little
overwhelming and dry. Read through her PMI-isms and 'Tricks of the
trade' for all the chapters.
For next 15 days I was reading PMBOK and this time it made much more
sense. I could never memorize the ITTOs but tried to understand each
of those in the context of real life scenario.
Could not study much for the next week (for some genuine reasons).
The next week, i started looking online for some information, mock
exam, experiences etc. I came across http://deepfriedbrain.blogspot.com.
The search for online resources ended with this blog. Harwinder has
done a very good job and all the information needed for passing PMP
exam is present here.
The first full length exam i took was from 'Head First'. I passed it
and it boosted my confidence but then someone on a forum said, its an
easy exam and the real exam is more difficult. Then i tried to take
all the free exams referenced on Harwinder's blog. I was too lazy to
read the explanations for all my wrong answers. Practicing more and
more questions made me understand the tone of the question and then
getting to the right answer was getting easier.
3 days before the exam, I took 'Head First' exam one more time and got
185 qustions right this time.
2 days before the exam, started memorizing the process chart and the
formulaes and practiced writing in less than 15 minutes.
Day before exam, i went to the prometric center so that there are no
surprises on the exam day.
Exam day -
On the exam day, read through the Definitions in PMBOK's Glossary
section.
The exam was scheduled at 5:30 PM. Took a nap from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.
Reached the prometric center at 4:40, wanted to read through the
formulaes one more time but they said i can take the exam early if i
am ready. I was ready....
Exam -
The tutorial does not need 15 minutes. Browsed through the tuturial in
2 mins and used next 13 minutes to write down the process chart and
the formulaes.
The exam interface is very simple and the fonts used are appropriate
size.
The firxt question I got was easy and I knew the exact answer. That
set the ball rolling....
The network diagrams and the EMV calculations were very simple.
I finished the exam in about 3 hours. Most of the questions are small
and do not take a long time to answer. I marked about 30 questions for
review as I realized that i will have plenty of time for review.
By the time i finished 200 questions, i had realized that i will be a
PMP soon. But still scanned through the reviewed questions and changed
4-5 answers.
I could not sit for next 30 minutes and finished the exam. Took the
survey and the saw the 'Congratulations !!!'.
In my personal openien -
1. This is a simple exam (i am not a genius - believe me)
2. Two months of preparation is sufficient (schedule the exam before
starting)
3. No need to buy any expensive exam simulators (the free stuff is
enouth)
4. Four hours of exam time is more than sufficient.
I hope this helps -
Best Wishes -
Anand D.
Note - This is my personal experience. It may not be applicable for
all.
I passed the PMP exam last night and thought about sharing my
experience with preparations and the actual exam while the memories
are still fresh with me.
Background -
I am a Product Manager with a mid-sized company and managing
'Projects' for about 4 years now.
I decided to become a PMP in June-08, purchased PMI membership and
started preparing without scheduling the exam. I found all the
possible excuses not to complete even one round of reading of PMBOK
till May-09. One day received an email from PMI for membership renewal
and then realized the importance of scheduling the exam and then
studying. On 25th May I scheduled my exam for 25th July (giving myself
exact 2 months (60 days) for preparation).
Preparation -
First thing I did was to buy 'Head First PMP' online and read it from
first to last page. Its a joy to read this book. I did not skip any
exercise. I think most of my preparation was done in first 15 days
with this book. I got Rita's book from library but found it little
overwhelming and dry. Read through her PMI-isms and 'Tricks of the
trade' for all the chapters.
For next 15 days I was reading PMBOK and this time it made much more
sense. I could never memorize the ITTOs but tried to understand each
of those in the context of real life scenario.
Could not study much for the next week (for some genuine reasons).
The next week, i started looking online for some information, mock
exam, experiences etc. I came across http://deepfriedbrain.blogspot.com.
The search for online resources ended with this blog. Harwinder has
done a very good job and all the information needed for passing PMP
exam is present here.
The first full length exam i took was from 'Head First'. I passed it
and it boosted my confidence but then someone on a forum said, its an
easy exam and the real exam is more difficult. Then i tried to take
all the free exams referenced on Harwinder's blog. I was too lazy to
read the explanations for all my wrong answers. Practicing more and
more questions made me understand the tone of the question and then
getting to the right answer was getting easier.
3 days before the exam, I took 'Head First' exam one more time and got
185 qustions right this time.
2 days before the exam, started memorizing the process chart and the
formulaes and practiced writing in less than 15 minutes.
Day before exam, i went to the prometric center so that there are no
surprises on the exam day.
Exam day -
On the exam day, read through the Definitions in PMBOK's Glossary
section.
The exam was scheduled at 5:30 PM. Took a nap from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.
Reached the prometric center at 4:40, wanted to read through the
formulaes one more time but they said i can take the exam early if i
am ready. I was ready....
Exam -
The tutorial does not need 15 minutes. Browsed through the tuturial in
2 mins and used next 13 minutes to write down the process chart and
the formulaes.
The exam interface is very simple and the fonts used are appropriate
size.
The firxt question I got was easy and I knew the exact answer. That
set the ball rolling....
The network diagrams and the EMV calculations were very simple.
I finished the exam in about 3 hours. Most of the questions are small
and do not take a long time to answer. I marked about 30 questions for
review as I realized that i will have plenty of time for review.
By the time i finished 200 questions, i had realized that i will be a
PMP soon. But still scanned through the reviewed questions and changed
4-5 answers.
I could not sit for next 30 minutes and finished the exam. Took the
survey and the saw the 'Congratulations !!!'.
In my personal openien -
1. This is a simple exam (i am not a genius - believe me)
2. Two months of preparation is sufficient (schedule the exam before
starting)
3. No need to buy any expensive exam simulators (the free stuff is
enouth)
4. Four hours of exam time is more than sufficient.
I hope this helps -
Best Wishes -
Anand D.
Note - This is my personal experience. It may not be applicable for
all.
Prasanna Mahapatra
Jul 27, 2009, 2:07:01 AM7/27/09
to pmp-cert-onli...@googlegroups.com
Dear Anand,
congrats,...and thanks for sharing ur experience which is a morale booster for me..
cheers,
prasanna
Rinki Raizada
Jul 27, 2009, 2:08:50 AM7/27/09
to pmp-cert-onli...@googlegroups.com
Congratulations Anand!
Cheers,
Rinki Raizada, PMP
On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 2:11 AM, danand123 <anand...@gmail.com> wrote:
Leung Timothy
Jul 26, 2009, 9:59:14 PM7/26/09
to pmp-cert-onli...@googlegroups.com
Your information may be helpful for me.
I am taking PMP course and the teacher uses Rita's exam book to teach me.
The teacer said questions at the end of chapters are simliar to the real exam.
2009/7/27 danand123 <anand...@gmail.com>
--
----------------------------------
用加法計算我們的積累
用減法計算我們的消費
用乘法計算我們的投資
用除法計算我們的資源
來自深圳地鐵的溫馨題示
harwinde...@gmail.com
Jul 27, 2009, 8:36:39 AM7/27/09
to PMP Cert Online Study Group
Hello Anand,
Congratulations !! I'm glad that I could be of help to you. Thanks for
your comments.
All the best.
Regards,
Harwinder
PMP Certification Blog: http://deepfriedbrain.blogspot.com
On Jul 27, 4:41 am, danand123 <anandsd...@gmail.com> wrote:
Congratulations !! I'm glad that I could be of help to you. Thanks for
your comments.
All the best.
Regards,
Harwinder
PMP Certification Blog: http://deepfriedbrain.blogspot.com
On Jul 27, 4:41 am, danand123 <anandsd...@gmail.com> wrote:
Rajiv Nayan
Jul 27, 2009, 5:54:26 AM7/27/09
to pmp-cert-onli...@googlegroups.com
Congrats!!!!!!!!!! Anand.
Rajiv
Rajiv
On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 2:11 AM, danand123 <anand...@gmail.com> wrote:
Rishun Gupta
Jul 27, 2009, 5:40:50 AM7/27/09
to pmp-cert-onli...@googlegroups.com
Congrats Anand, Certainly your first-hand experience is gonna help me aloot.... Apppreciate it for Sharing...
Cheers
-R
2009/7/27 Leung Timothy <timhk...@gmail.com>
gangadhar.p
Jul 28, 2009, 4:34:34 PM7/28/09
to PMP Cert Online Study Group
congrats Anand,
It good hear that someone has passed the PMP with version 4. That
gives us confidence, that we can also achieve the goal, that we set
for.
and thank you for the sharing you valuable suggestions.
Gangadhar
On Jul 27, 2:40 pm, Rishun Gupta <ris...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Congrats Anand, Certainly your first-hand experience is gonna help me
> aloot.... Apppreciate it for Sharing...
>
> Cheers
> -R
>
> 2009/7/27 Leung Timothy <timhk.le...@gmail.com>
> >> exam, experiences etc. I came acrosshttp://deepfriedbrain.blogspot.com.
It good hear that someone has passed the PMP with version 4. That
gives us confidence, that we can also achieve the goal, that we set
for.
and thank you for the sharing you valuable suggestions.
Gangadhar
On Jul 27, 2:40 pm, Rishun Gupta <ris...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Congrats Anand, Certainly your first-hand experience is gonna help me
> aloot.... Apppreciate it for Sharing...
>
> Cheers
> -R
>
>
>
>
> > Your information may be helpful for me.
> > I am taking PMP course and the teacher uses Rita's exam book to teach me.
> > The teacer said questions at the end of chapters are simliar to the real
> > exam.
>
> > 2009/7/27 danand123 <anandsd...@gmail.com>
>
>
> > Your information may be helpful for me.
> > I am taking PMP course and the teacher uses Rita's exam book to teach me.
> > The teacer said questions at the end of chapters are simliar to the real
> > exam.
>
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages