Tricks and Study Plan - I Passed my PMP on 23Mar2018...just 2 days before version5 is changing !!

[Anoop Pastor]

I passed my PMP on 23Mar2018...just 2 days before version5 is changing to version6 !!

Hi All PMP aspirants,

Let me share some valuable tricks and study plan to clear PMP exam. This is what I followed.

1. Do a focused study for 3-4 months (not more) for your preparation and Do Not read too many books. This will not help you, but instead, you will get less time to focus on important topics and PMBOK.
2. Take some training and parallely read PMBOK 1st time in Full focus (I took Simplilearn online weekend PMP training).
3. Read PMBOK 2nd time and highlight the important texts/formulae/charts with highlighter, so that next time you can focus on important ones.
4. Memorize all formulae (especially on Earned Value calculations and understand their meaning...EV/AC/PV/BAC...etc). You will definitely get some questions on these and believe me...the questions would be easy. Understand Integrated Change Control process very clearly...you will be tested in exam on scenarios where a change is taking place during project.
5. Understand and Memorize Rita Mulcahy's process chart, this will help you to understand when a process takes place and what comes before/after that. Understand and Memorize All PMBOK Input-Output very well...you will get some questions on this (may not be direct).
6. I also read Rita Mulcahy's book nearly twice, which helped me a lot in understanding the topics easily. But FIRST READ PMBOK THEN RITA MULCAHY.
7. Solve All Rita Mulcahy's end of chapter questions.
8. Before 1 month of your PMP exam, solve some FULL 4 Hour mock tests (I took 5 Full 4 hour mock tests from Simplilearn and it was very helpful). This you definitely need to make yourself sit for continuous 4 hrs in exam without break. The real Advantage of taking these mock tests is to guide you on your mistakes AND how and how much you have to read further the PMBOK and other study books.
9. Now finally read PMBOK 3rd time with Glossary/PMBOK Process Groups Knowledge Areas Mapping/formulae and you will see that you have gained enough confidence and control on topics.
10. Now solve some more Full 4 hours PMP simulation tests. Don't get disheartened if you are getting 70/75%...I was getting around 70-75% average in mock tests but in real PMP, I got good result.
11. During real PMP exam, Don't Panic! And take care of time...I was behind schedule and somehow I managed to complete all questions.

Believe me, if you follow proper study plan, you will get good score :)

I am very thankful to my Wife and Son, for giving me confidence and study time regularly. In fact she has also asked some Input-Output and Rita Mulcahy's process chart questions before exam, which gave me boost that I know what I have read :)

Thanks,
Anoop Pastor

[JinHee]

Thanks for the tips! Really helpful and makes the test feel less overwhelming.