PM Certification: PMP Exam Lessons Learned
Worthey is from San Antonio, TX and we have been exchanging email for some time as he went through the process of studying for his PMP certification. He emailed me to let me know he had taken and passed the exam, and I asked if he could share some of his lessons learned with us.
Josh: Congrats on your PMP certification!!! Do you have any tips and advice you want to offer up to readers of pmStudent.com? If so, I can take an email and plug it into a blog post and an edition of the newsletter. It’s always good for people to hear about real experience.
Worthey’s Lessons Learned
Josh, in no particular order and I’m sure not the first time these have been mentioned:
1. Take test preparations seriously. This test demands respect; it is not a walk in the park. Counting the 4 days of classes I went through (36 hours), I spent an additional 20 hours on my own.
by DaveBleasdale via Flickr
2. Suggest really understanding the ITTOs—they’re essential to knowing where you are in the process—a key item with PMI.
3. PMI is big on ethics and doing the right thing … know what they think is the right thing to do … it’s not always what you would do.
4. Lots of good study materials out there … find one that best fits your learning style. (Find your “poison.” For example, some find Rita’s test guide to be too “in the weeds” and rather dry … others have the exact opposite opinion. While some find the “story book” style and graphics in “PMP Head First” to more ideally suit their learning needs; others felt their approach was too “elementary.” To each their own someone once said.
5. I enrolled in a 4-day teaching course and found that the interaction with the other participants added greatly to the learning experience.
6. Don’t dawdle too long before taking the test. There is so much info (I’ve heard that PMI has a database of over 7,000 possible questions) that you can’t memorize or remember it all. Hit the study guides hard, read through the PMBOK and go take the test. There are several folks in my company who took the 4-day instructional a couple of years back and still haven’t taken the test. Definitely strike while the iron is hot …
7. Force yourself to read ALL the answers before making a selection. With a good many of the questions seeking the “best answer,” the first “right” answer you see may not always be the “best” answer. I read the answers in reverse order (i.e., D,C,B,A) … that helped me read them all.
8. Also, read and re-read the questions. Many of them are very “layered” … pay particular attention to such grammatical articles as “a” and “the” — they can greatly influence which of the answers is the “best” answer.
9. Most all of the stress I felt whilst taking the test (as compared to many sample tests I’d previously taken) was that this one counted! I took nearly the full 4 hours allotted, but never felt rushed. (I had never gone over 3 hours on the 200- question practice tests I had found on line. My 57-year old brain (and rear!) did grow tired.) My approach was to go through the test in a deliberative fashion the first time through … answering those I was dead sure about … and answering/marking for further review those questions on which I was readily unsure of my answer–or had me reading through the question more than twice. I also took a 10-minute break at the half-way mark (100 questions). As a result, I finished my first run through the exam with 30 minutes to spare, and thus was then able to turn my full concentration toward those questions on which I needed to a more thorough break down. (FYI-I had 40 such questions.) Not too surprisingly, however, I only changed my answer on 3 of the questions … leaving the remaining 37 as I had first marked.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with us Worthey!
Have you recently gone for a certification? IPMA, Prince2, PMP, CAPM, etc? Share your lessons learned in the comments below!
(Be sure to observe ethical conduct i.e. don’t give out specific questions & answers, etc.)
Dec 18th, 2009 at 5:33 am
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PM Certification: PMP Exam Lessons Learned [link to post]
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Dec 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Hi,
On Dec 15 I passed the PMP exam, and I noticed that “Practice, Practice, and Practice” on Mock exams. Some of the practice test are from PMStudy.com, and Rita’s fast Track. Don’t forget read atleast twice the PMBOK and understand the ITTO’s which is very important in the exam.
I was getting 90% on practice exams,I thought I would get labelled “Proficient” but I got Moderately Prficient.
The best book to read are Rita’s Book,PMBOK, and Practice test from PMSTUDY.com, where you can figuere out exact exam scenarios.
Thank God, finally I passed.
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Worthey Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Mohammad … congrats on passing! I know exactly how you feel … “what a relief!!”
Worthey
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Jan 12th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Worthey –thanks for the lessons learned. I will start documenting my lessons learned as to provide valued information for those to follow. Great post; I would like to know where you obtain the 200 test questions and information on the four (4) day course. Again thanks
Daniel Bernard
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Worthey Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Daniel … lots of resources out there. Here’s one website (below) that has a forum/blog that provides lots of free PMP test questions. As far as a 4-day course, just “Google” PMP instruction for your town/city … I’m sure you’ll find folks who are teaching such prepatory classes.
Good luck to you!
Worthey
http://forums.oreilly.com/category/73/Head-First-PMP/
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Jan 12th, 2010 at 10:58 am
I took the exam on Jan 4th 2010 and failed. Mistakes:
1. I crammed for the last 5 days
2. Took a examp prep course in Nov 2008
3. Study on my own
I will re-take the exam in Feb and will follow advice given, thank you!
Reply
Worthey Reply:
January 19th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Juan … it’s a tough test, for sure! I used the “Head First PMP” study guide. It’s in a great, easy-to-read format. You can Google it to find out how to get it. You can also check with your local public or university library, they may also carry it.
Good Luck!!
Worthey
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Jan 19th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Hi Guys,
Thanks for your feed back. I studied on my own, and I didn’t put a lot of time on studying, as I am busy and having family and kids.
The first thing I started with PMBOK, I read it, then I took Rita’s book, then again PMBOK but I practice online with Mock exam questions.( Don’t go to Oliver Lehman question, you get confused. You can visit that website at final stage/or if you don’t want to go it’s ok).
Go to “PMSTUDY.com” and practice 200 exam questions for free. ( This questions are similar format as the real exam) If you like it you can buy 4 practice exams for $ 50 which is worthy.
Go to “techfaq360″ and click on PMP resources, and take online free exam for 200 questions.
Go to “http://www.headfirstlabs.com/PMP/pmp_exam/v2/quiz.html” and take free exam for
SPRINT : Dash through 10 questions in just 12 minutes.
JOG : Settle down for 50 questions in under an hour.
MARATHON :Face up to the full PMP simulated exam: all 200 questions in a gruelling 4 hour session.
You can do some here at http://pmpbank.googlepages.com/pmpquestionbank
Go to “http://www.passionatepm.com/free-pmp-exam-practice-test-questions” and you can practice questions 20,50 and 200.
If you need any help let me know. Please don’t forget to practice on TOOLS and TECHNIQUES.
Thanks,
Ziauddin,Mohammad
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Jan 19th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
you can go for Head first PMP second edition, which is also a good book for PMP exam,(excellent lesson learned from Worthey) more or less its up to you how you program your study. If you’re taking exam in Feb don’t wait untill last minute, practice or read every day atleast one to two hours.
work on ITTO’s.
Thanks.
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Feb 21st, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Hi,
I have been selected for an audit and need to reply within 60 days. My last name has changed after marriage and is not the same as on my Bachelor’s certificate. Will this be a problem? Do I need to mail copies of my marriage cert or passport?
Thanks.
Reply
Josh Nankivel, BSc PM, PMP Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 12:54 am
Great question Kal, I’m not really sure.
My advice is to contact PMI’s customer support via phone or email and ask them about this directly. See this link for their contact information:
http://www.pmi.org/AboutUs/Pages/Customer-Care.aspx
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Feb 22nd, 2010 at 12:43 am
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