Ramesh: Passed PMP on Dec 19

About 2 years ago, I wanted to do my PMP certification, I took PMI membership, downloaded the 3rd edition PMBOK and that was all I did, never really sat down and studied for the exam seriously and my PMI membership expired. I reapplied earlier this year and wanted to take & pass the test in 2009. Based on LLs from PMHUB and my own experience, I decided to take the exam only after I feel 100% confident that I can pass the exam. I started with reading PMBOK 4th edition cover to cover, one thing I noticed is that it is much more reader friendly than the 3rd edition.

Once it is complete I bought Cornelius Fichtner’s PM Prepcast. Its a good podcast and he clearly explains the processes by giving relevant examples. I did notice that podcast is little bit cheesy at times, all in all I was happy with the podcast, I wish he had few practice questions at the end of chapters though. Once Podcast is complete I took test on PMSTUDY and decided I needed more preparation, I went my local library and was lucky to find Headfirst PMP book. Man, this book is a gem, It brings all of the processes, ITTO’s to life and explains everything in a simple, easy to understand manner. The end of the chapter exercises are good but to me the exercises, puzzles and crosswords IN the chapters were most useful. I completed this book in 2 weeks(time limit to return book in the library !) and they were the best two weeks I spent while preparing for the exam, I deliberately did not take the end of the book full 200 Questions test as it is being offered free on headfirst website and also I wanted to take that test a week before the actual exam.

As I was reading lot of rave reviews of Andy Crowe, I decided to give him a try! His book is also good, he explains concepts in a concise, straight forward way. I really liked his rating of each KA by difficulty and importance, it sets the expectation and the concentration level needed for the chapter, another highlight of this book is Chapter 14 -’How to Pass the PMP Exam’, it clearly explains the strategy needed, budgeting time and tips for guessing.

His end of the chapter questions are okay, some of the questions are just too much, just by reading it, you can tell that there is no way questions like this will appear on the exam. I also did the tests on his website(1 week free trial when you purchase the book) and they were helpful.

Of the three tools I used to prepare following are my ratings:

1) Headfirst PMP(the best book out there)

2) PM Prepcast(clearly explains the processes, good forthe time challenged)

3) Andy Crowe(may be my expectations were too high on this book)

I am not rating PMBOK 4th edition as I don’t think its a tool to prepare for the exam, it provides inputs that are needed for effective project management. I think it is a must read for any aspiring PMPs, Current PMPs and practicing Project Managers though.

Major Practice Tests Results:

Andy Crowe – 88%

Headfirst – 93%

Oliver Lehmann – 77%(I took this exam because I heard that its a tough exam and I wanted to give it a try, felt very good once I scored 77%)

PMSTUDY – 75%( I took this test before reading Headfirst and Andy Crowe)

Day before the exam:

Went and saw the movie ‘Avatar’, I thought it was a good way to keep the nerves cool.

Exam Day:

On the day of the exam I started half hour before scheduled time and was there in 10 mins. The check-in process took less than 3 mins and I was asked to place all my belongings, including wrist watch, in a locker. I was given 2 pencils, few scratch papers and a pocket calculator. I wrote down some of the formulas during tutorial even though I was pretty confident about all of them but didn’t want to take a chance. Once the tutorial was done, I looked at the first question and was able to answer it even before looking at the options I felt pretty confident and continued on with the test. My target was to finish the test in 2 hours 15 mins and spend rest of the time reviewing, I couldn’t exactly finish it 2 hours 15 mins, it took me 2 hours and 25 mins and I was happy with my time, I had around 50 questions marked for review. I took a quick bathroom break and started my review it took me around 50 mins to review all of them and I changed answers on 10-15 of them. Now with 40 mins left I decided to review all of them( or at least 150 of them,to make sure that I have enough pass Percentage, I know it has no scientific basis but wanted make full use of time allotted) I was able to review that many and changed answers on around 5 Questions, I had to really rush thru some of the questions to reach that target though and the time ran out. I completed the survey and just closed my eyes, after a while I opened my eyes and there I saw the congratulations message. I was so happy….

Regarding questions, I had few EV calculations questions, I felt like I had many questions from Procurement knowledge area. Questions are somewhat similar to Head first’s questions but are more complex in presentation and the question itself.

I would like to thank PMHUB from the bottom of my heart, this website has been a great resource through out my preparation and is a must for any aspiring PMP.

Thank you and Good Luck.

Regards,

Ramesh

Related posts:

1. Sow – Passed PMP on First Try..Aug 22,2009
2. Ajit: Passed PMP on Sept 5, 2009
3. Tordub: Passed PMP , July 14, Dublin