PMP Lessons Learned

PMP Lessons Learned from
those who have been there

Provided by:

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Learn from the students who have successfully
passed the PMP exams. Get to know their
experiences, how they prepare for the exam and
some of the tips and tricks they shared for us.
Lessons Learned from Chris Mielke, PMP

I studied for about 4 months, went a little
overboard on the materials and used the
following:

- PM PrepCast (listened to these while I did
work)
- PM Exam Simulator (scored in the upper
70's to low 80s for all exams)
- Rita's PMP Exam Simulator
- Rita's PMP Flashcard set


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Lessons Learned from Chris Mielke, PMP
- Book: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge:
PMBOK(R) Guide
- Book: Head First PMP: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the
Project Management Professional Exam
- Book: PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for
Passing the PMP Exam
- Book: PMP: Project Management Exam Professional Study Guide
by Kim Heldman

I studied 2 hours a night and 2-3 hours per day on weekends.

To cement all the concepts in place my work sent me to a Cheetah
learning course (www.cheetahlearning.com) and I took my exam
the day after the class ended.

My score was 2 Proficient and 3 Moderately Proficient.

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Lessons Learned from Christian
Bisson, PMP
I read the PMBOK once and often used it as a
reference, it could be easily read thanks to
The PM PrepCast, I know it would have been
harder if I hadn't watched it before.

I watched the PM PrepCast a 2nd time to
review everything.

When I was done, I read Head First PMP,
which gave me a last minute study addition.
It's easily read and actually helped me
remember even mroe information before the
exam.


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Lessons Learned from Christian
Bisson, PMP
In parallel of watching The PM PrepCast and reading those 2 books,
I used Flashcards to study while taking walks, I also answered
many test questions (over a thousand) including 5 complete 4
hours simulations. In total, I must have answered about 1500
questions.

I can honestly say I have never studied so much for an exam, but I
felt ready when I went in, and when I was done and taking the
little survey at the end before the result, I was sure I was going to
pass.

Although the exam is hard, the fact that I was prepared made it
easy (or tolerable at least!) and I do not regret a single hour of
study!

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Lessons Learned from Varun Sharma,
PMP
I studied for the exam for about 2 months
(pasted below is my schedule)

1)Read Rita's book
2)Went through all the videos on PMPrepcast
3)Started attempting PMPprepcast simulator
tests and read PMBOK in between
4)Read Rita's book again (1 week before
exam), memorized 47 process groups and the
formula and tried remembering IITOs (not
sure if I remembered all but I had a pretty
good idea of inputs and outputs)



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Lessons Learned from Varun Sharma,
PMP

PMPrepCast was very helpful in clearing the concepts and covering
anything not covered in Rita's book. I was scoring between 75-
85% on Rita's exams(tests at the end of chapters) Scored between
79-85% on the PMPrepCast simulator exams 1-8 (had planned to,
but did not get to attempting the ITTO exam).

I was worried about the questions on the real exam and how close
would they be to the PMPrepCast simulator questions. I must say
that PMPrepCast simulator exams really gave me the confidence
and that 80 % of the simulator exam questions were similar to the
ones on the exam (around 15-20 questions were really tricky but I
was sure that I got the remaining correct).


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Lessons Learned from Muhammad Ali
Humayun , PMP

• It took me 6 weeks to get prepared for PMP exam.
Every weekday after work I studied 6 hours, and
on Weekends I pulled in more then 8 - 10 hours.

• 1. Completed all the Audio/Video from Prep Cast.
2. Read PMBook twice, end to end.
3. Made my own notes (Not recommended for
every one, it took me 4 weeks to complete them).
But they were extremely helpful few days before
exam.
4. Used exam simulator throughout 6 weeks with
quizzes, tests, and complete exams. First time I
took the exam I got 74%. Before the actual exam,
I was averaging 85%+

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Lessons Learned from Muhammad Ali
Humayun , PMP
5. Real exam was way off to the simulator, no related questions. Please
remember the real exam for me was more then 95% situation questions,
nothing related to inputs, tools and techniques. The simulator is only
helpful in getting me prepared for 4 hours long exam and giving me a
concept of exam. Real exam was in no way close the simulator exams or
questions.
6. The prep Cast Video will take some new user time to get used to it, for
me they were a little to slow, but much needed. If you are not familiar with
the concepts please listen carefully and try to grasp the concept. They are
explained extremely well in there. If you try this with PMBOK, you will miss
them at all.
7. In the end, please please please do not try to memorize inputs, tools n
outputs. I did and I think that I wasted my time on it. Learn the concept
and you will be just fine, and please pay an extremely great importance to
planning process group. Without planning any project will fail.

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Lessons Learned from Michael
DeCicco, PMP

You can pass the PMP exam. Here's a recipe for success.
First, be confident. The path to success starts with your own
determination that this goal is for yourself, not for your boss,
your organization, your friends. Certainly the benefits of
certification may be shared on all these parties, but the work
to achieve success must be borne by you and you have to
invest the time. So it is important to know why you are
seeking this certification.

Second, understand the process. There are several
components to realize. PMP certification has a past, present,
and future. You have to measure your past Project
Management experience for the application, choose the right
training for 35 credits that fits your schedule and budget,
design a study plan, and think how you will maintain your
certification.



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Lessons Learned from Michael
DeCicco, PMP
Third, Study. It sounds simple, but the time management aspect is critical to
success. If this means studying over 8 months, then so be it, but be honest with
yourself and your family or support network who depend on you. Cornelius Fichtner
has some excellent video podcasts about study tips. Here's what I did. I treated this
like a project, established a charter, project management plan, and executed it. I
used a multitude of study books, but I recommend Kim Heldman the most. If you
have access to Books 24x7 through PMI or your company, take advantage of the
resources there.

Fourth, I found the exam to be everything people said it would be: Challenging. I
used several exam simulators that I felt prepared me for the accuracy of the
challenge, including PM Prepcast. Repitition and re-learning will ingrain the
significant amount of material you will need to retain for the exam, which brings me
to my last lesson learned.

The exam assesses your logic capability and memory. I recommend you memorize ITTOs, Quality Management
and Human Resource Theories, Math Formulas, closing procedures, and project document updates to the best of
your ability, in addition to understanding the abundant material in the PMBOK.


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Studying and preparing for the PMP® exam requires a
lot of time, effort, and focus; however, taking the actual
exam should not be forgotten. You’ve spent months—
maybe even years—preparing for this day. Make sure
you have a plan on how you’ll approach the exam itself.
When the timer goes off at the end of those last four
hours…that’s when you can throw your cap in the air
and finally breathe a sigh of relief.
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