My Journey to PMP Certification By Mr Raman Nanda

My Pmp journey – Mr. Raman Nanda

 1. Brief Introduction about me: –

I have been in the IT industry for the past 25 years and have worked  in different domains and areas. For the last 10 years, I have been working as a Project Manager in a MNC and delivered numerous projects in Testing and Data Migration areas as a Project Manager. Prior to this I worked in hardcore development and Graphics area.

2. PMP Journey: –

It had started in July – 2019, as a casual discussion with a friend over tea.  Within a week, we both decided to acquire the PMP certification and receive global certification for the craft, which we had been working on for so many years. He informed me that he had already completed the required training couple of years back and was eligible to give the exam.  For me, to get the mandatory training was the first step.

3.  First Step – Mandatory Training to sit in the Exam: –

To attempt the examination, one has to take a 4 -day professional PMP training course (36 hrs), which earns them 35 PDU (Professional Development Units). The next challenge for me was to select a professional institute, where I could complete my training. I spent a week surfing the Internet. There were various Online/offline options available. After this brief research, I approached Prothoughts for the training. My other reason for selecting Prothoughts was that they offer offline courses so that I could interact with instructor and other fellow aspirants.  Mr. Arvind Nahata was our instructor, he was well versed with PMP area and had industrial experience. He is an expert in his field and explained all the concepts very well and in an easily absorbable manner, which greatly helped me to develop a deep insight of them.  He was always open to questions and ready to extend the lesson at our convenience. I also had the opportunity to interact with other participants from different fields i.e. manufacturing, Insurance, IT, Banking, etc which showed that PMP is not specific to any field.  Our session was divided into 2 weeks over the weekends. I really enjoyed the session, which provided me a much-needed break from the work while simultaneously acquiring knowledge about terminologies, which we I was not aware of. After the course I was filled with enthusiasm to get my certification at the earliest. Prothoughts provided the book “PMP Exam Prep” from Rita Mulchay , which  can be used to easily understand the concepts and overall a  great book for learning.

According to me, you can save few thousands by attending online courses, however it is worth to join offline classes since you can interact with different participants having experience in different domain/areas, which give you different perspective. Of course, you can have new friends 😊.

4. Application for Certifications: –

It is a crucial step. Alongside the preparation, one has to complete the application and describe real industry experience along with qualification in the prescribed format. I have completed the application and sent to Mr. Arvind for his inputs. Having done the corrections I  sent it to PMI for approval. You can apply for exam only, once your application will be approved.

5. Preparation for Certification: –

I was very enthusiastic to start the preparation. I started studying for an hour daily for 3 weeks. This studying pattern soon came to a halt as my office workload demanded more of my time. I was able to complete half of the book in this period. Few months later, I received messages in the Prothoughts Whatsapp Group that 2 participants from my batch had cleared the exam, which served  as a reality check.

I had more time to devote to my study in April/May – 2020 and started my preparation again. I set a personal target to complete the exam in August, 2020. I revised the chapters that I had completed, and then covered the remaining chapters. I had taken the PMI membership in March, 2020. Unfortunately, I had to leave my study due to prepone of client productions in my workplace. A few more months passed without study and I received news that 5-6 more members had cleared the exam.  A new condition was at hand, the PMP exam pattern was to change in January 2021. Since I was preparing for the existing pattern it was necessary that I clear the exam this year.  Fortunately, in the start of Oct, 2020 the productions which had increased my workload immensely were postponed to next year and I had ample time to prepare now. This was a golden chance for me and a very crucial period.

 Once again, I started my preparations (1-2 hrs daily) and put in more study hours over the weekend. By now I had completed the full portion twice and started attempting 10-50 questions every day from internet. There are various applications available free of cost online.

6. Final days of preparation: –  

The week before the exam, I attempted 4 mock tests provided by Prothoughts in the same manner as a real exam. The real challenge was to sit for 4 hours at a stretch. My exam was scheduled on Sunday 29^th Nov, 2021. For the month of November, I had taken 2 vacations from office so that all my focus was centered on PMP.  I once again revised the book to refresh concepts and also used the Internet as a tool to clear doubts. I was confident of my preparation, and my mock tests score were between 75% to 85%.

By god’s grace, I cleared my exam having overall Above Target 😊.

7. Tips

• You must have real life experience to understand the concepts. Only theoretical knowledge will not help.
• Don’t cram theory but understand the concepts and get a feel of them. Remember the formulas and revise often.
• I would like to stress on consistency, once you’ve started the preparation do not leave it in between. This would only result in confusion in previous concepts and an overall rework.
• Once you have completed the book twice, attempt questions from different forums/ applications. Find the RCA of all wrong questions and clear all doubts. Don’t skip questions.
• Prepare well and be confident of your preparation. It is expensive exam, try to clear on the first attempt.
• I advise that you attempt 4-5 mocks tests in the same exam environment as the real test i.e time constraint, no formula sheets etc.
• Last but not the least select an institute, which will assist you in your preparation even after your course. In my case, Mr. Arvind help me during the course, in the application verification and in clearing doubts. I thank him from my heart for all his efforts and guidance.

Enjoy the journey before achieving the milestone😊