Hello Managers! I am Malav Shah, Sr. Project Manager from Cygnet Infotech. I have a total experience of about 17 years out of which 10 years are Project Management experience. My company, Cygnet Infotech is an IT company that provides consultancy to clients in all technologies.
Having vast experience in management, I was wondering what would be next in my career. I had heard about PMP but was hesitant about whether to go for it as it requires lots of reading and it is difficult to pursue this kind of study after such a long gap of about 15 years.
Decision on Taking the PMP Exam
My colleague had already passed the PMP exam one year back, so I discussed it with him. After much thought process and discussion with my wife, I finally decided to go for the PMP exam!
My colleague suggested ProThoughts for the training and provided me with complete details on how the training is done and how after training support is provided. I contacted ProThoughts and talked with Jeffrey. He provided me with a Training Schedule, and I selected February 2019 for training.
PMP Training at ProThoughts
The training was conducted by Mr. Ninad Kulkarni and Mr. Saurabh Parikh. They explained each and every concept and how we do those things in both Professional and Personal life one way or another. That also helped me find gaps in my knowledge.
In the training, they also provided us with the planning for the study and how to pass the PMP exam.
How to Pass the PMP Exam: My Take
Passing the PMP exam is based on how effectively you plan your schedule for learning concepts of PMP and the art of understanding questions in the exam effectively. I will tell you my experience on how you can pass the PMP exam on the first try.
Plan your daily schedule
Here I have assumed that you have already gone through training for PMP i.e. have 35 PDUs which is required to submit an application to PMI.
If you can devote daily 5 to 6 hours of time to learning PMP concepts, then you are ready to take the PMP exam in 3 months. Or if you can devote 2 to 3 hours of time to learning PMP concepts, then you will be ready to take the PMP exam in 4 to 5 months.
Materials you should Follow
Once you apply for a PMP membership, you will be entitled to get PMBOK. Having gone through the PMP training, you would have basic knowledge of PMP knowledge areas, process groups, and ITTOs. Before taking the PMP exam, you should revise both the PMBOK and Rita Mulcahy PMP Book at least twice.
You should plan to give at least 4 mock exams. For me, ProThoughts provided these mock exams.
Tips:
- PMBOK is a purely theoretical book that emphasizes PMP concepts. Don’t try to mug up anything because the exam will mostly constitute situational questions. Instead, try to read the book thoroughly and verify the same with your practical knowledge.
- Read each chapter thoroughly and at the end of each chapter, go on the internet – there are many sites available that will give you a test for each chapter free of cost. Test your knowledge for each chapter and you will find what gaps are there in your knowledge.
- After you complete the entire book, once again go on sites and try to take a test of PMP-based questions. This will test your knowledge, give you confidence, and make you aware of the style and type of questions you can expect in the PMP exam.
- Once PMBOK is completed, start going through the RM book. If you have gone through PMBOK thoroughly, the RM book would be easier to understand.
- Rita Mulcahy book constitutes both theoretical and practical examples. At the end of each chapter and in between also exercises are provided. Answer them and test your knowledge.
As mentioned above, revised both PMBOK and RM at least twice.
Study Plan for the PMP Exam
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If you can devote 2 to 3 hours daily
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- Complete PMBOK in 45 Days
- Complete RM Book in 25 Days
- Give 1st Mock Exam. Find gaps in your knowledge based on the score you achieved in the first mock exam.
- After one week give a second mock exam.
- PMBOK Revision in 25 Days
- RM Book Revision in 15 Days
- Give a third Mock exam
- After one week give 4th mock exam
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If you can devote 4 to 5 hours daily
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- Complete PMBOK in 25 Days
- Complete RM Book in 15 Days
- Give 1st Mock Exam. Find gaps in your knowledge based on the score you achieved in the first mock exam.
- After one week give a second mock exam.
- PMBOK Revision in 15 Days
- RM Book Revision in 10 Days
- Give a third Mock exam
- After one week give 4th mock exam
Following the above schedule will make you ready to appear for the PMP exam.
It is advisable to score at least 70% in all mock exams. As I was not able to devote 4 – 5 hours daily, it took around 5 months for me to prepare and be confident about the exam. Daily I was studying around 2 – 3 hours in the morning, despite the time schedule being very hectic.
The strategy of Answering Questions in Exam
- Write Formulas: The PMP exam will have questions with calculations. Once the exam starts, take 5 minutes after starting the exam and write all the formulas that you recollect on practice papers. This 5-minute exercise will save you time when answering any question of calculation throughout the exam. You don’t have to waste time every time recollecting formulas.
- Best Answer: There would be certain questions in which you feel all the answers are correct. Select an answer that is best fitted to the question.
- Lengthy Questions: Some of the questions asked in the exams are very lengthy. Lengthy means 10 – 15 lines of question. In 10 – 15 lines, only 2 to 3 lines are the main question and the other lines are just stories. Rather than reading whole questions, it would be better if you first read the choice of answers. By reading the choices, you would have an idea about what kind of question is being asked. Then you just go through the question quickly and find the main part of the question.
- Elimination: There would be some questions for which you are not sure about the answers. Elimination is the best technique in this case. Start picking choices to eliminate. From 4 choices you will end up with 2 and then choose the best answer out of them.
Exam Day
On exam day, I reached the Prometric Center 45 minutes early, completed all the initial formalities, and started my exam after a deep breath. As mentioned above, I read the choices first, which helped in assuming what the question would be about.
Due to this strategy, I was able to complete the exam in just 2.5 hours. Then, I once again went through all the questions. After 3 hours I submitted the exam and filled out the survey. After filling out the survey, it starts the process for about 15 – 20 seconds. I was totally blank and those 15 – 20 seconds felt like 15 – 20 hours.
Finally, I got the message that you have passed the exam!
Conclusion
Relate all the concepts provided in the book with your practical knowledge. Also, give as many mock exams as possible on the net. There are various sites available like Prepcast, Oliver Lehmann, simplilearn, etc.
I would like to personally thank ProThoughts, especially Saurabh Parikh and Ninad Kulkarni for providing complete knowledge and even clearing doubts after training. You can call them any time and they will clear your doubts.
Hope you found this PMP Success story by Malav Shah inspiring and helpful. You can find more such certification journeys penned down by our candidates below:
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