Congratulations, Dave! What a great way to end the year, and thanks for coming back and sharing your study tips with us.

When you are ready to start earning PDU’s for PMP recertification, check out the PM PrepCast’s offerings, The PM Podcast and the The PDU Podcast which will help you keep up with PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR’s) and maintain your new certification.

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I purchased the PMP Prep Cast content and Simulator 3 months before taking the online PMP exam. I can honestly say it was the best bang for the buck to get ready for the exam. The video content was very well organized and easy to understand. I customized my learning path to the areas that I was weakest in to prep for the exam. I also took 5 practice exams to help me gain the endurance I needed to take the actual exam. I ended up passing on the first try with 4 out of 5 areas Above Target. Thanks for a great product!

My study advice:
1. Don't try to memorize everything. I didn't even do a "brain dump" to start the online exam. Just make sure you understand the 5 Process Areas and 10 Knowledge areas. Have a working knowledge of the 49 processes. But just focus on the areas you don't really do well or don't have much direct experience.
2. Learn "PMI Speak". Most of the time, you'll need to pick the best answer according to PMI, but maybe not the best answer for you. This means you'll need to know what comes before something and what comes after something. I originally got tripped up on picking an answer that most PMs would do. You need to think about how PMI would want you to proceed.
3. Get ready for a 4 hour exam. I can't stress enough how important it is to practice taking 4 hour tests. It's about mental endurance and test taking strategy. Yes you need to know the content, but you also need to know how to pace yourself.
4. Study regularly EVERY day. Even if it's 30 mins some days, study EVERY day. It will engrain concepts into your head without just doing plain memorization.

Treat it like any other challenge - set high goals and achieve them! Good luck!

Dave