Hi Todd,

I want to extend my congratulations to you for getting your PMP certification! You provided another example that with dedication and perseverance you are not facing the impossible. I also shared in my experience that the exam is not really difficult if you commit the time to prepare for it and you set your mind on the prize. In the end you get what you deserve. I hope you can take time to celebrate and reflect on what you just achieved.

Cheers,

Todd,

Congratulations on passing your exam!

Thank you for sharing your success and lessons learned. We are glad to hear that our products helped you prepare for and pass your exam.

Good luck in all your future endeavors!

Hello All;

My experience in project management dates back to the 1990s. I have around 15-20 years of project management experience primarily in the software field. However, starting in 2008 I purchased an in-home care agency to
help seniors age at home. I owned that company for 9 years and I did do Project Management on a much smaller scale while owning that business, but, I have been away from the project management world since 2008, at least in regards to larger projects. All most all my project management experience is in the classical waterfall approach, although as I went through the Agile training from the PM Prepcast I found myself stating many times I used to
practice that. Anyway, with my smaller project management experience most recently I was able to qualify to take the PMP exam. I used the PM Prepcast online training tool, the PM Exam Simulator, the PM Study Coach Guide,
the PM Formula Study Guide, used PMBOK Guide v7, The Agile Practice Guide, The Process Group Practice Guide, and PMBOK v6 as a reference (I did not study it directly). I took 12 weeks in my study and dedicated 20-30 hours
a week (with the support of my family!) and followed the PM Study Coach Guide for the 12 weeks. From the beginning I created a study sheet and started with the glossaries from PMBOK v6 and v7 and the Agile Practice guide. As I came across any new term I was not familiar with I added it may study sheet. This was a big factor in my success. Also late in my studies I created my own ITTO spreadsheet and studied it near exam taking time. I started doing the quizzes when the PMP Prepcast said to and started the practice exams when it said. The quizzes and practice exam were hard and with practice I got my scores above 70%. I feel the exam simulator was the most important part of my studying even though I did not start using it until I got to the people domain in the PM Prepcast online training. I really enjoyed Cornelius's teaching style and sense of humor. I graduated from college in 1989 so it has been a long time for exam study for me and I needed the sense of humor part. I was one of the few people who got audited and that process was done very professionally by PMI. I followed Cornelius's coaching on how to respond and all went very smoothly. I scheduled my exam for May 18 and it the week prior I took 2 of the practice exams and scored in the 70s on both. I felt prepared so I played golf on May 17th and tried to relax and studied my study sheet (which at this time was 50 pages long). I had a 2 hour drive to my exam location so I got up with plenty of time and left 3 and 1/2 hours before the exam. I got there early enough to review my study sheet once again. I found the staff at the exam center friendly and professional. In almost all of my practice quizzes and exams I never fell behind on my timing. However, in the actual exam I found the middle 60 questions
more difficult and slowed down and fell behind. I watched my time closely and I ended up with 74 minutes left for the last 60 questions (according to plan you need 77). I did not panic as I knew I could make up this time which I did and I actually finished 5 minutes early. In the first and second set of 60 questions I answered all question in my first pass but marked many for review. I noticed that in reviewing I did not change any of my answers so I only marked 1 question in the last 60. I practiced through the entire exam 1) take a deep breath, 2) say to myself "I got this", and 3) focused on the next question. I found the exam hard, but felt the practice exams prepared we well and I passed! Hope this helps somebody else in their studies.

I am honored to have a PMP certification!

Todd Sensenbach
Bend, Oregon