TOPIC: Passed PMP (P-P-P-MP-MP) first try 30/Nov/2016.

FINALLY !!!!!!!!! It's MY turn today SO RELIEVED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even after taking lot of mocks, I WAS NERVOUS during the exam. It took me 50 questions before I could get the rhythm and tone of the exam. I couldn't waste time on taking breaks, so sat there hungry ! My exam was 1pm - 5pm. I didn't know if I would pass, after completing the survey. Closed my eyes, took deep breaths.
Saw CONGRATULATIONS !! I got P, P, P, MP, MP (in this order).

OK, I wont beat around the bush, let me come straight to what you want to hear..

THE PMP EXAM
Exam was HARD (and weird). I only had 10 minutes to review marked questions. Time is a big challenge. (I feel 4 hours is not enough).
ALL questions were situational, most of them ending with "What will the PM do next". Absolutely NO straight forward questions, many of them were confusing (and some didn't provide the needed information I felt). Very few Earned value and Network diagram, they were simple. Lot of questions on Pre-Initiation, You should know the sequence of these Pre-Initiation activities as well. Like as soon as Organization finds a project opportunity, what all happens, in sequence... many questions on that.
Many many questions on raising Change Requests. You should really know when you raise CRs. 2 choices could be easily eliminated. Tools and techniques - you should know their usage really well, so you can choose the correct tool. Know the differences between various Group Creativity tools/Quality tools/Requirement collection tools REALLY well. When to use which conflict resolution type. I felt many questions didn't have a correct answer and they mixed up risk register and risk management plan , I couldn't find the answer in the options. Many questions on 'near completion' / closure / termination. YOU SHOULD know the sequence of closure., and all surrounding activities including releasing reserves, etc.. Again and again they dig deep into the sequence, I felt closure was toughest, next was M&C.
ITTO questions were not very clear - English grammer plays a big role, especially in ITTO, (what do you use - could be a tool or input ) and they gave everything in the options !!! So i don't know if my answers were correct.

Be prepared you may not find the ideal answer, so you may have to choose the "best answer" from the 4 wrong answers..
[Hope I am not breaching PMI ethics by expressing my feelings here].
Also, many questions were based on real PM experience, nothing to do with books/processes.
Good news for people who don't like to read PMBOK - the wording and style in the exam was not PMBOK at all, as we usually find in MOCKs. So, no more "Probabilistic analysis of Quantified Risks.. LOL.., it's all plain English.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL of ACTUAL PMP
On a scale of 1 to 5,
Actual PMP - 4
Prepcast - 3, however the quality is best and very aligned to latest content, just that number of situational questions are less in these mocks.
PMStudy.com - 4 , was closest to the actual exam. All situational. But exam content not fully captured.
Oliver Lehman (4.5)
PMZest.com, iZenbridge.com were harder (5).


MY MOCK SCORES
Last 2 weeks of the exam -
PMPrepCast Simulation 1 87.50% 3P , 2MP
PMPrepCast Simulation 2 89.50% 4p, 1MP
PMPrepCast Simulation 3 89.00% 5P
PMPrepCast Simulation 4 87.00% 2P, 3MP
PMPrepCast Simulation 5 93.00% 5P
PMPrepCast Simulation 6 89.50% 3P, 2MP
PMPrepCast Simulation 7 89.00% 4p, 1MP
No more time for Exam 8

Unpaid Tests
HeadFirst 200Q 86%
Oliver 175Q 80%
Oliver 75Q - online 72%
Edwel.com 100Q 82%
PMGuru 50Q 82%
Exam Central 100Q Set 1 88%
PMPExamforFree_35Q 80%
PreparePM.com 75Q 86%
PM Study Mock-1 86%
Edwel.com 50Q 94%
WizIQ 30Q 86%
Exam Central 50Q 86%
iZenbridge100q 75%
PMZest (200) first attempt- 61%
PMZest (200) second attempt - 69%
PMZilla 30 Q 77%

And lots of questions on mobile free apps.

PREPARATION
Rita Mulcahy - 2x
PMBOK - 2x
PMPREPCAST - One stop shop for everything -
PrepCast Videos - selected ones. I didn't have time to listen to all of them. I bought it only 3 weeks before the exam.
Prepcast Formula guide and 106 sums - This was MORE than enough.
Prepcast ITTO Memory Jogger - I actually memorized ITTO (the way Cornelius taught, it wasn't needed, but it increased my speed. )
Then, I created these handouts -
- PMBOK Process Definitions & Key Benefits (4 pages)
-OPA Updates and EEF Updates (whereever applicable)
- All repeated tools like Expert Judgement, Analytical skills, etc, (where are they used).
- What's in it - Document Contents - E.g. What's inside HR Management Plan, Staffing management plan, etc.. and what are the differences..
- Project document updates - where ever applicable.
- Who's Responsible - E.g. PM Team determines Internal/External Dependencies, Project team determines Mandatory/Discretionary..
that's all - I revised these again and again like mad ! HA HA.

LESSONS LEARNT
Should have practiced more Situational questions.
I should have bought Prepcast materials sooner !
I should have bought all 4 PMStudy Mock exams.
MOST IMPORTANT - I should have scheduled my exam AFTER writing the 1st Mock test. That's when we know how much more we have to study. After reading all books, when I wrote the first mock, I realized I have only learnt 50%.
The rest 50% learning comes from the mistakes in MOCK. So definitely need to spend 1 - 1.5 months writing mocks, if you want to get 5P.
For people (like me) who are slow readers, practice a LOT Of mock containing 1-2 paragraph situational.

THANK YOU CORNELIUS
FIRST - I would like to thanks Cornelius and Team - I couldn't have done it without you. A LOT OF Confidence is needed to sit for this exam and that I ONLY got after taking the PMP Simulators. I didn't have time to listen to all your videos. The Expert interviews were amazing, ! I would recommend your materials to all my friends.

Thank you SO MUCH !!

ALL THE BEST TO THE TEST TAKERS , let me know if you have questions. glad to help.
Krupa

Krupa,

Congrats on passing the PMP exam! You are now a certified PMP!! Thanks for your comprehensive post of lessons learned and experience. Based on your mock scores, I would have been 99.99% confident that you would pass the real exam. You did the right thing by doing a lot of mock exams and questions. That is a critical component to success as you stated. I agree with you that this exam is very hard, but that also makes the PMP certification worth something and gives you a true sense of accomplishment! Best of luck in all your endeavors as a new PMP!

Cheers,

Mark

Can you or anyone else, please elaborate a bit on the Pre-Initiating activities. I've done a minor google search and not coming up with much, other than a Feasability Study, I suppose you can add Business Case to this, and maybe even an SOW to flow into the Charter.

Any good links out there for me to look at. And hopefully we are not talking about the business calculations of IRR and others. I know Future Value, but when it comes to the others I just rely on common sense for payback periods, IRR choices, and others.

DId you get any formula questions for those areas?

Thanks

Hi Bonnie,

Mostly related to Pre-Charter creation. They'd give a complex scenario related to company's expertise, company's core business, organizational strategic goals, market demand, and we need to determine what's the next step. SOW , feasibility, Business analysis, Make, buy, lease, some kind of contract ?, etc. Think from a Portfolio head or Business System Lead or Customer point of view, not really for a PM to worry about.
Also they'd never use business/PMBOK terms directly. .. it was in plain English, so you need to know the meanings well and interpret.

No questions on NPV, IRR, etc. Ah, i think just one and extremely simple..

Krupa,
Congratulations. Your articulated lesson learnt is wonderful and educative.
Cheers.

Hi Krupa,

Congratulations for passing the PMP and thank you for sharing your experience on the PMP exam (very latest)!

Anyway, how long was your preparation for the exam? I am planning to take the exam in a month's time and now modifying my study plan as per the lessons learned you have mentioned taking to note that this was base on the probability of the latest exam scenario.

Thanks!

Hi Krupa,

Is it possible to share your notes?
All the best,

Krupa,
Is it possible to share your notes?
All the best

Hi Paul,
My prep time was 3 months -
First 2 months - 4-5 hours a day, later 10 hours a day.
I started with Headfirst (forgot to mention above. But i feel this was not needed, Rita and PMBOK is sufficient). Then Rita, cover to cover twice. Then PMBOK, ( I read once, then skimmed again). [Rest, as mentioned above, I created sheets].
I highly recommend 1+ months of mock and 1 or 2 PMStudy paid mocks for for judging your score, (Prepcast is good for practicing).
MOST IMP - Take a day after each mock to check ALL your answers. 50% learning comes from mocks, whatever you study will never be enough because books don't contain situational scenarios and exam is ONLY situational.

I recommend you think of examples when you will study "Similar tools", when to use affinity diagrams versus mind mapping, focus groups vs facilitated workshops, when to use CPIF versus CP with award .. When to use Smoothing over Collaborating. They don't give direct hints or terms.

Stakeholder Analysis - think of real examples which stakeholders you will closely manage, and which ones you will keep satisfied. Rita has such in-chapter exercises (not end of chapter) which I liked.

Hi Edwin, my main notes from Rita/PMBOK were handwritten. (I feel it personalized when I write myself )

But let me see if I can take a photo of my handouts/sheets - 4 -5 pagers I created for the quick look ups.

This was the best post-exam write-up I have seen. Many, many thanks. I am scheduled to write the exam Dec. 22nd of 2016. For the folks that are curious about "Pre-Project Charter" activities, just google exactly that: "Pre-Project Charter Activities". You will find lots of great info. Here is one link:

www.mymanagementguide.com/project-pre-ch...ct-initiation-phase/

Here is a link to Pre-Project Charter initiation:

www.mccormickpcs.com/images/Project_Init...n_Best_Practices.pdf

Google "Pre-Project Charter Activities" and you will find lots of info.

That's a nice Document. Thanks

Thanks Krupa for the feedback, most appreciated. Please concerning ITTOs and process flow for the 47 processes, please whats your advice? Your kind revert is most appreciated. We really need to talk. If you can share notes too, cool. Thanks. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.