Dear all;
I passed my PMP the (4/18/2018) at North York, Toronto, was a huge relief , and took me 10 days to unwind try to write something for everybody. I passed with above target, and surprised about it, as in the practice exams I had an average of 79%.
The Prepcast was a lot of help. I did not read anything else, other than the PMBOK book. I studied all 35 hours of lessons, and then went into the exam practices, where I did 83 hours of exams, 40% doing the 4 hours 200 questions to get used to the 4hrs of timing at 1.2 minutes per question, which trains you for 4 hours of intensive, fast reading of each questions, you do not have time to re-read the questions....you loose time, at the beginning I could not finish the 200 questions in 4 hours, then at the end finish with about 10 minutes to go back and correct. I did 60% the slower lessons, were I can answer them, and then look at the answer and understand them better, then going at it again. Both were good
I did not memorize the ITTO's, had a hard time memorizing them the way they are, I just concentrated in mentally reasoning what stage each step was, and used 90% reasoning to answer questions. I think that my 20 years experience as a PM, helped me greatly with this reasoning. Nevertheless, to study for the PMP exam is different from actual practice or from the PM graduate course. You just have to get into the precast questions and learn to write the exam from scratch. The Precast questions where harder, and longer to read than the exam questions, and they were of a higher quality English, they were tricky but fair. The PMP exam questions were shorter, so you had time to read and answer, and had more time. The Precast exam simulator are the key to learning to reason and passing the exam.
I have over 20 years PM experience in the oil industry, and had PM reporting to me, but never felt I was required to upgrade my engineering degree, until the oil price dropped, and I found time to re-channel my expertise, and taken a Project Management Graduate Certificate, which I enjoyed, and had the experience to take the PMP, so I applied, and passed it. I can say I appreciate a lot more the PMP's and what they do, and I respect them a lot more, and I am glad I did it.
The one thing to keep in mind is to slow down and read the questions very carefully, I mean very carefully and once don't have time to go back.... you will have time to finish but keep a look at the timing clock. DO NOT study the night before, and DO NOT take a sleeping pill that slows your brain, is VERY important that you get at least 8 hours of sleep before the exam...this is the most important lesson, you need to have your brain awake and reasoning....take a 1:30pm time, so that in the morning you have time for a good breakfast, only ONE coffe...no water...or you will feel it 2hrs into the exam and lower your performance by 20% at least.
I shopped around for different PMP exams, did go into YouTube, and was recommended the Precast...and I am very happy I study it, and passed the PMP, I strongly recommend it , and will promote it.
Good luck to everyone,
Andrew
