This last Monday, June 15, I officially passed my PMP Exam. After having two in-person exams at the testing centers get cancelled due to COVID-19, I opted for the online proctored exam. I was a little concerned because I heard the whiteboard tool was not user-friendly and I didn't like that you couldn't use a scratch piece of paper, but I understood why.
Here are my lessons learned:
1. I used all my "free time" to study for 6+ weeks. It's hard but get into a routine and it helps. I woke up every morning before work to study for at least an hour, whether that was going through flash cards, reviewing test questions I missed on the PrepCast Test Simulator exams, or reviewing topics I still didn't feel confident on. I studied during almost every one of my 1-hr lunch breaks at work. I spent an hour or two each night studying and then on the weekends I would take a full PrepCast Test Simulator Exam. I also LOVED the PrepCast Timed Quizzes. I often did those during my lunch break.
2. I studied all the formulas and critical path methods and used the 100 formula questions from the PM Formulas package I purchased from Prepcast.
3. If you want to practice using the White Board, I found this from the GMAT website helpful. You can practice using a similar one to the test here:
www.mba.com/exams/gmat-online/prepare-fo...am/online-whiteboard
4. How did I prep? I watched all the PM Prepcast videos and took notes. Did all the Chapter Assessments. Took 6 full PMP Prepcast Simulator Exams and did the timed quizzes. Made flashcards of the formulas and did about 50 of the questions from the Prepcast Formula Guide. Toward the end, I also read the Andy Crowe "How to Pass the PMP on Your First Try" chapters as a review to some of the Prepcast videos. Honestly, I did not open the PMBOK.
For the Exam:
1. Don't waste your time doing the brain dump at the beginning. The reviews were correct, it is not user friendly. I recommend using the test white board above to practice a critical path question. That took me the longest because it was difficult to do it on the whiteboard
2. I had two CPI -related questions and 2 critical path questions. That was the extent of my "math" problems.
3. Do study the Agile chapter of your study materials. I probably had at least 7-10 questions on agile.
4. No matter how hard I studied, there were times where I said to myself "WOW, I really might not pass this thing." The questions are hard and some of the answers all the look the same. Keep going.
5. The hardest part for me was the time management. I finished the practice exams with at least 15-20 minutes left. With the real PMP Exam, I wasn't even able to finish my last question and did not review any of my questions. Go with your gut, answer all the questions and move on. Give yourself 60-75 per question - that's it. The questions seem to be either 1) relatively ambiguous with pretty specific option choices or 2) paragraph-length situational questions that you don't really have time to read a second time, so you need to be able to quickly pull out the most relevant information. ALWAYS read the last sentence/question first and then go back to the top to read the whole thing. This trick helped me a lot when taking the tests.
6. Know the logical process of activities. There were a lot of questions that gave you a situation and then said "What do you do next?"
7. Know your contract types and types of organizations.
End result: I was relieved when I saw the "Congratulations" at the end of 4 hours. I got the areas Above Target, Two At Target and One Below Target.
The PM Prepcast Exam Simulator was hands down the best study tool. It made me feel relaxed and relatively prepared while in the Exam.
YOU GOT THIS!
