PMP EXAM PREPARATION

VA N C E S N E L L , P M P

KNOW YOURSELF H T T P : / / W W W . E S S E N T I A L L I F E S K I L L S . N E T / K N O W Y O U R S E L F . H T M L

B Y Z . H E R E F O R D

NOT KNOWING YOURSELF WILL LEAD TO

CONFUSION AND WASTING MUCH TIME IN HIT

AND MISS SITUATIONS

• To know yourself:

• Be aware of your strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes (Use

SWOT & Pareto)

• Observe and be aware of your moods, reactions and responses

to what is happening around you (stress & distractions)

• Become aware of how these moods and emotions affect your

state of mind

• Examine how you interact with others (Literally this is what it is all

about – how you respond to different situations)

• Observe how your environment affects you (test env)

PMP EXAM PREP: STUDY MATERIALS

• Andy Crowe’s & Rita Mulcahy’s 4th Edition PMP Prep

• Rita’s Game

• PMBOK 5th edition

• Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Exam Prep

• CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification Exam

Guide, 3rd Edition

• Project Masters PMP/CAPM Certification Program Class

Manual

PMP EXAM PREP: STUDY MATERIALS

• My Hand Written Notes Tracking “Terms & Concepts”

that I really hadn’t grasped

• Lag, Lead, Buffers, Feeders, EAC (Variants), etc

• Skillport.com – Corporate Sponsored “E-Learning” Site

• Kim Helderman’s PMP Exam Study Guide –

Downloaded Audio Only

• Project Master’s Test site (mindedgeonline)

PMP EXAM PREP: WHAT HELPED ME

PREPARE?

• I was part of a CMMI ML 3 Organization

• Led the effort to earn my group a CMM ML 3 rating

• Voting Member of the EPG

• Driver behind many of our organization’s initiatives to earn the

company’s CMMI ML 3 Certification

• Why is it important?

• Many Shared Concepts between CMMI and PMP

• Forces One to: Adjusts your thought process – Align yourself with

SEI’s Concepts to earn the Certification

• Same for PMI’s PMP – you must adopt their concepts, accept

their terms, embrace them…

• Provided me with a head start

ORIGINAL PMP PREPARATIONS & LL

• 4 years ago – I led a PMP (4th edition study group) • Lesson Learned (LL) – Take the Test Before They Issue a new

Edition!

• Saves $, Takes Less Time, Less Stress on your Family…

• Completed most of Andy Crowe’s Exam Prep book

• Rita’s questions are tougher, tougher is better… • I studied not what I got wrong, but Why I got it wrong – what my

thought process was

• I started the first three chapters of Rita’s book three times over two years, as I let other work and home priorities push out my focus on the PMP • LL – Fractured Learning (Oh, I’ve seen this before, glossed over 2nd /

3rd time – not effective)

• Finally I Realized, I had to Jolt Myself…

HOW I JOLTED (RESET) MY

PREPARATIONS

Set a schedule to Pass the PMP !

1. Find and go to a Boot Camp (4/20-4/24)

2. Submit Application (4/26) Accepted (5/1)

3. Pay the Test Fee

4. Find out where and when I could take the test

5. Dry run / Assessment – Can I Pass the Test Exercises (5/8 & 5/14)

6. Schedule My Exam (5/13 for 5/19)

7. I gave myself 4 weeks after the Boot Camp to take the test (LL from a friend)

8. Gave up my weekends to focus on studying

9. I Took the Test before I went on vacation – got it off my back

FINDING A BOOT CAMP

• Criteria

• Success rate of students (to the extent I could assess it)

• Guarantees (retaking the course for free)

• Unlimited participation in support forum (Monday web based

study group)

• I honestly think having a group with a certified instructor is critical to

answering and understanding those questions that are detail in nature

or unique enough that they are hard to answers off of the internet

• Price

PMP EXAM PREP: BOOT CAMP

• Signed up for the 5 Day Project Masters PMP Exam

Boot Camp

• Taught by April Wennerberg, Project Masters Inc (through System

SRC)

• Did all reading assignments

• Answered all questions at the end of each chapter as assigned

• During the week I TRIED VERY HARD to only focus on the Boot

Camp and stay away from work

PMP EXAM PREP: APPLICATION

SUBMISSION

• Filled out the PMP Test Application Excel Template • Provided by Project Masters

• Great was to organize your PMP Experience

• Keeps track of your required hours as you go

• Keeps track of your Character counts as you enter project descriptions

• I gathered key artifacts showing my role and participation for auditing purposes • Helped me focus on what I did, and distill the verbs in my application

(Reviewed, Drafted, Approved, etc)

• Asked April to review my application template • PMI wants to see their terminology in your project descriptions

• April has a good understanding of what PMI wants to see • THANK YOU, APRIL!!!

PMP EXAM PREP: APPLICATION

SUBMISSION

• Online PMP Exam Application

• Takes about 20 minutes to complete the online form

• You do not need to be a member of PMI to apply for or take the

exam, but it does cost more

• I cut and pasted from the Excel application template

• I submitted my application at Midnight on a Sunday

• I received an email approving my application the following Saturday at

1:10am

PMP EXAM PREP: AFTER THE BOOT

CAMP

• I participated in the (2 or 3) Project Masters Monday

Night Webinars

• Hosted by April Wennerberg

• Great way to review

• Great forum for asking questions and getting clarification

• Took and Graded the Practice Exam provided at the end of class

– 65% score (May 8th) (71 Questions)

• NOT GOOD… Getting Scared…

• Laid out my plan with April – was it feasible (I think she was skeptical)

• Used Skillport for QA (a known weak area)

PMP EXAM PREP: ROTATED BETWEEN…

• I read the PMBOK 5th Edition nearly cover to cover, for the first time • (nearly – I skipped the credits and other minor items)

• Focused on those areas where the Pre-Test said I was weak…

• Rotated – reading a chapter in the PMBOK and then all of the corresponding materials in:

• Boot Camp Notes & Handouts

• CAPM/PMP

• Rita’s Tests

• Focus on the unique perspectives and either read for confirmation or glossed over the common content once I was comfortable with the information

PMP EXAM PREP: TIME TO CRAM!

• Used one pre-test to help me focus (Plan, Do, Check, Act)…

• 76% (on 5/14 – 4 days left)

• Know myself – what was contributing to my error rate?

• Adjust my approach to how I viewed the questions and answers

• Look for common errors in my thought process

• Adjust my pace

• I was to fast in my practice test – missing key words that altered either

the question or which answer they were seeking

PMP PRACTICE TEST AND ANALYSIS

Prioritized % of Questions on PMP Exam Area Score What if Scenario

7. Project Communications Management 13 of 13 100% 0 100% 0 100%

VI. Cross-cutting Knowledge and Skills 12 of 13 92% 0.5 96% 0 92%

3. Project Time Management 20 of 22 91% 1 95% 0 91%

1. Project Integration Management 21 of 25 84% 2 92% 0 84%

II. Planning 67 of 82 82% 7.5 91% 0 82% 24%

III. Executing 26 of 33 79% 3.5 89% 0 79% 30%

4. Project Cost Management 11 of 14 79% 1.5 89% 0 79%

2. Project Scope Management 12 of 16 75% 2 88% 2 88%

5. Project Quality Management 13 of 18 72% 2.5 86% 2.5 86%

I. Initiating 18 of 25 72% 3.5 86% 3.5 86% 13%

8. Project Risk Management 12 of 17 71% 2.5 85% 2.5 85%

6. Project HR Management 12 of 18 67% 3 83% 3 83%

10. Project Stakeholder Management 7 of 11 64% 2 82% 2 82%

IV. Monitoring and Controlling 21 of 34 62% 6.5 81% 6.5 81% 25%

V. Closing 8 of 13 62% 2.5 81% 2.5 81% 8%

9. Project Procurement Management 16 of 27 59% 5.5 80% 5.5 80%

Total Score 76% 88% 85%

Used Pareto Analysis to Prioritize My Results

PMP EXAM PREP: CRAMMING

• I continually captured and studied any term I read, heard or recalled that I couldn’t quickly explain • Reviewing the Glossaries might be another way to attach this

• unless of course it isn’t shown there!

• I think context is more important (no context in glossaries)

• Audio to & from work (Net time)

• Used Pre-test to Prioritize

• Don’t go after hard formulas! Go after what provides the highest ROI (QA for me)

• Goal is to Win, NOT to be Perfect • How much effort to expend learning when and how to use the correct

EAC or TCPI formula, versus understanding more QA concepts, garnering me a higher score

PMP EXAM PREP: NOTES ON “STUDY

SHEETS”

• Watch out for errors in Study Sheets

• If you think it is wrong – it could be –

• Vet the materials, it could be a 4th to 5th edition issue, or just be

incorrect, or just not consistent in the terms you have seen

elsewhere

• Bottom line you need to be confident in your source materials

• NO SECOND Guessing!

PMP EXAM PREP: EXAM DAY

• The Morning of the Exam

• Exam scheduled at 8:00 am

• Got plenty of sleep the night before, and the night before that

(key)

• Got up 2 hours before the exam

• 30 minute drive to Prometrics

• Light Breakfast – No desire to take a restroom break

• Received lots of support and confidence from my wife

• Got to Prometrics 40 minutes before exam time

• Used The Restroom

• They let me start early – as soon as I walked in

PMP EXAM PREP:

• Signed in

• Assigned a locker

• Put contents of pockets into locker

• Scanned with Metal Detector

• Nothing, not even your eye glasses wipe goes in with you

PMP EXAM PREP: DURING THE EXAM

• I used the 15 Min orientation session to write down my notes – you can’t write anything on your blank sheets until you start the orientation session

• Started to stress out as I wrote down the processes… • I knew I had two wrong, which increased the stress level as I began the test

• Once one of the questions triggered the correct processes to write down on my hint sheet, I took a few breaths, calmed down and reduced my stress level

• This was clearly visible in the number of questions I marked for review, as I had a higher number of them early in the test

• I practiced the same method we use in pre-game warm ups • Start with the easier ones (layups), don’t go for the three point shot just yet

• Get some confidence, it will have a snowball affect in the correct direction, reducing the stress, making the test easier.

PMP EXAM PREP: DURING THE EXAM

• Kept track of my time • 50 questions an hour, 25 a half hour (50 @ :53, 100 @ 1:46, 150 @, 2:39, etc)

• Tried to get to 50 with at least 7 minutes left in the hour (regardless of how many I marked).

• Left me with plenty of time to review any marked questions

• Most of the questions I answered in less than 30 seconds • Read Questions Carefully

• No question took me longer than 1 minute and 30 seconds to answer • I probably marked around 20 question to review or that I hadn’t answered before.

• Finished the test in 3 hours and 33 minutes (before reviewing)

• I reviewed and answered the questions and finished the exam with 10 seconds to spare (I languished on a few questions that were very long, one that I eventually thought was a completely trick question – I still haven’t figured it out yet…)

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PMP EXAM

• Prometrics required I take a “short” survey about my

experience at Prometrics

• 10 or so questions

• After the survey, I was told I passed the PMP

Certification Exam & how I rated

• Proficient in all areas but …

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PMP EXAM

• Proficient in all areas but … “Closing”, in which I was “Moderately

Proficient” who could have predicted that?

• Restroom Break…

• Headed home for favorite food, sleep, decompression,

and yes, work

• PMR the next day

• Golf Tournament, the day after, later that day flew out on

vacation!

TEST (HIDDEN EGGS)

• Plan, Do, Check, Act

• ROI

• SWOT

• Pareto

• LL

• TCPI

• Anything else?

• (were all of these used correctly – did I have the correct

term?)