Thats it, I am PMP certified now!

I am happy to announce that I have cleared my PMP exam on 18 Nov 2009. I was introduced to field of project management around 15 months back when I was assigned project leader for a new development project and at that time I knew nothing of project management. So from zero to PMP within a short span of 15 months makes this certification very special for me.

As you might be aware that to apply for PMP you must have 4500 hrs of project management experience and should have attended a project management training of 35 hrs. As I was already having required experience so next step was to get project management training. I attended 35 hrs of PMP training from Knowledgewoods Consulting (www.knowledgewoods.in) at Mumbai in Sep 2009. This was cheapest training program I could find in Mumbai at that time. Training was very explanatory thanks to our trainer Mr. Ashish Dhoke (www.projectingit.com). I was expecting that such type of trainings are just formality. But it gave me a clear picture of subject matter for the exam. Mr. Ashish explained each concept with examples which provided better understanding. Ashish you rock man! We were 7-8 participants in the training and we formed a google group during the last day of our training through which we all are still connected. And it helps a lot while preparing for the exam. You can share your study material and guide and learn from others in terms of what to study and what not to.

Coming to the preparation, I started my real preparation after completing the above mentioned training program in Sep 2009. It was around 2.5 months of real study for me. This was along with my job without any dedicated leave for PMP study. I travel around 2 hrs a day to go to my work place. I utilized this time and studied around 1.5 hrs daily in the train. On weekends it was tough for me to find sufficient time for study as my 11 months old son keeps me busy. Along with that I was lucky that in office we were not having very crucial project during the last one month. So I utilized some time in office as well for studying PMBOK4. Thanks a lot to my manager Nagendra Nukala who may have noticed me studying but never complained about the same.

Now the study material for preparation, I used mainly three books - Head First PMP, Rita Mulcahy and PMBOK. Head First was given to us during our PMP training and it is one of the best book for the aspirants who want to learn through graphical demonstration of concepts. This book contains lots of graphics and real time situations which keeps reader's interest in the matter throughly. Some of our group members have prepared only with this book and PMBOK and they have cleared the exam. Although I just once read Kim's book also but I think its just replica of PMBOK with the difference that its material goes as per actual project flow instead of knowledge area wise. But I would definitely say that questions from Kim's book I found most difficult. So must try all qns from Kim's and Rita's book. I guess Head First, Rita are enough along with PMBOK for the preparation. I made my own notes of important points from all of these four books while studying these. It is important to make notes as these will be very crucial for the final revision of the matter as you would not want to go through the whole book again. I would suggest that PMBOK is very crucial for exam and this should be studied at-least two times. Also, please do not underestimate any term/definition from PMBOK. Note down each term and definition and remember these for the exam.

Around one week before the actual exam I started taking mock tests available in mentioned books and on various sites. Below is the list of all the exams which I collected during this period.

Oliver’s 75 questions - 72%
Oliver’s 175 questions - 78%
http://www.pmstudy.com/enroll.asp (200 Qns) - 85%
Kim's chapter wise exercise - 65% to 75%
Rita's chapter wise exercise - 70% to 80%
HeadFirst Free test 200 questions - 88%
http://www.voightps.de/Default.asp - 60-70%
http://www.ajithn.com/login.php (20 Qns) - 75 %
http://www.preparepm.com/mock1.html (70 questions) - 94%
http://www.preparepm.com/mock2.html (28 questions) - 96%
http://www.bestsamplequestions.com/pmp-sample-questions/pmp-sample-questions.html (160 Qns) - 84%
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/pmp-exams/pmp_sample_questions.htm (203 Qns) - 84%
http://www.passpm.com/test?a=399&q=1&t=22 (50 Qns) - 62%
http://www.techfaq360.com/pmpmockexamstart.jsp (200 Qns) - 83%

I guess oliver 75/175 qns, Kim's and Rita's qns are tough and really good to prepare for the exam. Although actual exam qns are not so though but it helps you to set your preparation one level above. From my experience PMStudy exam was closest to the actual exams. So must try this one. They provide one test free and if you can invest you can purchase rest tests. I just tried the free one. Head first is little easy but questions are good. ajithn also has some very good questions so try this one also. Rest are very simple and try these at your own wish.

On exam day I reached prometric at 11.30 AM although my exam was scheduled for 1.00 PM. They checked my Identity card and let me in. All the stuff you carry with yourself have to be put in a locker which is provided at the test center. You can only take your ID card and locker key inside. Exam will start with a 15 min tutorial. You can complete it in 5-7 mins. Then you can either start the test immediately or you can utilize rest of tutorial's time by brain dumping all formula's on the provided notepad. Do which ever suits you. I just opted for later option. I started answering only those qns which were not more than 3 lines lengthy and whose answers I was 99% sure. Again this was suggested by our trainer Ashish. Rest lengthy and formula qns I just marked for review. So in my first iteration I took around 2.5 hrs and solved nearly 130 qns. So at this point I was almost sure that I can pass the exam easily if I can answer at least 20 qns right from the remaining 70 qns. So I took a 5 min break. Then in second iteration I just attempted all remaining qns. I completed all qns in 3 hrs and 55 mins. So finally I clicked on end exam button. There was some short of processing went on for some 20-25 seconds and then a survey appeared. It was just about the experience in test center. I just completed it quickly to get my result. Finally when survey finished I thought it would take some time to appear the result on screen but there was the most awaited message on the screen - "Congratulations!". I just could not read anything else (and who wants to after this message), thanked GOD that my hard work of 2.5 months paid off.

PMP is a very special certification for me and may be for everybody who has opted for it. What makes this very special is that I have achieved this along with my full time job (I never took a leave for preparation except for the exam day). Lot of effort put in by my wife for allowing me that spare time at home for the studies. But never mind she made a good investment and she will get double of it from me some day :).

Well its too long story but I just wanted to share my complete experience so that it can be beneficial to the aspirants. Finally a look at what are dos and don'ts from my point of view:-

> Whatever book you choose, PMBOK4 is must. Take note of every important term which is there in the book. For more information have a look at my PMP preparation study material at the following location: http://www.esnips.com/r/hmfl/doc/b654b2a7-500f-49ae-87b2-c3d21cf50f5e/PMP-Prep-Docs.
> There is a table on page no 74 of PMBOK4. This table must on your finger tips. You should able to name all 5 process groups, 9 knowledge areas and 42 processes. Also remember in which process group and knowledge area a particular process falls. This is base of your study and you must memorize this before reading any book.
> Must try questions from the following - Oliver 75/175 qns, Kim's books, Rita's books, PMstudy.com, Head First 200 qns.
> Not need to memorize ITTO. Its too complicated and will eat up your mind and energy. Most of the ITTO questions on exam are not so difficult and can be answered if you know to which process ITTO relates.
> Expect 2,3 questions out of syllabus. Expect around 15-20 direct definition questions. 6,7 question max were of calculation (EV,CPI,SPI etc).
> Lots of questions from Quality and Contract. There is risk graph for buyer and seller for all contract types in Rita's book. It helps a lot for all contract type questions. So remember it.
> 80% qns are situational. You can only solve these if know the matter very well.
> Plan your study in such a way that it is finished one day before the actual exam. Do not take any test one day before the exam. This will relax your mind for the actual exam. Consider this very important. I kept studying for the last minute but this was of little help. Even if you want to study till last day - fine but please complete all your practice tests one day before the exam. You mind need to be completely fresh as there are 200 qns to be attempted in 4 hrs.
> Take minimum 8 hrs sleep before the exam day. Relax, do not worry. Go ahead with what you have prepared.
> Remember you can always reschedule your exam if you are not prepared. But this must be done at least 48 hrs before the exam date. I first scheduled for 11 Nov 2009 but later reschedule it for 18 Nov 2009.
> You are well prepared if your getting nearly 75% in olivers, Kim's and Rita's qns, nearly 85% in PMStudy qns and nearly 90% in Head First qns.
> Continuity is very important. So always try to be in touch of your study material every day however busy you are. Keep your notes with you to study whenever you get time be it in bus, train, at cafeteria or waiting for someone.
> Do not just rely on your project management experience. This can be very fatal for your success in the exam. There is vast difference between we do projects in real world and between PMI's project management methodology. However if you have experience in project management field than you can absorb the study material quickly as you can relate to things easily.

In the end, this was my experience and it does not mean that your exam will be exactly same. Exam pattern may vary and i guess this is beauty of this exam. But I hope this will hope you guys in some way to prepare for PMP exam. go conquer the world!