PMP Exam Lessons Learned by Luke (passed Dec 23, 2009)

Luke’s Lessons Learned – Passed PMP on Dec 23, 2009 Overall: The exam was relatively straightforward. Passed with “Proficient” in all areas. There were no “trick” questions or “double negatives”. Focus was more on tools/techniques rather than inputs/outputs. Simple EVM and CPM calculations. The sentence structure on some of the questions could’ve been improved. Some questions didn’t make any sense all – they were probably sample questions. There was nothing that I had not encountered during preparation. Study Materials: I went through Rita (book, flash cards, exam database), Andy Crowe (book/website), and Kim Heldman (book). In my personal opinion, Andy Crow’s book was the best. Rita goes into too much depth for the exam and her “process game” was not relevant. Kim provides a different perspective from a practical approach. Cost-effective Study Method: Read Andy’s book, a chapter at a time. After finishing one chapter on Andy’s book (say Scope Management), read the corresponding chapter on PMBOK to get further details. Then do the chapter questions on Andy’s book. Repeat until you finish Andy’s Book. Read Kim Heldman cover to cover to get a practical perspective. Understand the EV, PTA formulae (don’t memorize). Try to understand the “purpose” of each of the 42 processes – rather than to memorize ITTO. The best way I found was to draw the process as a box and handwrite the inputs on the left, tools/techniques below, and outputs on the right. Group tools/techniques which make it easier to remember. For example, “Systems (Contract Admin, Payment, Records Management, Claims Admin” for “Conduct Procurements”. Once you do this several times a week, you’ll be able to recall the information quite easily. Do free online simulation exams (PMStudy was hard but good). Oliver Lehman’s 75/150 questions are good but are harder (and older) than the exam questions. One week before the exam, use the license code on Andy’s Book to access the “InSite” online material. Go through all the webcast study materials – which complement Andy’s book. Then do their sample exams – which were the closest to the real exam. I was able to score 90+ on these sample exams. Thank you for maintaining this site. It was very helpful during my application stage and study stage. Good luck to everybody! Luke originally posted these LLs as comments on this page:

PMP Certification Exam Lessons Learned