My PMP Journey: Preparation, Exam Day, and Lessons Learned

My PMP Journey: Preparation, Exam Day, and Lessons Learned

Introduction

I finally passed the PMP exam. No, I have not attempted to take it before, but I used the word ‘finally’ as it has been one of my goals to accomplish for a very long time. Part of my hesitation in delaying taking the exam was because of all the internet-based content that stressed how difficult the exam is. What I want to do in this blog is highlight my experience in preparation, taking the exam, and my feedback after the exam.

Background

I have spent over eight years managing projects within my background in construction management. Though my official title was not ‘project manager’, the nuts and bolts of my job involved managing projects. I held meetings with stakeholders, hired subcontractors, developed budgets and schedules, and worked to remove project roadblocks daily. This is the experience portion that I used for the application for the exam. Aside from the experience, I also have both a bachelor's and master’s degree.

My Study Approach

To obtain the 35 hours of project management instruction needed, I enrolled in Andrew Ramdayal’s course on Udemy online. I honestly watched the entire course at 1.5 times the normal speed. I found that a lot of what he was explaining in the videos were redundant and very high level. I saved all the PDF’s that he had as attachments within the course, but I did not take any notes from any of the 35 hours of video content. In all, it took me about six weeks to complete all the videos. I was very inconsistent with keeping a firm schedule for the course.

For testing my knowledge of the content, I enrolled in PMI’s Study Hall program. I also purchased PMI’s official practice exam. The official practice exam questions are what I found to more closely resemble the actual exam. I completed the entire practice exam in one setting. My score was in the high sixties. I also completed almost all the mini practice exams within Study Hall. I only partially completed the full-length practice exams that are in Study Hall. I scored an average in the low seventies for the mini exams. Reading countless reddit posts and watching many YouTube videos, I concluded that many people were in the same boat and still passed the exam with above target ranges in all three domains. I completed all these practices exercises within two weeks of taking the exam.

I purchased the PMI PMBOK Guide, Andrew Ramdayal’s PMP Exam Prep Simplified book, and the Agile Practice Guide. I honestly skimmed through all these books, briefly scanning all the pages, but I did not really take any notes. I mostly used the books as a resource to look up information that I felt I needed to learn after completing the practice exercises.

I created a one-page study sheet that had all the formulas that I thought I would need as well as other notable pieces of information that I found to be useful from others that previously took the exam. I did not attempt to memorize any vocabulary or any process maps or anything other outside of knowing the knowledge base of the PMBOK and what is specifically listed on the exam content outline.

The Exam Day Experience

I elected to take the exam at a local Pearson Testing Center that was about an hour’s drive away. I had previous experience taking an FAA exam at one of these centers, but my experience taking the PMP was completely different. When I arrived, I quickly looked over my one-page of notes and formulas to make sure that I had that information memorized. There were roughly five other people also taking the PMP exam with me in the testing center.

Let’s just say that the testing environment was less than ideal. The chairs were hard, the room was cold, the UI of the exam was outdated, the person directly next to me was a mouth breather, and the person directly behind me was chewing very loudly. Not to mention the proctors for the exam constantly paced the room and their silhouettes moving behind me were very distracting. There was constant movement behind me in and out of the room. Test takers were provided with noise cancelling headphones to limit distractions, but the headphones themselves distracted me. They hurt my ears after a short duration, so I then rotated short periods of time of keeping them on and taking them off.

The questions on the exam were much more difficult than what I anticipated, in every domain. I marked almost every question for review, as most of them seemed to possibly have two correct answers. I used both breaks and all ten minutes of each break. I used that opportunity to use the restroom and get water. I completed the exam with less than one minute left. I was the first of the six of us to start the exam, but I was the next to last person to complete the exam.

Results

Ultimately, I passed the exam: below target in the people domain, at target in the process domain, and above target in the business environment domain. I know that the gold standard is above target in all three domains, but that was not the case for me, nor am I going to re-attempt the exam to reach that social standard. Passing is passing. I do not think that there is anything else that I could have done to improve my exam outcome. I simply answered the questions to the best of my ability. The practice exam and the actual exam were, in my opinion, nowhere near the same level of difficulty. The questions were about the same, but the answers that I had to select from were far more difficult to choose on the actual exam. I think a mix between learning from the practice exams and real-life experience helped me to answer the questions correctly. It is said that you should think like PMP and their mindset, but I honestly placed myself in the scenario and how I learned to lead and manage people and processes in construction and in the military. This simple combination, I believe, helped me to pass the exam.

My Advice

For those that are interested in passing the PMP exam, I would suggest honestly taking any of the Udemy courses to achieve the 35-contact hour requirement, as from my research they are all about the same. More importantly, I would suggest that you have some actual project management experience that involves managing subordinates, managing project scope, finances, and schedules, and having to report to stakeholders. Everyone that applies for the exam should have some experience managing projects.

If there are any specific questions that you may have concerning the PMP exam that I have not covered above, feel free to send me an email and I will attempt to answer or consult as best that I can. Good luck.