From: Sundara Kumar Padmanabhan Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 1:46 PM To: MSIT Project Management Community

Subject: Regd. my PMP exam - few learnings from my experience

Hi, I cleared my PMP exam last Thursday. I am sharing my learning with you guys. If it helps you in any little way, I would be really glad. About the exam Is the exam tough? Yes and no. Through our work as PM at Microsoft, we have gained a basic understanding of the process groups and knowledge areas. But there are differences in the way the art is practiced and the art is explained in the print material. Since PMP is a general program management guide not confining to Software industry alone, the exam expects answers aligned with the guide book. Additionally, the exam wants to check the users knowledge of the PM book by posing questions about the nitty-gritties and finer details in the book. This area makes the exam tough as skimming the guide alone does not help. How did I prepare

I had a preparation plan for 6 weeks. I perused through the Head First PMP and PMBOK guide (once) before I started the cycle. I took the exercises from the end of Ritas PMP before I started studying the book. I found my weak areas and started concentrating those areas in Ritas PM guide. I found Head First PMP to be easily readable and Rita to be very comprehensive & extensive. Rita helps with finer details. I wanted to complete the Ritas PM guide and PMBOK in 4 weeks and slate 2 weeks for practice tests and fine tuning. Unfortunately the time had to be cut short to 4 weeks. But I was able to accomplish the reading part. I wish I had some more time to take more practice tests. In essence, somewhere between 70 to 100 hours of preparation is required to clear the exam.
Plan Week 1 Communication, Procurement Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 2 Human Resources, Risk Management and PM Framework & Process - Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 3 Scope, Time and Cost Management - Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 4 Quality Management, Integration management, Professional Social Responsibility Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 5 & 6 Practice Tests and fine tuning

Executed Week 1 Communication, Procurement Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 2 Human Resources, Risk Management and PM Framework & Process - Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 3 Scope, Time, Cost Management, Quality, Professional Social Responsibility & Integration - Preparation and did PM Fast Track exams Week 4 Practice Tests and fine tuning Few points and additional materials Ritas process chart Detailed Process chart covering 79 steps across process group Needs to be memorized Ritas pm Fast Track CD for exams and practice tests Available in Library (Must prepare material) Check out the appendix section of PMBOK Pages 426 to Pages 453 in PMBOK Difference between Project Management Plan and Project Documents Page 350 in PMBOK Reference notes from Praveen Ambekar (Program Manager, PA) Please find it attached extremely useful. Head First Critical Path Drill Please find it attached Head First PMP Forums - http://forums.oreilly.com/category/45/Head-First/ Formula guides and other notes Please find it attached. Few practice tests o http://mslibrary/TrainingCertification/Pages/ShowExam.aspx?eid=PMP4ED o Head First PMP Forums had links to few free PMP exam o <Snipped from another thread> http://www.pmstudy.com/enroll.asp#PMP (enrolling required for free test. Many folks feel this is close to the actual test) http://pmhub.net/pmsuccess/Menu.htm -- free 400 questions. http://www.oliverlehmann.com/contents/freedownloads/175_PMP_Sample_Questions.pdf -- Many folks feel these are tougher than the actual exam </Snipped from another thread> From Oliver Lehmann site Links to free practice exams
Below are links to more providers with more than 2,000 free prep items (questions and answering options):
# of free test items 200

Provider Satya Das

URL www.techfaq360.com

Comment Free digest offering for an exam simulator. See also comments from students Requires registration. Number of questions may grow, as visitors are invited to add further questions. Many questions of CAPM exam

Level of difficulty*

Ajith Namboothiri

www.ajithn.com

208

style. CertChamp CertGear www.certchamp.com www.certgear.com 200 6 20 200 200 Some questions have been reported to have errors. Free trial of CertGear's exam simulator. Questions based on Whizlabs' Exam Simulator software trial. Requires registration Online practice exam from the authors of Head First PMP in various time formats. Also, a PDF file with 2MB for download. Simulates a test environment online similar to the original environment. Simulates a test environment online similar to the original environment. PDF file (app. 1MB) for download. Just like the real thing: Questions are written against the PMP Examination Specification and reference to a current project management source. German language aid for the 175 questions. The 75 questions above, with a timer in the title bar. CAPM Prep Questions. Not quite the PMP exam style, but nevertheless helpful for your preparation. Order their free Daily Digest as an e-mail service. A great resource with intelligent questions. Good, difficult questions. 200 free questions after optional registration. Registration required. Registration required. High quality questions, which simulate the real test very well. Visitors are invited to contribute with further questions. Number of questions may therefore grow. ProXalt Tutorials Point www.proxalt.com www.tutorialspoint.com 20 200 500 My friend and colleague Dr. Roger Voight has a large body of free questions. Many of them are also helpful for CAPM candidates. H Registration required. H H H H

Certification.about.com certification.about.com EdWel Programs Head First Labs www.edwel.com www.headfirstlabs.com

MeasureUp My PMP

www.measureup.com www.mypmp.ie

7 90 175

Oliver F. Lehmann, PMP www.oliverlehmann.com

www.oliverlehmanntraining.de www.oliverlehmann.com www.oliverlehmann.com

175 75 164

H H

PMConnection PMExam.com

www.pmconnection.com www.pmexam.com

10 ?

PMPQuest.com PMP Question Bank PM Study PMTI Pmzilla PreparePM

www.pmpquest.com pmpbank.googlepages.com www.pmstudy.com www.4pmti.com www.pmzilla.com www.preparepm.com

12 200 50 15 155 165 H

Voight Project Solutions www.voightps.com

Test Prep Review Threon

www.testprepreview.com www.threon.com

15 13 H

Please let me know if more help is required. I would be glad to help. Thanks once again for all the help and support. Thanks Sundara Kumar Padmanabhan