MUST DO
Try to form a study group – it will hold you accountable (i.e. you have to show up for study time), it reduces tendency to procrastinate, if a member does not understand a concept or issue, the others can help simplify it.
• We created a critical information binder, where we placed a copy of our formulae brain dump, the PMBOK pages mentioned above, and the results of all of our tests (Kerzner and Rita’s) to track our progress.
• We had a specific plan to complete certain chapter(s) on certain days, this helped us stay on track.
• We studied every single day, no excuses… approx 3 hrs weekdays and Sat. and Sun. 8 to 12. I know this schedule sounds very demanding but it worked for us.
• We are married and have children – trying to study at home did not work for us due to continuous interruptions. We studied in the conference room, after regular business hours. If you don’t have access to your work facilities after hours, try your local library. The key is to be completely away from interruptions. It’s hard, but all the studying paid off!
• We read the PMBOK in its entirety, at least twice.
• We took all the practice tests in Rita’s prep book twice and could see the marked improvement in the scores the second time around.
• We took all the practice tests in Dr. Kerzner’s Project Management IQ CD, generally, there are 5 tests for each knowledge area, 3 of those are in “study” mode -- you are given a second chance to answer the question correctly if you fail the first time, it also gives you the references to the pages and materials you need to study, for example: “PMBOK page 19” or “Kerzner page 322”. The other 2 sample tests are in “real time”, you are given a certain amount of time (40 or 50 minutes) to complete the test. Finally, there is a 200 question test that emulates the real exam.
• We took 37 hours of intensive Project Management Instruction from IIL (International Institute for Learning), they provided us with all the materials we listed above. If your company will pay for this type of training, by all means take it!
• We took the test on Monday, studied the Saturday prior, but Sunday we just relaxed.
OTHER TIPS
• Set a date to take your test – if you put if off, you will be likely to procrastinate and leave studying for the last minute. Cannot do that, preparing for this test is not something you can do in a couple of days.
• Try to schedule your test as early in the morning as possible, it will cut down on anxiety and your mind will be “fresher”.
• Eat a light breakfast or lunch before going to the exam… the last thing you need is to worry about being hungry.
• Bring a bottle of water or something else to drink to the test center. You won’t be able to bring it in, but you are allowed to take as many breaks as you want.
• Note that you will only be allowed to bring a PLAIN calculator… no graphics or text calculators allowed. Make sure your “plain” calculator has square root function.
• There are video cameras and you will be monitored during test taking – ignore them (actually I was tempted to make a silly face at them just to break the anxiety!)
• Be sure to MEMORIZE all the formulae on the first page… we have found out in talking to other colleagues who have taken and passed the test that there are different versions of the test. Some versions appear to have more math calculations than others, since the PMP test is “like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get” you are better off memorizing all the formulae.
• It is good to memorize the formula, but by all means, do try to understand what the formula is for… if you understand the concept, it will be much easier to remember the formula.
• We did the formulae brain dump EVERY SINGLE DAY. If you don’t do this, you are likely to forget…
• Be sure to know the “old” equivalents to EV, PV and AC (i.e. BCWP, BCWS and ACWP). I got questions on the exam where you had to know the equivalents or otherwise get the answer wrong.
• The questions are asked in a very difficult manner (purposely, to trip and confuse you…) don’t let them. The key here is to understand what are they REALLY asking. Many of the questions contain totally extraneous information which is not needed to answer the question correctly. My perception is that, in most cases, the “REAL” question was contained in the very last sentence.
• Another strategy that worked great for us was to answer all the theory questions first and MARK and SKIP the questions that required calculations. We did all the calculations at the end. I was able to finish the exam in 3 hours, you can use the rest of the time to double check any questions you marked.
• Before you start your calculations, write down the question number associated with that calculation, this way you can easily retrieve it for review later.
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