How to pass PMP at first attempt
I passed the PMP on 7 Mar 2018, which is my first attempt. I read quite a lot of comments online saying that the exam is quite tricky and actually diverse from the notes or books. So I want to share my experience and hopefully people who read this blog could benefit from it. By the way, PMI will change the PMP exam scope starting from the end of March. I did not go into details about the change but I believe this blog still applies to the new exam scope as it does not touch any specific items in the exam questions.
Let's go.
Attitude
It is easy to find an excuse. If you really want this certificate, you should believe that the time you spent on studying will get paid off some day. I have a full time job and PMP occupied a few weekends for the training class, a few weeks reading on the MTR and a few days intensive exam practice. Comparing to play video games or watch youtube, it is tough. However, PMP exam is something one off and once you passed the exam, all you need to do is attending video classes to maintain it. Plus, it is widely endorsed by companies which could potentially bring you better opportunities in the future. So it definitely worth some time and some pain.
Study materials
1. Practice paper
2. Practice paper
3. Practice paper
The PMBOK Guide is a perfect studying material but I bet most of people could not even stand with 10 pages. Therefore, I would suggest you skim through the materials from the training class and then go straight away to the practice paper. Personally, I never read any page of the PMBOK Guide but I did read through the notes provided from the training which I believe that is the summary of PMBOK. If you love reading dictionary, feel free to open the PMBOK and you definitely will gain more than a certificate.
Other than studying the notes, you should also make your own notes while studying and reviewing the practice paper. You will see a lot of new terms or explanations exist in the questions. That is completely fine because you might also see new terms during the exam. Write them down on your note book and link those ideas to different process groups. The most important idea here is how you link up the question to something related in PMP. Do not just memorize the pattern because that does not help.
Connecting what you have learnt is the key to success in the exam. 200 questions in 4 hours is not an easy task. Practice under time pressure so you get used to it and make sure you can complete the exam. I fight until last minute during the exam and do not even have a chance to review the flagged questions. Therefore, train on it.
Reference
Most of the time I refer to the below website. It includes many PM-related exam materials. The explanation is clear and simple. You may also find the mock resources there.
https://edward-designer.com/web/pmp/
Other than that, I just google the terms and pick the most reasonable explanation. You must be clear on the definition but there is no straight forward question only on definition. So be flexible and open.
Suggestions
1. Do not learn by heart but understand the concept. Extract the key concept from the questions and link with the core process groups.
2. Differentiate the confusing terms. It is very important because the questions will lead you to wrong answer if you are not clear on those terms.
3. Practice, practice and practice. Beware of those key process groups, input and output, tools and techniques, etc.
At the end of the day, it is just an exam and it is not deigned to fail the candidates. So study hard and do you best in the exam. Good Luck!