PMP Boot Camp and exam prep - Need help

Submitted by yatinc on Thu, 05/15/2014 - 21:33

Hi Guys, 

My manager thought after taking a boot camp for straight 4 days - you can clear the PMP exam on 5th day. Even I was new to PMP exam overrall I thought it might be the case, and joined the boot camp . The boot camp was whooping $1795. 

However, the first day the instructor mentioned in class, that if you're planning to appear for exam on 5th day or in 2-3 days after boot camp you are sure to fail.

I completed my 4 days boot camp. Now I'm in a fix, that my manager expects me to finish the PMP as soon as possible and he is aligning a project for me with customer who has PMP requirements.  However based on reading peoples view I feel that its atleast 2-3 months of study. Am I wrong in understanding. 

I some how convinced my manager and got extended till first week of June. At the 4th day of the boot camp I took a mock exam and got 58%.

I'm working full time as PM but my project is luckily in good state and need only 2-3 hrs of attention a day.

I need your help guys in this scenario on how should I align my studies to clear the exam by June 1st-2nd week latest. (how many hours, what topics.. anything)

Please Please help!! Your words would be golden to me

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alexmcduffie

Fri, 05/16/2014 - 00:08

You are in a jam there. I would highly recommend you start taking exams that break down each knowledge group. This way you can focus where you need to study the most. For example if you are really scoring high in framework why not focus on risk where you are scoring low in. Time is critical here. There are plenty good free quizzes out there. Here is one to try they have 3 quizzes to pick from. 

 

 

 

yatinc

Fri, 05/16/2014 - 16:19

Thanks @Alexmcduffle for advice and link to the quizzes. Based on my mock results that's exactly I'm focusing on knowledge areas and process. Its been several years that I havent learnt by heart things.. and that's one of the challenging thing to remember the ITTOs.

Should I read any book throughly? If yes, would it be Rita or PMBOK. I see mixed opinions on the group. what would help wth my situation

alexmcduffie

Sun, 05/18/2014 - 23:58

Well I recommend to read both books fully. I would read Rita first and then scim pmbok. Then go back to rita and read pmbok in full. It will make more sense. The pmbok will become easier and easier to read. Did you take the online quizzes? How well did you do?

With ITTO you will start to understand them and won't need to memorize all if you read and study. I would read at lunch hour before work and 3 hours after work if you are in a crunch.

yatinc

Tue, 05/20/2014 - 18:51

I didnt take much online quizzes.. Based on some previous comments, Im reading through PMBOK. Im giving online practice test based on certain chapters; also answering questions at the end of Rita's book. 

I feel the hardest part for me right now is learning the ITTO's.. They are killing me.

surbhi.sharma86

Mon, 05/19/2014 - 07:56

What i feel is you really really need to work hard for the coming 10-15 days. To crack the PMP exam, it is extremely important that you are thorough with the PMBOK. The best way out would be to take Rita Mulcahy and PMBOK hand-in-hand. Read one chapter from Rita and then have a glance at the same in PMBOK. This will ease the things for you. Plus, you should also consider solving as many mock tests as possible. Just try n do your best...and keep your fingers crossed...you'll postitively crack the exam :)

yatinc

Tue, 05/20/2014 - 18:53

Thanks Surbhi. I was doing PMBOK and Rita side by side.. but then the amount of time it was taking for me to finish a chapter was too much. Plus after that any exam would take almost 4 days to finish one chapter. 

Any suggestions for ITTO's.. How to memorize them?

slashinv

Wed, 05/21/2014 - 12:48

Hi Yatin  - you may have a look at my preparation and my experience with pmp studies. I have listed at my blog belowhttp://sachinvehale.blogspot.in/2014/01/lessons-learned.htmlAll the Best !  

yatinc

Wed, 05/21/2014 - 16:05

Thanks I did go through your blog. Its good to read your experience specially the fact that you didnt memorize the ITTO. 

I'm more visual person, I would probably draw something for my understanding on ITTO.

thanks again.

Sandy10001

Fri, 09/12/2014 - 22:19

I hope you cleared your exam in June as planned. It's really tough when you're under a time constraint.