Dear All,

I'm a member of this forum
and have gained a lot of information and tips. So it’s now payback time and
sharing my experience and tips

Month:
May:
Started exploring the pre-requisites and qualification requirements for PMP
exam. Did a lot of googling and collected the required information (viz. Online
Study courses, Mock Exam websites, Free Study materials)

Month:
June:
Enrolled to IIPM, Chennai Web based PMP Prep Course, the reason for choosing
this REP is couple of friends recommended and I also found their mock exam very
tricky and you can benefit from it. I use to read through the Knowledge areas
daily 2 hours and it took almost a month for me to get the 35 contact hours
certificate which is a mandatory for applying to the exam. At this stage I
found the whole syllabus to be dry and very hard.

Month:
July:
While browsing thru one of the LL on this forum, one of the member has
recommended to also refer -" OReilly.Head.First.PMP" this was really
helpful in understanding a lot of points, best part of the book was the
language that they have used to explain the concepts in particular the Quality
management and Risk management areas. I used to study each day 1 Knowledge
areas and give the test at end of the chapters. First half of the month I
finished OReilly.Head.First.PMP and then applied for PMI Membership.

I recommend all the aspirants
to get the members ASAP as it can help you download the PMBOK and also lot of
estudy material from their books 24x7 section.

Second half of July I
finished the first reading of PMBOK, highlighted the important points in each
knowledge area.

Month
August: Referred the Rita PMP Exam Prep, again same schedule
as Head First PMP, each day 1 knowledge area and test the knowledge by
attempting the practice exam. I have not followed the Rita's Process Chart as
it was very confusing. Give more importance to Tricks of trade and memory
finger as it makes some of the points very easy to understand.

Second half of the month I
took print out of all the knowledge areas overview - Inputs, Tools and
techniques and Outputs that come in the beginning of the each knowledge area
(i.e. for Integration area - page 104, Scope - page 135 of PMBOK) and started
reading each process Inputs, Tools and techniques and Outputs. Also started
making notes on how and why each Tools and technique is used. One tip to score
some marks is to know what are the Enterprise Environmental factors and organization
process assets for each process used and the update to these in the outputs section,
I did get some questions on these areas. This preparation helped me scoring
some marks

Month:
September: I scheduled my exam on 18th September and then my
serious preparation started with second round of PMBOK during the evening and
during the day in the work place used to attempt as many mock exams as
possible. I finished the second round by 9th September and on the weekend I
subscribed to PMStudy.com mock exam pack. Two exams on 1st day of the weekend
and next two more on the second day. Noted the areas where I was going wrong.

The advantage you get from
the PMStudy.com exams is practice and patience to sit 4 hours during the exam. I
fared well in these exams and I also purchased Certgear exam simulator, this
had 568 questions and during each day at work finished 1 exam and also they
have an explanation for wrong answers

I also attempted Oliver F
Lehmann 175 prep questions and 75 Free Sample Questions on the website which is
timed. The answers were aligned to PMBOK and reference to additional study
material available on books 24x7 on PMI website.

Study plan is evening 3
hours on a working day  1knowledge area
and next day early morning practice test of the knowledge area completed last
evening. On a weekend revisiting the weak section (for me time, quality and
risk are the weak knowledge areas) and revising the topics.

Study Aid: PMBOK

OReilly.Head.First.PMP

Rita
PMP Exam Prep

Exam Aid:  PMStudy.com Exam pack

Certgear
Exam Simulator

Certchamp
website

The reason  for mentioning month wise details it to help
others plan systematically and start approaching the exam like a project
manager from day 1, I could have given or shared day-to-day plan but it would
be too exhaustive.

Disclaimer:
The above study plan suited well for me and it may or not suit for others,
based on your experience, knowledge on PM, you may kindly prepare your own
plan.

I wish all the best for all
the aspirants who are planning to become PMP certified.