RIP Rita, you rock!!!

 

The journey of attaining the pinnacle of PMP has been a remarkable one for me. It was nostalgic, as it took me back to those good old engineering days when I used to sit for hours in library referring many books to make notes.

 

Would like to share few lessons which I've learnt during my course of study for the benefit of future PMP aspirants:

 

Begin with a 'Planning' and a time matrix jotted. The 45 days of time period should be sufficient enough to get prepared and head to the exam.

 

Drink lot of water during your studies for 2 benefits. 1, it keeps your brain hydrated through long hours for stressfree study and you get frequent, & legitimate breaks, if you know what I mean :P

 

Begin with PMBOK®Guide—FourthEdition and follow the timetable. Alternatively, a thorough study of Rita's PMP Exam Prep for respective chapters is a MUST. Refer Headfirst if you feel convenient and have enough energy to glance through!

 

The key lies in making your ITTOs thorough and questions on the same.

 

As a gist:

 

No. of T & T for all the 9 Knowledge Areas (KA), easier to remember if you jot this down, it did work for me:

 

I - 1,1,2,1,2,1

S - 8,4,1,1,1

T - 4,4,5,5,8,8

C - 9,5,6

Q - 9,3,10

H - 3,4,6,5

C - 2,4,2,3,4

R - 1,7,6,3,4,6

P - 3,7,7,3

 

Flashcard sets ---> quizlet.com/subject/pmp/

 

At least 2 passes of both PMBOK and Rita is a MUST.

 

When you are doing the 2nd pass of Rita, go through the 'Quicktest' column @ the beginning of every chapter and 

ask yourself if you know each concept well, another thorough reading is recommended on the ones which you don't have a convincing answer.

 

Do a group study (of 3 people max), helps a lot to share ideas, different points of view, debates, & conflicts, remember 'Conflicts are good'!

 

Solve AS MANY questions as you can. A vast variety of questions would help in flexible thinking.

 

Begin with Rita fastrack. Take up the questions on KA wise as and when you finish studying them. Go through the incorrectly answered questions. Initially, more the wrong more the knowledge.

 

Once you are done with 1 pass of Rita you should be good to go for 'SuperPMP' on fastrack. This helps to know where we stand and whick knowledge area needs more attention. Don't lose your heart if you don't score well, neither did I.

 

Oliver Lehmann (middle name the genius)!

Once done with 2nd pass of PMBOK and Rita do solve his paper of 175 questions and 75 online questions, it's of top grade and makes you to analyze the question deeply and thoroughly. It'd certainly boost your conficence.

 

 

 

Another set of 4hrs monsterous marathon grill (click 'Enroll for FREE test' section). Good mind game.

 

 

As we all know about Rajesh Nair's notes, an amazingly consized spreadsheet notes encompassing the entire concept of PMP. Truely a remarkable work. Post 2 passes of PMBOK and Rita min. 2 revisions of this helps.

 

On the previous day of the exam:

 

Do solve Headfirst 200 questions, it certainly helps you to gauge as where you stand and how well you are prepared (am sure you'd feel it's a cake walk after you've solved enough Rita Fastrack through days of study)

 

 

One thorough pass of Rajesh Nair notes is highly recommended.

 

No. of questions on the exam (apprx.)

initiating - 26

Planning - 48

Executing - 60

M & C - 50

Closing - 16

 

On the exam day: 

Go with a +ve attitude of giving the best of what you've prepared and it is certain that you'll come out with flying colors. All the best!!!

 

Roopraj.K PMP®