PMP Exam Lessons Learned by Miroslav Stojanovic

I have been thinking about the PMP certificate for the past several years, and in December 2016, I decided to apply for it.

Looking back on my process, I feel it was the toughest project of my life.

Overall Approach

Before startingmy PMP exam preparation, I read several lessons learned of successful exam takers and drafted a plan for my study. This is an important step; create a good plan and don’t forget to follow it.

我开始读丽塔的书和创造了我own notes for later review. Then, I went through the PMBOK Guide. I found it helpful because it provides a clear picture of connections among the processes.

After reading these books, I started attempting mock tests to find my weak points.

My weak area was connections between processes, so I needed to study this more but I didn’t want to reread the same books.

在寻找填补我的知识空白的方法时，我找到了法哈德·乌斯曼尼（Fahad Usmani）的网站，这成为我知识库的坚实基础，尤其是每个帖子下的评论和知识过渡。我在Word文档中收集了所有博客文章，并在空闲时间打印了它。

After readingFahad’s lessons learned, I decided to read Kim Heldman’s book. I again created notes.

I focused on mock tests and fine-tuned my timing so I could do well on the real exam.

Knowledge Base

• Rita-PMP Exam Prep 8th Edition
• The PMBOK Guide 6th Edition
• PMP Exam Study Guide–Kim Heldman
• PM Study Circle–Fahad Usmani
• PMI Code of Ethics

Practice Questions

我解决的第一个问题是在丽塔（Rita）的书中发现的，我在完成总体结果75％后回答了这些问题。之后，我尝试了来自不同资源的1,800个问题。b0b体育app这些资源是：b0b体育app

• Oliver Lehmann (online)
• Edwel Mock Exam
• Oliver Lehmann (downloadable PDF)
• Simplilearn Free PMP® Mock Exam
• PM考试模拟器（免费7天试用器）
• bob篮球彩票
• Kim Heldman’s book
• Mometrix
• PM Study
• PMP Practice Questions Exam Cram™ 2 (online book)
• CertGear (simulation)
• PMZest

I scored 67% on average in my first round and after reading Kim Heldman I scored 74% on average.

PM Fastrack是我准备的最重要的工具。我花了最大的准备时间。我尝试了15次测试，并在过去五个测试中得分超过90％。该工具可以通过关键字搜索主题，然后提供练习问题。我发现它对我的学习非常有用。例如，您可以搜索“冲突”或“审核”，并给出与这些概念有关的问题。

The Exam

I took a computer-based test because paper one was not available in my country. I reached the test center ahead of time, and they checked me with a metal detector like a criminal. They told me to put all my belongings (watch, mobile, and wallet) into a box.

Afterward, I could enter an examination hall which had four PCs. They gave me a paper, a pencil, and earplugs. There was a glass window behind me, and an exam monitor was watching me from another room. The most irritating thing was the walk-through patrol by the staff every 10 minutes. After each check, I had to reread the question I was on.

Conclusion

I hada PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate, so I thought I knew how much time I would need to spend preparing for the PMP exam; I was wrong. This preparation took more time and effort than I expected. I spent around 400 hours and practiced approximately 7,500 questions.

The planning phase is the most important from an exam point of view. After that, I focused on other process groups, Initiation, Executing and Closing. These three groups have 12 processes and covered 51% of my exam questions. I learned the ITTOs and all the steps from Rita’s process chart. I memorized which processes used Work Performance Data or Information or Reports, Reserve Analysis, Stakeholder Register and Delphi Techniques.

In the last week before the exam, I repeated the following:

• I reread Fahad Usmani’s posts (from the pages I printed out)
• 我从启动，执行和关闭的PM Fastrack练习了所有问题
• I went through my notes twice
• I reviewed the ITTOs and Rita’s process chart
• 考试前一天，我完全休息了。

我通过了以下结果考试：

• Initiating, Executing, M&C => Moderately Proficient
• 计划，关闭=>熟练

我想借此机会感谢Fahad所做的一切，尤其是他在分享项目管理知识方面的巨大努力。

BR, Miroslav.

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