Excerpt from PMP lesson Learned Anshuman Kumar #39

Hello Everyone,

 especially Hemant, Dave and Vinay in my success of passing the PMP certification.

This journey started off in November 25, 2017 under the most able guidance and mentor ship of Hemant and Dave and today the big reality is; me including many other successful candidates who wrote their exams and passed, are now PMP certified under the flagship of Education Edge (EE).

WHAT WORKED FOR ME:

1. Kept on attempting as many questions as i could with 45 sec cut time for each question.
2. Minimum 40 questions every time and worked on the gaps. ( This is very time consuming and learning exercise)
3. Attempted EE and RMC full PMP papers in the time window which i had booked my real exam in. (Like i booked my exam from 12:30 to 4:30. So attempted all my simulations from 12:30 to 4:30 before sitting in the exam.)
4. Along with this, I read EE slide book twice. Did not get the time to read the PMBOK. ( Do not do my way. Must read PMBOK along with EE study material)
5. Downloaded some good PMP related mobile apps and kept on reading and solving questions in my free time. 
6. Always kept myself motivated all the times. 
7. Set the measurable and achievable daily goals.
8. Logically remembered all 47 processes by heart in the sequence they occur. ( NOT the ITTO). Only the processes sequence of occurrence in the project life cycle. (MUST LEARN)
9. Managed my 4 hours time in real PMP exam very well. Was able to finish in 3 hours and reviewed the questions marked which were nearly 30 questions) Still had 20-25 mins remaining.  

MY PMP EXAM:

1. More focus was on Risk and Procurement. Nearly 60-70 questions all together.
2. 20-25 very straight forward questions.
3. 8-10 formulae questions ( 5 CPI/SPI, 2 ETC, 2 communication channels, ...)
4. Some very easy Quality questions, May be 4-5. 
5. A lot of questions were asked from Communication and Stakeholder.
6. Very few questions from Cost and Time (15-20 max). I was betting heavy on Time but NO. 
7. Most of the questions were 3-4 liners on an average. Neither too long nor too short.
8. Project Charter: 6-7 questions.
9. Closing: some very tough questions i faced. 
10. Overall a very balanced paper with the blend of all the knowledge areas with more focus on Quality, Risk, Procurement, Stakeholder and Communication.

In this incredible journey of getting this prestigious certification, my lessons learnt or feedbacks are:

1. Be calm and composed. Don't panic or loose grip on the time and be focussed)
2. Strategically, judiciously and legitimately utilise your time.
3. Believe in yourself.
4. Most importantly, listen to what Hemant says in the class and try to capture or record ( Ask Hemant before dong this!!!!) what he speaks. Every word he speaks had its own weight in the context of the exam. Listen to him very carefully.  

1. Special  to my collegue and friend Vinay who kept on giving me all his valuable tips at various point of times during this exampreparation.
   
2. And important to mention here is the great group of peers that i found at Education Edge which kept me focused and pumped up, to achieve big. 

Hemant's one of emails quotes:

“A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work” - Colin Powell.     VERY TRUE...

Thanks again to all who contributed in my success.