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How I Passed PMP Exam From The 1st Try

Study materials, training and online resources

I’ve been wanting to get my PMP for over 8 years now, until last November when I made a decision that I am gonna get my PMP certificate this year and I’m gonna get it from the first try!.
So in this 3 parts article I will try to share my whole journey of passing PMP exam, what worked for me, and what didn’t work and what I’d do differently if I had to go back in time and do it all over again.

Preparation Time Stats

Number of books :Total 3 books (1 Reference book + 2 Prep Books
Questions practiced : 1600 questions.
Full Mockup exams (200 Questions): 1 exam.( 3 hours and half)
Mockup exams of (100 Questions): 4 exams.( 1:20 minutes each )
Daily average of practice questions: 50 questions.( 1 hour)
Hours of watching training videos: 37 Hours
Total number of hours: 216 of self study
Duration: 10 weeks

I will focus on three aspects:

• Study Materials & Training (Part 1)
• Strategies, Tactics, Tips, & Tricks (Part 2)
• The Exam Experience (Part 3)

1.Study Materials

I think it goes without saying; having good study materials should be your first step in your journey to passing PMP exam. PMP books and materials are not cheap so choosing the right materials for you is essential.

1.1 Books

PMBOK GUIDE : (A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)–Fifth Edition)

PMBOK Guide Book

This is PMI’s main guide book for Project Management framework and processes . This book was designed to be a guide/reference instead of a prep book, and that is why It is long , dry read and incongruent.
Many PMP aspirants get discouraged the first time they try to read the PMBOK guide.Don’t be! It is a very important reference to have but shouldn’t be your first book to read in order to learn about PMI’s view of project management and pass the exam.Instead I’d recommend using it as a companion to another exam preparation book.(I listed below prep books I’ve used as well as others recommended by colleagues and friends whom passed the PMP exam).
Note : if you are Project Management Institute member you get a free copy (PDF) of the PMBOK guide.

PMP® Exam Simplified by Aileen Ellis.

This by far was my favorite book. I’ve read it twice prior to my exam.It was written in a very simple and clear language and has many tips and tricks for passing the exam.
Warning : If you are not familiar with PMI’s view on Project Management this book won’t be enough. Some topics are not covered in details. However if you use it along with the PMBOK guide you are good to go.

What I liked about this book is :
It was organized by process groups instead of knowledge area. This will help you connecting the dots and see how processes are implanted during a project life cycle. Most of other books (including the PMBOK guide ) is organized by knowledge areas so it won’t make much sense and doesn’t create a coherent and congruent storyline and therefore It will be difficult to fully understand when precesses are implemented and how they interact with each other.

Another thing I liked was that every chapter has practice questions along with detailed correct and wrong answers explanation. I found reading explanations of why a particular answer is wrong was more useful than just trying to answer questions correctly. (Big part of passing PMP is striking out wrong answers and understanding why it’s wrong).

Rita’s PMP Exam Prep Book
PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition - Updated: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam

Rita’s book is the holly grail of PMP prep books .It’s very long and explains many concepts in detail and I think it is a useful book for any project manager to have. However the down side of Rita’s book is it’s style; it’s a bit traditional and makes you feel you are being taught or tutored by a condescending teacher. If you don’t know anything about PMI’s framework for project management; this is a good starting point. If you decided to use Rita’s book you won’t need PMBOK guide as much. ( PMBOK is still important reference , I highly doubt anyone can pass the PMP without reading the PMBOK at least once).

The PMP Template Books. A Project Manager's Book of Forms: A Companion to the PMBOK Guide

Seeing is believing this book is very handy; it helps you understand various project documents you may or may not have used at your work as project manager. It is one thing to read and learn about a “Risk Register” but it’s whole different thing to see an actual template.

Other books :
I haven’t used those books to pass my PMP exam ,but they were recommended by other fellow PMs.

Head First PMP: A Learner’s Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam 3rd Edition

If you are a visual learner and love graphics and doodling this book is for you.It is full of diagrams and graphical representations(fun!) . However if you are more into traditional prep books you will find this book unstructured and all over the place. The format of this book is quite lovely and simplistic. wether you choose to get it or not, make sure you use Oreilly’s online free practice tests. The questions are very good and hard enough to mimics real exam questions.

The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, Fifth Edition

Andy Crowe’s book was hailed by many as an excellent entry to PMP’s world. However many felt that questions included were much easier than the exam ones. Generally speaking you shouldn’t rely on one source for practice tests.

2.Online training (Getting your 25 PDUs! )

If you have been looking for PMP training you already know by now there is an overwhelmingly huge and diverse training programs, bootcamps, etc.. that promises you passing PMP from your first try.While many are genuine and good many are not up to par to what you need..and since having formal training worth of 25 PDUs is prerequisite to be eligible for PMP exam; you better choose your training course very well. I personally opted for an online training instead of a traditional live course or a bootcamp for the following reasons :

1. I didn’t have the time to spend 5 days on a workshop.
2. The cost ratio between an online training to an offline is almost 1 to 4. If you are on a budget , an online course is your better option.
3. Convenience: with an online course you can learn whenever, wherever you want, plus you can repeat videos as much as you like.Actually I ended up watching most of videos more than once.

I chose Joseph Philips’ online PMP Exam Prep Course . It is an excellent comprehensive training course that explains all 10 knowledge areas in details along with many practice questions as well as a final 100 questions’ mockup exam. Joe is an amazing instructor with real project management experience and great friendly attitude. He is down to earth and was very responsive to all my questions and comments.

What training course should I choose ?

Choosing the right course is very much like choosing your own clothes. Everyone has a different taste. So look for what fits your needs and preferred learning style. Having said that; it is a good idea to keep in mind the following when choosing a training course :

1. It has to be a PMI Registered Education Provider. for your to claim your 35 contact hours ( 25 PDUs ) any course you choose has to be registered with PMI.
2. Make sure the course offers full 35 contact hours/25 PDUs or more. You don’t wanna end up paying for a course that only covers portion of the required learning contact hours.
3. Instructor has to be a PMP certified. This should go without saying but make sure he or she is a PMP certified . Remember this course is not only about learning how to be a project manager but how to pass PMP exam as well so understand PMI’s view of project management is paramount.
4. Make sure to get a training program that has at least 200 practice questions included. Look for a program that has similar or more difficult practice tests than a real PMP exam.
5. It’s important to have a clear communication channel with your instructor. While preparing for your PMP; you are going to have many questions.Make sure you have access to a seasoned trained that can answer your questions correctly.

www.Youtube.com

I used youtube to lookup many unclear concepts mentioned in the PMBOK and/ or other books. sometimes I found it quite useful to first watch a video explaining a process then read it on a book (the lazy man strategy to pass PMP :) ) . As a matter of fact I stumbled upon Aileen Eliss’ video below which led me to buy her prep book and subscribe to her online questions database .

PMP Exam Certification Expert Aileen Ellis

Here is my main youtube channels that I’ve used:

1. Aileen Ellis ( as I mentioned before I won’t only recommend her books but her videos as well. Her style is unique and clear . If you wanna master EVM, Contracts and Network Diagraming; Aileen’s PMP® Exam Online Self Study Program is your answer)
2. Ricardo Vargas (Learn how processes interact with each other )
3. QIMacros ( Clear explanation to most of Quality Management Tools & Techniques)
4. Alanis Business Academy ( They got a complete playlist covering Organization Theories and situational leadership. Valuable source)
5. Safety Training Tube 2016 ( multiple videos about Risk Analysis tools)
6. Laura McHarrie (Professionally made videos to learn about ‘how to use’ Business Models and Tools look for the benchmarking & the Gantt chart videos)
7. Julia Galef ( while Julia’s videos are not directly related to PMP I found her Bayesian video quite informative)
8. Edureka ( they got a complete playlist covering PMP . I played their videos while commuting and working out.
9. Project Manager ( they have excellent videos about project manager roles and responsibility )
10. iZenBridge Consultancy Pvt Ltd ( If you don’t mind the accent and occasionally poor video quality; this guy is all you need to learn about PM )
11. Praizion (Learn about PMP and how all processes workflow)

I hope this was informative and helpful. Feel free to comment and share or send me any questions :)
Next Friday I will publish part 2 where I will share my study strategies as well as tools and techniques that I adopted to ace the PMP exam.

Good Luck!