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Cracked PMP in the first attempt

edited March 2012 in PM Certifications

I am very excited and happy to share that I have cracked the PMP exam in the first attempt on 27 March 2012. It was my rigorous study plan for 45 days which helped me to pass the exam. After going through the PMBOK Guide (4th Edn.) for the first time, it was very hard to grasp all contents in one go. Then I started again with Head First PMP (2nd Edn.) which is a good book in simple language explaining every chapter with a case study which ultimately settled many concepts in my mind.
Then I studied Rita Mulcahy (6th Edn.) for the famous Rita's chart and many other important concepts for the exam.
I mostly relied on understanding the concepts rather than attempting questions and answers. In the last 10 days of the exam I have attempted around 1000 questions and only 2 times in the real exam mode.

I would like to advise those who are looking forward for the PMP credential, please don't ONLY attempt the mock CBT's and the exercise instead go for the concepts. If you are working in the capacity of a project manager then these concepts are easy to grasp.

In the last 3-4 days Deep Fried Brain PMP has helped me alot in gaining much clarity in some of the most essential concepts. The actual exam for me was very tough and there were too many trapping questions. But I went for the answers based on the concepts learned so far.

I am looking forward to gain more practical knowledge through PM Hangout and would like to contribute my knowledge through this forum.

I sincerely hope that Harwinder should write a book for the PMP aspirants.

-Amit Ranjan, PMP®

Comments

  • edited March 2012

    Great job, Amit. Congratulations!

    45 days is a really good time to pass the exam. You have a somewhat unique approach in that you didn't attempt too many sample questions. I have a few questions for you:

    • Which course/program did you use to earn your 35 contact hours?
    • How many hours did you study per day?
    • Which sample question sets did you attempt?

    Thanks for sharing your lessons learned. I'm glad to have made some contribution to your success. Regarding the idea of writing a book, let's see :)

    I hope the certification will bring great rewards for you. Please stay in touch.

    Best regards.

  • hi amit,

    please provide your contact details.

    thanks
    suju

  • Suju, you can contact me at amit.ranjan78@gmail.com.

    Thank you harwinder. Please see my answers below:

    1. I have attended the 4 full day session from Proventures http://www.proventuresindia.com/home/ to earn 35 PDU

    2. I studied 5 hours per day

    3. I have attempted all chapter questions for Head First PMP, Rita Mulcahy & Progressive Ventures. I also attempted the questions on Fastrack PMP learning software. In addition I have attempted Oliver Lehmann 175 questions and free sample questions on internet.

    Thank you,

  • I did a lot of the same things (mostly Rita's stuff) and took Rita's exam prep class but only the 2 day class. I took the exam 7 weeks after the class. Follow her process and it WORKS!!

  • Congratulations Amit! Cracking the exam in 45 days must be a really tough task.. and where did you get those 5 hours extra daily!!?? I could hardly get 2to 3 hours for daily study. I agree with you that Harwinder must write a book soon.

    Harwinder, listening? :D

    regards,
    Chandrasekhar, PMP®

  • Please recomend which test question sites you think were the best. I failed my first atemt and I am looking for insperation and doing test questions similar to the real thing might get me going. I have of course done all of Ritas. And Head Web too...

  • edited May 2012

    Icewoman, Sorry to hear that you failed first attempt. Do not be disappointed. I would recommend you to concentrate more on the concepts rather than test questions. Although test questions are there to make some practice before you attempt the real exam, but do not completely rely on that.
    Also when you are writing the exam think with the perspective of the PMBOK guide and not with the practical experience you have.
    As you can see above in my post, I have not attempted too many questions instead focused more on the PMBOK guide and principles.

    I have not found a single question on the exam which I have attempted before in any of the practice tests I have taken.

    Good luck for the re-exam.

    -Amit Ranjan, PMP®

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