My Lessons Learned (LL) from the PMP exam

I passed my PMP exam on 11/27/2007. I’m not going too much into the details of what I did to pass the exam because what worked for me may not work for you. So, I’m cutting the long story short and highlighting some important points only.

Most Important PMP Lessons Learned

1. Know the terms and definitions in the PMBOK very well and don't forget the glossary. This alone can help you answer about 20% of the exam questions correctly.
2. I opted for an online PMP Exam Simulator (about USD 100 or so) to earn my 35 Contact Hours of PM Education. An excellent option that I discovered after I passed my exam, is the PM Prepcast. Recently, I had a chance to evaluate the new video PM Prepcast. You can read my detailed review of PM Prepcast.
3. Two primary sources - PMBOK and Rita's book - are sufficient, except for the topics mentioned below.
4. Contracts (majority of exam questions put you, the PM, in a situation where you are working under a contract).

Important Topics for the PMP Exam

Study the following topics from sources other than PMBOK and Rita’s book:

1. Delegation - Study this topic from Chapter 4, Important Issues in Project Organizational Design of Organizing Projects for Success: The Human Aspects of Project Management, Volume One - by Vijay K. Verma by Vijay K. Verma. It will be sufficient to answer most delegation questions on the exam.
2. EVA
3. PTA (Point of Total Assumption) numericals
4. Conflict Management (explore sources other than Rita's book - it is not sufficient to answer the exam questions and cost me dearly).
5. Negotiations
6. McClelland's theory
7. Seller fee related numericals.
8. Contracts (if you can find other good reference material).

Additional Tips for PMP Exam Success

1. EV numericals are straight-forward. No traps. Double check your answers and don't lose out on some easy scoring opportunities.
2. No questions on drawing a network diagram or calculating critical path. So, know you basics well and don't get carried away with chapter 6 on Rita's book.
3. There are "out of the blue" questions, which you cannot answer no matter which book you study from. So, expect to see such questions on the exam. Remember, there are 25 "trial" questions, which are not scored. So, who knows ?
4. You'll have to "guess" on a lot of questions, even on topics that you thought were your stronghold.
5. Do as many mock exams as possible, but watch out for question fatigue.
6. I had many questions where the problem statement was exactly the same as in lot of mock exams, BUT the answer choices were different, and most of the time the answer choices had a "twist". No questions straight from the sample exams :(
7. Many of the questions make you think and some just leave you amazed!!
8. I did a brain dump during the 15 min tutorial, of the process chart and EV formulas but didn't find any use for them during the exam. I would have been better-off saving some extra energy for the exam. To me, it was a waste of time and effort.
9. There are a plenty of straight-forward questions - at least 40. If you have studied PMBOK and Rita's book very well (I read both these books at least 3 times each), these should be in your bag.

My PMP Exam score

• Initiating - 65%
• Planning - 86%
• Executing - 73%
• M&C - 83%
• Closing - 90%
• Prof Resp - 100%

Note: The score report doesn’t specify % score anymore. Now it displays proficiency levels - “Proficient”, “Moderately Proficient” or “Below Proficient”. Read my post on popular myths about PMP Passing Score to learn more.

All the best to all PMP aspirants!

Please feel free to post your questions and comments.