Today I logged in the website of PMI and surprisingly discovered that the Certification status changed. I followed the tips for the test results and found I passed the PMP exam! Now that I have passed, I can share with you my experience in preparing for and taking the exam.

About the Preparation

1. Make a Plan

Planning is very important. Specify several key points and when a task must be completed. If there is no plan, Parkinson’s law will play a role. For example, when do you finish the first reading, when do you master certain field of knowledge, when do you do PMP mock exam. You had better finish all the work half a month before the exam. If you do not master the key points of knowledge, it is very difficult to rely on the 10 days before the exam.

2. Time for Preparation

I have set the time for reading books. For example, at least three times, two hours a day, and so on. I think it varies from person to person how many times you read and how much time you spend. If you can remember and understand the knowledge after reading it, it is enough to read it once. I’m not that clever, so I read it many times to understand and remember it.

3. Comb the Knowledge

I got this experience after the PMP exam on June 30. Especially for some situational analysis questions, if you don’t understand them and just have a general impression of the concept, you can’t manage to make the right choice. Although it is generally one out of four, and generally you have to choose one between the two answers, before making a decision, you have to compare the differences between the two answers, and if you don’t understand it, you can’t compare and choose.

4. How to Read the Sixth Edition of PMBOK Guide

• If you are sleepy as soon as you read, it means you don’t understand what the book says or you are not actually reading. If you truly comprehend the book, you will not be sleepy.
• Chapter 3 is just about a framework. It does not contain some actual knowledge and is not worth reading. Or you can read this chapter after after you finish all other chapters.
• Read appendix G. There are differences of four concepts in page 350 to 351. Other appendixes are not worth reading.
• Look at the list of terms, because some questions come from it. For example, Slack means floating time. But the exam may not mention floating time, but Slack.
• About tools and technology, input and output. After reading all the chapters, I suggest you sort them out. For example, in which process or knowledge field might a tool be used? For another example, you can sort out the achievement line, work performance line and so on. This sort of arrangement is very helpful for understanding and memory.

5. About Reference Book

I think the following reference books are enough.

• This is the necessity.
• The lecture notes of PMP certification training provided by SPOTO. Of course, this handout is good. It was summed up by SPOTO for many years. It describes some key points and supplementary knowledge.
• PMP certification training before exam and after class exercises provided by SPOTO. This is also provided by SPOTO, which is based on the field of knowledge.
• The English version of the fourth edition of the PMBOK guide. Pay attention to the important points. If you are good at English, then don’t read the Chinese version. My English is not good, so I just read the English version with attention to important points. Some translation in the Chinese version are really bad and misleading.
• About PMP mock exam. There are two sets of mock exam in the above-mentioned PMP preparation guide. SPOTO will also provide a set of mock exam. The difficulty of the mock exam provided by SPOTO is moderate, which is much more difficult than that provided by above-mentioned PMP preparation guide. When doing these mock exams, we should do it according to the requirements of the exam, so as to effectively train yourself.
• Pay special attention to the ending process group, which seems to be the most difficult part of the five process groups.

Other Supplements

1. Register as a PMI member, and then sign up for the exam as a PMI member. You can save hundreds of yuan of PMP exam fee, and even save more when you take the make-up exam!
2. About Audit. I was spot checked to Audit. The form in the project experience must be manually signed by the authenticator (it can’t be in Chinese). The post office registered letter I used arrived about 10 days later.
3. How can I pass the exam? Of the five process groups, if you have two B in the middle three process groups, you can hardly pass (because the middle three account for the largest number of questions). If you have only one B in the middle three, you are likely to pass.

Finally, wish all preparing for the PMP exam pass it once!

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