Journey to be a PMP was 10 days long!

Rohit Prabhakar Project Management

I have been reading various forums for a long time and finally decided to get PMP done few weeks ago. Here is my schedule of action with exact dates on my journey for the project management certification:

August 19 2010:::: Enrolled for the PMStudy class for PMP in Milwaukee, WI, USA

August 20 2010:::: Not yet started the online study material for PMP

August 21 2010:::: Started with the online study material for PMP exam. The only thing I did that day was to memorize the process chart and the formulas provided by PMStudy. (Excellent chart from PMStudy)

August 22, 2010:::: Practiced the process chart only once

August 23, 2010: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM (I had an excellent coach, Mr.Mike Tomaszewski , PMP. Learning was fun!), followed by 3 hrs of study at home (same as taught in class and few practice tests provided in the course)

August 24, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM, followed by 3 hrs of study at home (same as taught in class and few practice tests provided in the course). I am excited to become PMP certified.

August 25, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 6 PM

August 26, 2010:::: PMStudy class 8 AM to 3 PM, followed by 5 hrs of study at home (all processes and few practice tests provided in the course)

August 27, 2010:::: Reread all the important as marked as instructed by Mike in the PMStudy book. Took 2 practice test ( 200 question, provided by PMStudy). Practiced the Process Chart and formulas 2 times. Checked ITTOs for Risk, Procurement and Quality. Watched a movie.

August 28, 2010:::: Took 1 practice test ( 200 question, provided by PMStudy). Practiced the Process Chart and formulas 1 time. Checked ITTOs for Risk, Procurement and Quality once again. Watched a 2 movies (1 in noon and 1 evening!@home). Got to bed at 10 (As advised by Mike and PMStudy, 12 hrs rest and no study before the exam)

August 29, 2010: Reached the Prometric testing center @ 8:45 AM. Test started at 9:30, completed 1st round with 75 marked for review in 2:15. Then took 1:15 to review all 75 and finally the rest of the time to re-review the marked ones that I was super confused about. System had to force time out for me :o) and then the blank screen came

45 thoughts to “Journey to be a PMP was 10 days long!”

  4. Whatever you paid for this, you were ripped off. To get a true PMP cert it requires 5000 hours of project management. You have to actually provide documentation from your employer showing proof of project run and hours booked by you. Sounds like you didn’t do that, I would say that this is not a real cert that you got.

    Reply

  5. Whatever you paid for this, you were ripped off. To get a true PMP cert it requires 5000 hours of project management. You have to actually provide documentation from your employer showing proof of project run and hours booked by you. Sounds like you didn’t do that, I would say that this is not a real cert that you got.

    Reply

  6. Whatever you paid for this, you were ripped off. To get a true PMP cert it requires 5000 hours of project management. You have to actually provide documentation from your employer showing proof of project run and hours booked by you. Sounds like you didn’t do that, I would say that this is not a real cert that you got.

    Reply

  10. Rohit,

    What you accomplished in only 10 days is remarkable. I assume you had already been accepted by PMI to take the exam prior to Aug. 19th since you can’t register with Prometric till that step was done.

    It took me A LOT longer than 10 days to pass the exam (I’m embarrassed to say how long), but I didn’t have the benefit of a personal coach. Wish I did!

    Congrats!

    Sam Santiago, PMP

    Reply

    1. Hi Sam

      I appreciate you taking time and writing to me. You are right that I
      did it because of a coach. Going PMP is not an easy task needs lot of
      experience, commitment and above all a passion.

      Yes I had my application approved before I took the class. I
      personally think that if I had not taken a coaching I could not have
      done it in 4 months. I think you must be proud to be PMP. It is worth
      going PMP even if it takes a year to pass it. What do you hunk?

      Regards
      Rohit Prabhakar PMP

      Reply

  11. Rohit,

    What you accomplished in only 10 days is remarkable. I assume you had already been accepted by PMI to take the exam prior to Aug. 19th since you can’t register with Prometric till that step was done.

    It took me A LOT longer than 10 days to pass the exam (I’m embarrassed to say how long), but I didn’t have the benefit of a personal coach. Wish I did!

    Congrats!

    Sam Santiago, PMP

    Reply

    1. Hi Sam

      I appreciate you taking time and writing to me. You are right that I
      did it because of a coach. Going PMP is not an easy task needs lot of
      experience, commitment and above all a passion.

      Yes I had my application approved before I took the class. I
      personally think that if I had not taken a coaching I could not have
      done it in 4 months. I think you must be proud to be PMP. It is worth
      going PMP even if it takes a year to pass it. What do you hunk?

      Regards
      Rohit Prabhakar PMP

      Reply

  12. Rohit,

    What you accomplished in only 10 days is remarkable. I assume you had already been accepted by PMI to take the exam prior to Aug. 19th since you can’t register with Prometric till that step was done.

    It took me A LOT longer than 10 days to pass the exam (I’m embarrassed to say how long), but I didn’t have the benefit of a personal coach. Wish I did!

    Congrats!

    Sam Santiago, PMP

    Reply

    1. Hi Sam

      I appreciate you taking time and writing to me. You are right that I
      did it because of a coach. Going PMP is not an easy task needs lot of
      experience, commitment and above all a passion.

      Yes I had my application approved before I took the class. I
      personally think that if I had not taken a coaching I could not have
      done it in 4 months. I think you must be proud to be PMP. It is worth
      going PMP even if it takes a year to pass it. What do you hunk?

      Regards
      Rohit Prabhakar PMP

      Reply

  15. hi Sir, thanks for the valuable info..  
    I am planning to take PMP exam on new pattern soon and have joined PMBOK classes from July 1. 
    Would need your guidance n blessings ;).. 

    Reply

  16. Hi Rohit,

    Thanks for valuable information.  Since you have your PMP, how are you earning your PDUs?  Can you please provide details?

    Thanks

    Samir

    Reply

    1. Hi Samir

      Thanks for writing back to me. I am earning PDUs by doing the following:
      1) Attend events that give PDUS for PMI: I attended few Gartner conferences. Each conference provided me 15 PDUs
      2) Doing my job: I got 5 PDUs for evey year I have practiced Project Management. 
      3) Education Programs by outside providers: My present employer has self development training programs that offer PDUs through skillsoft.

      You can go to PMI site for more details on other ways to gain PDUs http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Ways-to-Earn-PDUs.aspx 

      Hope I was able to answer your question. Please let me know if you need more details.

      Thanks
      Rohit

      Note: I may also attend some free webinars as listed on http://www.squidoo.com/pmp-how-to-get-my-60-pdus 

      Reply

  17. Hi Rohit,

    I’m thinking of attending PMStudy boot camp (Chicago, IL).  I still have about 2 months so I’ll do my best to prepare as much as I can.  I’ll be attending weekend session (Sat, Sun, and then Sat, Sun).  I think I’ll study on Mon after the last class and then take test on Tue.  What do you suggest?  I want to pass on my first try.

    Do you think I should wait few days and practice more once after completing boot camp or should I take the test right away?

    If you can please explain how was your boot camp class environment was, that would be great – powerpoint?  read from book? etc….?

    Thank you Rohit
    .

    Samir

    Reply

    1. Samir, 
      That is a wonderful plan. I strongly recommend taking it within 2-3 days. You are all set, great plan! I learnt from my experience after PMStudy boot camp that we should not wait.

      Our instructor used PowerPoint that was also provided as hard copy as workbooks. We only used PMBOK as reference guide (nothing more than that). I didnot read from any other book than the printed material from PMStudy.

      One thing that I was very religious with was the evening revision and the exercise tests that PMStudy gave. PMStudy will also give you a process chart which you should definitely remember and draw in the first 5 minutes of your exam. Practice drawing the chart as often as possible before the exam.

      Hope all above that is my personal experience only helps you. Please keep me posted as I look forward to hear the good news from you. Please also free to write back to me over here as and when you need.

      Best wishes
      Rohit

      Reply

    1. Hi Samir

      Thanks for writing back to me. I am earning PDUs by doing the following:
      1) Attend events that give PDUS for PMI: I attended few Gartner conferences. Each conference provided me 15 PDUs
      2) Doing my job: I got 5 PDUs for evey year I have practiced Project Management.

      Reply

  20. I found this blog when beginning my initial research for the PMP. Thanks Rohit! Great job! It took me 2 months to study/prep because my background is not as technical and I come from an ad agency background. I can not say enough good thinks about Mike at PM study. After reading Rohit’s blog, he gave me advice and guided me even though I signed up with the PMTI institute as they aligned with my schedule. I STRONGLY recommend going with PM Study and Mike. This class cost me around 2k (with the fee test) and I spent more time because I didn’t have the right instructor. Luckily, I was taking a career break and could afford it, but it made that time more stressful. Stay focused and you can attain anything you want! Good luck.

    Reply

  21. I have a unique problem….I was working as a software engineer, 5 years back with experience of 4 years at various roles starting from team member to project lead and onsite co-oridator…to cater to personal commitments I had to take a break from my career…..I am very eager to learn project management….I want to know if doing PMP is good option for me? will that help me get back to my career

    Reply

    1. Hi Priya

      I apologize for all this delay in responding. I would recommend you to get back to Project Management for some time (atleast a year) and then go for PMP. In my own opinion becoming a PMP certified is of no great use until you have right experience (other than getting eligible for jobs that need PMP). Once you are practicing the PM it will be lot more easier for you to go PMP and get the value out of the whole process.

      Please feel free to reach out to me in case you have any more questions.

      Best Wishes
      Rohit

      Reply

  22. Hi Rohit,

    I failed to clear by pmp in the first attempt. Reason being i could not get the full understanding or related all the knowledge areas process flow together. I needed a coaching which can guide me through this and give a bigger picture on how i can relate to this before i take my second attempt and with PMP exam changing from 31July. Could you suggest which online coaching should help me with this.

    Looking forward for your reply.

    Regards
    Vasu

    Reply

  24. Hi Rohit,

    I am currently working as a project manager but concentrating on lean and six sigma methodologies, I want to do PMP to have the certification as an added qualification if I want to move to other project management roles. I am visiting India this Dec Jan and saw a PMStudy boot camp but only for 2 days in Ahmedabad. It works well according to my travel plans but do you think a 2 day boot camp is enough time to get a good grasp of the subject ? cause everywhere else I read PMStudy has a 4 day boot camp.

    Can you please advise?

    Regards
    Shweta

    Reply

    1. Hi Shweta

      I apologize for the delay in responding as I was out for last 2 weeks. I have no experience with their 2 day bootcamp but I will recommend to go with it if it comes with the money back policy. If they have put a 2 day bootcamp it should be working and moreover I think that as you are already a practitioner it may very well work for you.

      Good luck and keep me posted. Feel free to let me know if I can be of any help. I promise I will not be late this time.

      Best wishes
      Rohit Prabhakar

      Reply

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