So this morning was my PMP exam and before I bore you with the long details, let me tell you what I literally saw in my dream this morning as I woke up to go do the exam at a proctor site, which I thought was a good omen: I was in a really high rise building with family and friends and suddenly , there was beautiful fireworks! While it is easy to tell what fireworks stand for , I had never seen fireworks in my dream and a quick Google search confirmed that they stand for good news, celebrations etc.
So my journey with my PMP started 2.5 years ago, literally while onboard a flight from Las Vegas to Toronto. I started plotting my work experience and realized I was still at around 2500 hours (at the time it was based on hours, not months) and would hopefully get the rest of the required hours in the next 2-3 years.
Fast forward, and through Covid and all the projects that came with it, I managers to get to the required 36 months of experience.
But my studying was sporadic and all over the place. I was reviewing some old PMP books and notes , even bought a Udemy course (Joseph Philips) but didn’t get serious until June 2021. That is a months when our company terminated another team member r (more of a downgrade of duties) and that is when it hit me that nothing is guaranteed in a career and I need the get my PMP so o am not at the mercy of companies or downsizing etc.
Then throughout the summer, I was studying but on and off , then restarted seriously in October 2021 , only to get sidetracked by family and being extremely busy at work.
In Jan 2022, I finished all my courses and started working on my application which took me a week, and it took them a week to finally approve it. By late Feb, I scheduled my exam for today, to give me enough time to review things.
My study plan , although similar to most of you here, started and had one consistent theme to it: I literally and always said to myself ‘I am PMP Certified’ starting with my notebook where I did all my study notes, to my iPhone, diary and many other places. I wanted to stamp it in my brain and subconscious that I can do this and not to scare myself. I think this single simple step made the biggest difference for me. It totally change my attitude toward the exam and made it seem like a matter of time before I get it.
Finally, my study consisted of the usual Udemy courses (Joseph Philips for traditional and Andrew Ramdayal for Agile and Mindset). But in addition to these two excellent resources, I have to give shutout to the following two other excellent resources whom I think are not appreciated or mentioned enough here:
-PMP Exam Radio Show with Phill Akinwale: he has both a podcast and a YouTube channel. His expertise , knowledge, calming voice and the way he articulates and simplifies PMP and Agile concepts is second to none. While I mostly listened to his podcasts while working and driving, he has some very interesting videos with some cool themes (answering pmp questions in a beach party like theme) to make thing more fun. Check him out, how calming voice alone will help in times of stressful studying. His channel on YouTube is https://youtube.com/c/Praizion
-200 AGILE PMP Questions and Answers - the
BEST Preparation for the Exam! with David McLachlan, on YouTube.
ASHOOR
So my journey with my PMP started 2.5 years ago, literally while onboard a flight from Las Vegas to Toronto. I started plotting my work experience and realized I was still at around 2500 hours (at the time it was based on hours, not months) and would hopefully get the rest of the required hours in the next 2-3 years.
Fast forward, and through Covid and all the projects that came with it, I managers to get to the required 36 months of experience.
But my studying was sporadic and all over the place. I was reviewing some old PMP books and notes , even bought a Udemy course (Joseph Philips) but didn’t get serious until June 2021. That is a months when our company terminated another team member r (more of a downgrade of duties) and that is when it hit me that nothing is guaranteed in a career and I need the get my PMP so o am not at the mercy of companies or downsizing etc.
Then throughout the summer, I was studying but on and off , then restarted seriously in October 2021 , only to get sidetracked by family and being extremely busy at work.
In Jan 2022, I finished all my courses and started working on my application which took me a week, and it took them a week to finally approve it. By late Feb, I scheduled my exam for today, to give me enough time to review things.
My study plan , although similar to most of you here, started and had one consistent theme to it: I literally and always said to myself ‘I am PMP Certified’ starting with my notebook where I did all my study notes, to my iPhone, diary and many other places. I wanted to stamp it in my brain and subconscious that I can do this and not to scare myself. I think this single simple step made the biggest difference for me. It totally change my attitude toward the exam and made it seem like a matter of time before I get it.
Finally, my study consisted of the usual Udemy courses (Joseph Philips for traditional and Andrew Ramdayal for Agile and Mindset). But in addition to these two excellent resources, I have to give shutout to the following two other excellent resources whom I think are not appreciated or mentioned enough here:
-PMP Exam Radio Show with Phill Akinwale: he has both a podcast and a YouTube channel. His expertise , knowledge, calming voice and the way he articulates and simplifies PMP and Agile concepts is second to none. While I mostly listened to his podcasts while working and driving, he has some very interesting videos with some cool themes (answering pmp questions in a beach party like theme) to make thing more fun. Check him out, how calming voice alone will help in times of stressful studying. His channel on YouTube is https://youtube.com/c/Praizion
-200 AGILE PMP Questions and Answers - the
BEST Preparation for the Exam! with David McLachlan, on YouTube.
ASHOOR
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