Twelve Lessons Learned from my PMP Certification

1. TWELVE LESSONS LEARNED FROM
MY PMP CERTIFICATION.
Latyr Jean-Luc FAYE, PMP ®
March 2013.

2. 01. TREAT IT AS A PROJECT
 Initiate
 Make sure you know why you are envisioning to enrolled to PMP certification.
 Manage your stakeholders.
 Plan
 Stay focus: do not over-estimate activities nor stretch the schedule over a long
period of time.
 Execute
 Register with Project Management Institute (PMI).
 Study & Take the exam.
 Monitor & Control
 Self-evaluate progress made using resources available and mock exams.
 Close
 Whatever your performance, assess and gather lessons learned.
 Once successful, move to operations or a new project to maintain your credentials.

3. 02. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
 In every Project, THE Project Manager makes the
difference.
 Be motivated, be focused, be pro-active.
 PMP is a professional certification that requires a lot of
personal involvement.
 Make sure you have identified all stakeholders and
make them participate to the joint-venture.
 Trust:
 need full support from spouse and kids. This is critical.
 need also, to a broader extend, the support from friends
and colleagues.
«The P in PM is as much about 'people management' as it is about
'project management'.» – Cornelius Fichtner

4. 03. PMBOK, YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND
 Get an up-to-date copy of the Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).
 It provides the mindset underlying PMI's concepts
of Project Management.
 The PMBOK must be read thoroughly:
 by Knowledge Areas
 in a sequence that processes may be applied from
initiating to closing.
 Refer to Appendix F (summary) and Glossary
(definitions) for better understanding.
 Read and adhere to the PMI Code of Ethics.
 The PMI Lexicon provides additional definitions.

5. 04. BROADEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE
 Other relevant reference materials is also required
to broaden the scope of the concepts presented in
PMI’s PMBOK.
 The actual use of the formulas
 Maslow, Herzberg
 Fixed Price Incentive Fees contract sharing ratios
 etc.
 I have used:
 PMP Exam Prep, Seventh Edition by Rita Mulcahy
 TSI Ultimate PMP Exam Prep Guide by Wes Balakian
and Timothy Bergmann

6. 05. GO ONLINE & MOBILE
 Use online materials (YouTube, podcasts, forums,
LinkedIn) to increase your understanding of the
PMBOK content.
 Use your smartphone and apps so you can study &
practice anywhere at any time.
 I have been very pleased with Examojo for iOS.
 Go mobile is a Must.

7. 06. BRAIN DUMP MAGIC
 Numerous new concepts, formulas and knowledge
to acquire and remember for the exam.
 Create your own brain dump with all the formulas
and topics you have trouble with.
 Practise creating it from memory.

8. 07. UNDERSTANDING, NOT MEMORISATION!
 Know all the processes.
 Be able to relate them to their knowledge areas &
process groups.
 Understand the basic concepts and interactions
among the processes.
 By reading a question you must be able to know
where you are in the project (process, process
group, Knowledge Area).
 Don't memorise all the ITTO’s for all processes. You
need to know the important ones.

9. 08. PRACTISE – PRACTISE – PRACTISE
 Get an exam simulator (Examojo ), it provides an
array of exams to practise.
 Practise Exam Questions over and over.
 Use wrong answers to focus and build your brain
dump.
 Take advantage of the free exams on Internet to be
well prepared for the exam.
 Know all the formulas and how to apply them.

10. 09. THE D DAY: THE EXAM
 Ensure you carry appropriate identification
documents and the appointment schedule
notification.
 The exam is difficult. You can pass it if well
prepared. This is the fact.
 Sitting for a 4 hour-long written exam is tiresome.
Make sure you get there fresh and relax.
 Arrive on time (preferably 30 minutes in advance).
 Use the 15 mns tutorial to do your brain dump.
 Plan your breaks. It takes time to sign in and sign
out.

11. 10. DEFINE AND FOLLOW A TEST STRATEGY
 Remember all questions have the same notation.
 Do not spent more than one minute on a question.
In doubt, mark it and move forward.
 Mark any questions with formulas and network
diagrams.
 Do not let any questions unanswered (or blank).
You have 25% chance to pick the correct answer.
 Stay focus even if you feel that you are going to fail.

12. 11. TIPS DURING THE EXAM
 Always answer questions from PMI perspective.
 Always select the best answer when more than one
is correct.
 Review all your answers/marked questions.
 Remember, don’t leave any unanswered questions.
 Restraint from changing too many answers (I
reviewed 150 questions and changed only one
answer).
 Relax and breathe deeply for one minute on a
regular basis (every x questions or y minutes).

13. 12. AFTER THE EXAM
 Do your lessons learned (pass or fail)
 If still not the case, become a member of PMI.
 If fail, this is not the end of the world:
 Understand why.
 Apply corrective actions and plan for the next test.
 If Pass:
 Update your Curriculum Vitae.
 Celebrate (with your stakeholders if possible).
 Start planning earning PDUs to keep your status.

14. CONCLUSION
 Indeed, it is not an easy exam although not difficult.
 Indeed, it requires a fair amount of preparation, yet
it does not require to study fulltime.
 Indeed, it worth the effort as you will gain a lot:
 Personal Development (Procurement, HR, etc.)
 Professional Recognition (PMP)
 Increase self esteem (achievement)
 Language is a barrier that should also not be under-
estimated for the non native English speaking
people.
 Getting certified is the beginning of a process, if you
want to maintain your status.

15. USEFUL RESOURCES
 PMBOK Guide Fourth Edition (valid edition
at the time of my exam)
 PMP Exam Prep, Seventh Edition by Rita
Mulcahy
 TSI Ultimate PMP Exam Prep Guide by
Wes Balakian and Timothy Bergmann
 Head First PMP, 2nd Edition by Jennifer
Greene, Andrew Stellman
 The PMP Exam : How to Pass on Your First
Try by Andy Crowe
 PMP Project Management Professional
Exam Study Guide by Kim Heldman
 PMP Certification All-In-One Desk
Reference For Dummies by Cynthia
Stackpole Snyder
 Local PMI Chapters
 Examojo LTS Suite
(www.examojo.com)
 Cornelius Fichtner (www.cornelius-
fichtner.com)
 Oliver Lehman
(www.oliverlehmann.com)
 Rita Mulcahy PMP Fast Track
 PMStudy (www.pmstudy.com)
 Simplilearn (www.simplilearn.com)
 PMZilla forum (http://pmzilla.com)
 Exam Central (www.examcentral.net)
 PMI eReads section : Practice Makes
Perfect by John Estrella.
 Various LinkedIn Groups
Physical Online

16. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION
Latyr@free.fr
www.twitter.com/LatyrF
fr.linkedin.com/in/LatyrF