How did I crack the PMP exam 2022 in 3 days?

How did I pass the PMP exam in 2022, above target in all 3 domains, in 1st attempt with 3 days of preparations without reading PMBOK guide or not giving any mocks?

Yes it’s difficult to believe but it happened. Hence, on request of PMP aspirants I decided to pen down my approach.

Are you on the journey of taking the PMP exam? Since a long time considering it? But heard that it is too tough to pass? Need months and months of preparations??

I was in the same boat too…until a few days ago!

PMP exam is tough but not as tough as the perception around the exam has been built up over the years! So, “Yes, you can do it!”

Here goes my 2 cents with an intention this post might help you…

I would like to share my approach by focusing on below 9 points.

(Assumption here is that your PMP exam application is approved.)

1. FIND COURAGE soon to SCHEDULE and ATTEMPT the PMP exam, you will never feel 100% ready for it!

→It's not that theoretical exam anymore like until 2021 to cram everything. On the contrary, the new exam format from 2021 is quite practical with situational questions which you can relate to your project management profession.

→I’m with you that the exam is not a cakewalk that you sit with zero preparations ( I don’t like to use generally demotivating words like tough/difficult but I have been hearing this too, also looking at those big books, I delayed my plans too..) but to pass it is not Impossible! Since the format is much better than before, which makes it possible.

→My PMP exam application was approved in 2021. After which, I scheduled the exam twice but rescheduled/cancelled it. Due to several new challenges in my profession I just couldn't (or read as didn't) prioritize studying for the exam. I was lacking commitment to attempt the exam.

But, after a crazy year in 2021, I convinced myself to bring the needed focus on attempting the PMP exam in 2022. Hence on 9th January I thought to check when my eligibility for the PMP exam is expiring and I realized that it's quite soon in 4 days!

I somehow gathered courage to schedule an exam in 3 days as I understood exam fees will not be refunded even though I don't appear for the exam. And this time rescheduling/cancelling was not an option. So I convinced myself no matter what I should give MY BEST. I should utilize the time in hand to make the most out of it, otherwise in the worst case I would think that I gave an expensive mock test of 555$. I needed this to overcome my “fear of failure”.

10th and 11th January morning I had other professional commitments. So I spent,? 10th afternoon thinking what preparation is possible in such a short duration of time? I realized below.

2. DO NOT CRAM anything for this new format of PMP exam!?

Am I joking? No. You are reading correctly. Craming is not really needed. Even not for the EVM (earned value management) formulas like -CV, SV, CPI, SPI.

If you focus on understanding concepts you will not forget the logic of those concepts and how the simple formulas are built up.

→ 10th January afternoon I spent 2-3 hours studying for a course by Andrew Ramdayal-PMI-ACP certification exam prep 21 PDU course (yes! I know I was appearing for PMP and not for ACP exam but still I purchased this course since my whole idea was to understand Agile and Scrum concepts in the best possible manner). So I completed the first 1.5 sections out of 9.

11th January afternoon, I continued with the same course and finished until section 2 (2 hr 23 min). I found it's section 2-Agile principles & mindset as great to get the concept of Agile and scrum clear in my head. I repeated a few lectures to understand the deeper meaning until I fully understood (at least I thought I understood!).

I’m the person who learns more from the engaging format like video courses rather than from books. If you relate to this below are the links to the courses:

I thought I know about predictive project management due to my profession hence I didn’t go through this full prep course. You don’t need to watch full courses but use the sections where you think, you need to understand it better.

1. https://www.udemy.com/course/pmi-acp-certification-course/
2. https://www.udemy.com/course/pmp-pmbok6-35-pdus/

→ Also, It's a myth among PMP aspirants that the Agile part is more in the exam. That is mostly feeling based perception. As test takers in 2021 were preparing from 2020 an old format, when they attempted the new format they felt Agile questions are more even if it’s ~50%.

→ For my exam questions on predictive vs Hybrid & Agile were 50-50%

Soon, amidst all this preparation I realised I’m taking a home based exam so must check below.

3. Visit the PMI Online Proctoring page and review information on exam policies and procedures, system requirements, and “DO a SYSTEM TEST!”

→ Do not underestimate all these technicalities to avoid last minute surprises. Also watch videos to understand home based exam policy or rules to save yourself from any unnecessary interruptions or nasty experience from proctor.

→ On the evening of 11th January I thought to check if my laptop(/system) works for an exam as I had scheduled a home based exam for 12th January afternoon. And boom! My laptop OS (as it was a Chromebook) was not supported for an exam. Eventually, I managed to borrow my dear friend’s spare laptop (Yes, she was a saviour!). Please don't make such mistakes which you can easily avoid as it ate up my crucial time of prepping for the D-day.?

I strongly recommend you to test your system at least 2-3 days before your exam. Since my system was back on track, I pulled myself up and went further to understand the check-in process, how photos of workspace will be uploaded via phone? So phone is allowed with you only until you upload photos of your workspace via QR code and other 2 options displayed on your screen at the time of your exam.??

I prepped my exam desk, left literally nothing on it, cleaned the complete room then decided below.

4. Make sure to get a GOOD NIGHT SLEEP of 8 HOURS a night before your exam!

This is quite important so that you don’t feel sleepy or out of energy during your exam. It’s normal that we feel super nervous a day before an exam, I felt it too but that doesn’t mean you compromise on sleep.

→ I got 8 hours of complete sleep on the night of 11th January and woke up fresh on the morning of 12th January.

Drink water/liquids only upto ~3 hours before the exam to save yourself from not taking pee breaks (as in home based exam you are not allowed to leave your seat apart from two 10 minutes dedicated breaks, yes not even for pee breaks!).

→ As this morning was very crucial and could be a deciding time for the preparation of my exam, I dedicated 3 hours (8.00-11.00) for all the last minute tips, concepts, knowledge etc. before the actual exam and watched all these videos mostly on the speed of 1.5x:

PMP intro and type of questions:

1. PMP introduction 6 videos playlist by Varun Anand https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLStVfAQ8d1aA3KReWXA-X2rMPbF-BxctK [ From this playlist, 1st video, I watched it thoroughly and it was very helpful to get the gist of exam, and gain confidence. PMP 2022: New PMP EXAM Prep Format: Introduction to PMP (2022) by Varun Anand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXNC_IXwQ_k ]

2. PMP 2022: PMP Certification: Introduction to Agile (2022): New PMP Exam Prep – Video 1 by Varun Anand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR5lUFm0GKU

3. PMP 2022: PMP Exam Prep: Types of Project Life Cycles?including Agile (2022) – Video 2 by Varun Anand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2qPW_5i4_I

4. PMP 2021, 5 Practice Questions in 13 Minutes by Andrew Ramdayal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m9C-uEDvqc

5. PMP 2021, 5 Drag and Drop Questions in 8 minutes by Andrew Ramdayal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZP48L--z-s&t=310s

6. PMP Exam, Earned Value Management Full Course Part 1 - Best EVM course to Passing All EMV Questions by Andrew Ramdayal?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRls2OrM2s0 [Very good summary of formula available here. Don’t need to cram formulas, just understand logic!]

7. PMP Exam, Earned Value Management Full Course Part 2 - Best EVM course to Passing All EMV Questions by Andrew Ramdayal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iReI-hZU-o

While watching these videos, I realized another most important point as below.

5. Make a TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGY for yourself!

This is a non-negotiable and one of the MOST important steps to deal with 180 Questions in 230 minutes!

→ One of the reasons, passing rate is low for PMP is that many test takers are not able to attempt all 180 questions. Do attempt ALL 180 questions.? Do not leave any single questions unattended, it will be considered as wrong.

→ From this video I derived my time management strategy too:

How to Manage Your Time on the 2021 PMP Exam by Andrew Ramdayal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNg1iyGAmaw

→ As on the exam screen there is a reverse countdown of 230 min and wrist watch (even analogue) is not allowed , looking at the wall clock is not allowed too, as remember proctor is watching you from a webcam. Hence make sure you understand at what +/- of time you need to finish section 1(1-60 Questions), 2 (61-120 Questions) and 3 (121-180 Questions). How much time do you want to assign to reviewing flagged questions from corresponding sections.

As a reminder, Once you submit section 1 you cannot go back to review those questions, similarly for all the sections. There is a hard stop at section for number of questions but not for time hence you need to manage your time carefully.?

I finished the 1st section (1-60 Qns) in 90 min instead of 75 min I.e. 15 min over. I had to catch up in the next section (refer point 8 for a technique), otherwise I definitely would not have been able to attempt all 180 questions.

By the end of the 2nd section I took a lead of 10 min (wondering on how? Refer to the points 7 and 8 below).

And by the end of 3rd section I had 20 min left of which I used 15 min in reviewing flagged questions from section 3.

I didn't review flagged questions at the end of section 1(1-60 Qns ) and section 2 (61-120 Qns) thinking I should have time at least to attempt all 180 Qns and not leave anything unseen.?

How did I then keep up with exam fatigue of 270 min, refer below.

6.? Do take two 10 minute BREAKS!

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to keep up your energy against this exam fatigue.

→ These two 10 minutes breaks are extra time given and not deducted from your exam of 230 minutes, hence total schedule time is 270 min which includes two 10-minutes breaks, unless you take more than 10 minutes in the break , then it starts getting deducted from your exam time.

→ Due to taking breaks it helped me to recharge myself but still by the end of 3rd and last section I was uncontrollably yawning in front of the Webcam (proctor is watching you for the full exam, you don't see proctor but they see you).

→ Plan your break in advance, Think about how you are going to use it? Because this 10 minutes goes very fast! You should not spend this time and energy thinking what shall do, how shall do but just follow the plan you made in advance!

→ I would suggest following as it worked for me, but follow your body requirements.

- Do some stretches, sit ups to regulate your blood flow in the body.

- Already keep meals ready on the table like small bites, fresh fruit juice (or whatever you prefer, but don't consume a lot of liquids because i’m repeating this that in home based exam you can't take a pee break apart from these two dedicated 10 minute breaks, hence watch out on your liquid consumption before and during the exam). This will really help you to freshen up, overcome exam stress and overcome fatigue.

What helped me to get a needed lead in the time in section 2 and 3? Refer below.

7. To understand the MINDSET of PMI, how an ideal project manager should behave in particular situations!

While attempting questions, do wear this servant leader hat. Understand it’s principles thoroughly.?

→ For me, it was quite intuitive due to my profession and leadership principles I follow. If you want to get this familiar with yourself I suggest going through Servant leadership videos and concepts here.

2021 PMP Exam, My Best Tip for Situational Questions by Andrew Ramdayal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUxbbRVapMA

Another most important aspect was below.

8. ELIMINATION technique!

PMP exam several types of questions. In my exam majority were to choose 1 option out of 4. This technique helped me A LOT to catch up on time.

→ As I mentioned in point 5 of time management, I had to catch up on time in section 2, sometimes I skipped reading few big questions, went straight away to the options, eliminated non servant key words like-escalate to functional manager or sponsor, fire, hire new replacement etc. but there can be few traps in the wordings here and there so don’t do this blindly, went back to quickly skimming question to affirm of my answer choice.

Refer to these video where instructor Varun Anand beautifully explained the application of elimination technique by using actual questions.

1. PMP 2022: PMP Certification: Introduction to Agile (2022): New PMP Exam Prep – Video 1 by Varun Anand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR5lUFm0GKU
2. PMP 2022: New PMP EXAM Prep Format: Introduction to PMP (2022) by Varun Anand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXNC_IXwQ_k

Last point I would like to cover is below.

9. Mock or PMP simulation exams!

Should I give or not? How many should I give? How much should I score in mocks in order to pass the real PMP exam? Bla bla bla…

→ I didn't have time for giving mocks so I completely skipped this part and didn’t worry too much about it.

→ Maybe if you have time, you can use it to test and practice building up your stamina by sitting for long hours for an exam.

→ Do not make these mocks as life and death situations. Scores in these can guide you on your approach to tackle exam but real exam can be different from these mocks and even better too! You never know, hence feel ready soon to give a real PMP exam rather than being stuck in scoring >70-75% in mocks!

It was unbelievable when at the end of exam when I read "Congratulations!"

Be confident about yourself and I’m sure you can soon be PMP certified too!

All the best.

#PMP