How I become a PMP Certified Project Manager in 45 Days under $600

Hey folks!!!

Happy to see you all in my post.

Disclaimer: This post is little, longer but Informative

Steps I followed:

I started my preparation from 1 July 2023.

Step 1: Visit Project Management Institute | PMI, create an account using your Email ID and once you enter into the website you can find a tab called certification in that click Project Management Professional (PMP?) Go through the page you will find the requirements for the Exam application am pointing out below:

• 36 months of experience leading projects within the past eight years
• 35 hours of project management education/training or CAPM? certification

It's a 4-hour long exam with 180 multiple choice question totally 3 sections with 2 ten minutes break in between the sections. Please read the PMP content outline guide pdf available in Project Management Institute pmi.org for more details about the sections.

So, the obvious next step for us will be 35 hours Project Management training.

Step 2: login to Online Courses - Learn Anything, On Your Schedule | Udemy create an account under your Email ID, make sure you create the User Name similar to what we want in our PMP certificate because 35 hours PDU is mandatory for our exam application, I took Andrew Ramdayal PMP Certification Exam Prep Course 35 PDU Contact Hours/PDU PMP Certification Exam Prep Course 35 PDU Contact Hours/PDU | Udemy believe me guys he was amazing. I gained a high level of knowledge about everything in PMBOK 6, PMBOK 7, and the Agile Guide. His Mindset session is a must-watch. I watched it around 13 times, including five times one day before the exam. ? Concentrate more on below sections from the Video library.

1. Section 9 - Agile project management methods and delivery
2. Section 10 - Agile stakeholder management
3. Section 11 - Agile planning, problem resolution and continuous improvement
4. Section 12 - Hybrid project management
5. Section 16 - Mindset (Very important)

? I got this course from Udemy for $10 in Udemy sale. After watching all the 342 video sessions you will receive a certificate like this I have attached below

15% of the progress is completed, now you are good to go for your PMP Exam Application

Step 3: Please don't skip this step, it's a very important step "Do the Exam Application and take your Exam Date" Never skip this Guys I repeat again, if you have the date before you start your preparation it notifies your brain to prepare for the Exam. You can apply for the exam just by going into pmi.org<<Certifications tab<<Project Management Professional (PMP)<<there you can find a option as Apply for PMP certification click into that and you will see the application form. Tips for Exam Application:

• Overlapping can be used for only one project.?

take the above image as an example, consider you have 3 projects Project 1 - 10 months, project 2 - 8 months and Project 3 - 12 months and the three projects overlapped for 8 months, so in application you should mention 22 months instead of 30 months.

• Create a very good Description about your project experience, use the process group and knowledge area words to make it crisp.
• Make sure the name in the certificate of 35 hours PDU matches with your PMI username.

Check all the details properly before clicking submit, once you submitted it takes 5 working days to get your application approved. 95% of application will get approved easily and 5% they will choose randomly for audit, make sure your details and experience mentioned are legit. you will get your approval in the registered Email ID, and you will get a link to apply for the Exam Date.

I recommend all to get the membership before you book the date. as you will get a discount in your Exam fees and also you will get the softcopy of all the publishing by PMI (Its worth having),

For membership you will pay $139. ? After getting the membership get your exam date using the link PMI provided with the approval mail (I recommend not to take more than 60 Days). Choose the center wisely.

There is a long debate going on for Inhouse exam or Center based exam, i took from a center at Kuwait and the experience was very good.

Make sure the application name is as per your ID (passport is the universal ID for the Exam you can use the local ID too)

Exam Fees Member: $405.00 Non-Member: $555.00

20% of the progress is completed, now its study Time.

Step 4: Start to read PMBOK 6, I recommend you Read PMBOK 6 simultaneously with Rita Murphy's Guide 10 For E.g.: If you read Project Schedule Management Chapter first read that chapter in PMBOK 6 then Read it in Rita's Guide. It gives you a deep understanding as Rita's Guide explains everything with an Example, simultaneously I was reading Agile Guide at Early Morning, this 184 pages Agile guide is the core of the Exam around 75% of the questions are from Agile.

My Study Plan:

Study Days - 21 Days

• Weekdays - 3 Hours (8:00PM to 10:00PM & 4:30AM to 5:30AM)
• Weekend - 5 Hours (randomly)

Tips for Study:

• Don't Memorize, Understand the concept.
• Write the keynotes for your end revision.
• try doing the multiple-choice questions provided after each chapter in Rita Murphy's Guide.?

Step 5: Purchase Study Hall from pmi.org, it will be under Learning and Events tab, I think I purchased it for $24 you will get 3 months of access, this is the game changer I got same questions in exam from study hall. In study hall you will get access to around 714 practice questions, 2 Full set mock test, 15 Mini mock test, Flash cards and much more.

Join in a Reddit group: (1) Project Management Professional (reddit.com), This group is very active and has 54.3K PMP Aspirants, I learned a lot from them, and they give the best motivation, I recommend Joining in this Reddit group.

Subscribe to David McLachlan in YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@davidmclachlanproject), He is a genius in project management, I practiced his 200 Agile questions, 150 PMBOK 7 questions and 100 PMBOK 6 questions from YouTube and I Recommend all the PMP Aspirants to take this practice question this is going to improve your learning a lot. The Links are mentioned below.

1. 200 Agile questions 200 AGILE PMP Questions and Answers - the BEST Preparation for the Exam! (youtube.com)
2. 150 PMBOK 7 questions 150 PMBOK 7 Scenario-Based PMP Exam Questions and Answers (youtube.com)
3. 100 PMBOK 6 questions 100 WATERFALL PMP Questions and Answers - EXCELLENT Preparation for the Exam! (youtube.com)

Tips for Practicing:

• Try to start with practice question from that you can know your weakness, then prepare against the weakness.
• Then Try 15 Mini practice mock test.
• Don't do the full-length mock test now.
• Practice Practice.... use your free time to practice, consider practicing as playing a game.

80% of the Progress is completed, Now tests yourself.

Step 6: Now it's time to take your 1st Full Length Mock test from PMI study hall, you need to hold your nerves as this full-length mock will worth your 4 hours' time. you can pause your exam.

Take this exam before one week (I took it before 2 weeks) of the Real Exam, I recommend taking on Sunday or any Leave days. I recommend you take this mock test seriously and do it as a real exam with same pattern of breaks to make your mind used to this situation (Seriously guys sitting 4 hours in an exam center after 8 years was exhausting)

Try to get more than 65% in the Exam, I got 73% for the First Exam.

After completion of the exam check the questions one by one and see the reasons for the wrong answers. For next one week practice the Study Hall practice questions continuously by resetting it.

Watch Andrew Ramdayal Mindset video daily for next 7 days.

Then Read third rock last minutes notes Extras | Kris @ Third3Rock (buymeacoffee.com) buy from here $14 and it worth each penny.

It has two pdf files one with 120 pages and other with 60 pages read both.

90% of the Progress is completed, Now check yourself after a week.

Step 7: Last step before the exam, Take the 2nd full length mock test from PMI study hall one day before your Exam, this one will be bit tougher than Mock test 1, Try to get 65% in this test, I got 71% doing this second test.

Do the same procedure as you did for Mock test 1, see all the questions one by one and review it. Just watch Andrew Ramdayals mind set video for the last one-time Sleep early as tomorrow is your PMP Exam

100% of the Progress is completed, and now next will be the Exam Day.

Exam Day: September 9th, 2023

• Go early before 1 hour of the commenced exam time.
• Take your ID with you, better keep your passport.
• Drink lot of water (Hydrate yourself).
• Dress lightly as they will exhaust you by security checks.
• Don't forget to go back to the questions which you have clicked for review.
• Keep your servant leadership mindset always with you before answering.

Thats all, I passed my Exam with above target in all three sections, and I got my result at the next moment once I clicked submit. (Seriously guys the seconds between the submit page loading and the result will make us to go from Heaven to Hell)

I got my result printed from the center for free And I received my Certificate after 5 working days through an Email note and I have downloaded it from my PMI dashboard. I think the badge for LinkedIn I received in 7 days.

Final Tips:

? First Schedule the Exam

? Understand the project Management Mindset

? Practice Study Hall Questions

Am Happy to help you all, please feel free to contact me for any clarification about PMI-PMP