PMP Exam Lessons Learned - by Ryan Bird, PMP

“The first time I was going to take the exam, work was picking up in Europe for me.

I thought, ‘oh this will be great, I’ll just read on the flight.’

I took the PMBOK with me and started reading as we were taking off. Hours later I woke up in Amsterdam.

After the layover, I thought, ‘ok well, I’ll get an hour in before getting to Warsaw.’

Nope.

On my return flights, it was the same story.

I read maybe 20 pages total on 2 transatlantic flights.

I did not have a coach for the exam and thought that reading the PMBOK would be the answer. After that trip, I set the PMP aside for 5 years and never took the exam. I was using the PMBOK and company-provided resources to prepare back then.

Looking back, a coach would have made a world of difference for me.

Fast forward 5 years to actually testing, I did not read a page of the PMBOK to prepare for the exam.

Coaching saved me a considerable amount of time and energy.”

Says Ryan Bird.

And if you’re thinking that he did it without PMBOK and with the help of a coach, you should also know that it took him just 4 weeks.

Ryan is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He’s spent a decade and a half handling projects. He’s a Program Manager at a Fortune 100 Telecom company in the US, handling projects worth $60M a year.

When not working, Ryan is busy mentoring younger employees and coaching his kids’ sports teams.

?? In a hurry??Watch this short video???

What made you take up PMP?

I was working for General Electric and PMP certification was being promoted within our PMO.

I had already been certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt several years prior.

Therefore, PMP certification seemed like the natural next step for me.

What’s the core benefit you expected from PMP certification?

My original expectation of the PMP certification was that I would have a slight edge for promotion over similar candidates that did not.

I think having the PMP certification serves as a credential booster.

What’s the single most important quality a PMP student should have?

The right Mindset.

I think a lot of people go into the exam with an incorrect mindset; the project management world promotes that the exam is the most difficult undertaking in the world. It’s not.

Consider this.

Those that are taking the test have been managing projects for years, with that being the case I guarantee you have had a project go sideways. An out-of-control project is much worse than taking the PMP exam.

You need to get your head straight if you are doubting yourself.

Write out your prior victories.

Focus on your prior successes; this is going to be another to add to the list.

Start speaking that you are passing the exam.?If your mind is focused on the positive it works a lot better.

Before I would start studying every day, I would tell myself this:?‘I am going to pass this exam on the first try and I am putting in the work to make that happen now’.

Before going in to take the exam I spoke about my expectations as well.

Which study resources did you use?

I used?Aileen Ellis’s?program.

She focuses on an overall strategy of coming to the correct answer along with the background knowledge required.

I used PMI’s?Agile Practice Guide?and?Kenneth Rubin’s Essential Scrum.

I read the practice guide and used Essential Scrum to support areas I was struggling with around Aileen’s practice questions.

In my first attempt at?preparing for PMP exam, I did not have a coach. And I thought that reading the PMBOK would be the answer.

After the struggle, I set the PMP aside for 5 years and never took the exam.

Looking back, a coach would have made a world of difference for me.

Fast forward 5 years to actually testing, I did not read a page of the PMBOK to prepare for the exam.

PMP without PMBOK, that’s a relief for many PMP students! What was your study approach?

About a year ago I got that nagging feeling of “I started this and I’m going to finish”.

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