PMP? Lessons Learned #29

Background & Motivation

Peak Point: Hey Talent! Big congratulations, on your PMP certification! Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got into project management?

Talent: Thank you! I am a Mechanical engineer from Zimbabwe currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Mechanical engineering at the Pan African University in Kenya. Before pursuing the Master’s program, I worked with several companies doing projects but without firm knowledge or strict adherence to project management principles. I found it important to take this certification to be competent enough and carry out projects in a professional manner in this ever-evolving industry.

Peak Point: What motivated you to pursue the PMP certification?

Talent: I first interacted with project management professionals just after my BSc program and during my attachment. Seeing how they would meticulously execute projects became very interesting for me. I asked one lady to train me at some point but she never found time to do so. So, I would use my knowledge of project and engineering management to execute various projects. I needed to be competent in project management and to further my knowledge base in that area as it is surely an interesting career.?

PMP Preparation Process:

Peak Point: How did you decide on your approach to preparing for the PMP exam?

Talent: I found an advertisement for Peak Point's PMP Exam Prep Masterclass on LinkedIn and did a background check on the organization and the tutors. I joined a class demo where the course was being explained by Eng.Kevin Nyakundi - PE, MBA, PMP?, PMI-CP, PMI-SCP, CPA(K) sometime in June/ July and momentarily was drawn into loving it. I then joined the official class in September, watched the class videos again, and used the PMP Exam Content Outline - ticking areas I did grasp - concerning the PMBOK Guide 7th Edition. I also found videos by Ricardo Vargas to be quite helpful.

Peak Point: Could you describe the study materials or courses you found most valuable during your preparation?

Talent: The PMBOK Guide 7th Edition, The Agile Practice Guide, YouTube videos by Ricardo Vargas, and questions and answers by David McLachlan were most helpful in the preparation for the exam. The content from Peak Point especially the interactive live classes, and questions and answers did help during the preparation.

Study Strategies:

Peak Point: Did you use any particular mnemonics or memory aids?

Talent: I did not use such.

Peak Point: Did you use any specific resources, such as books, online courses, or study groups, that you found particularly helpful?

Talent: Peak Point’s live class sessions and class recordings, PMBOK Guide 7th Edition, and the Agile Practice guide were particularly very helpful during the learning period. I did not join any study groups.

Overcoming Challenges:

Peak Point: Were there any specific challenges you encountered during your PMP preparation, and how did you overcome them?

Talent: No major challenge was encountered during the preparation but one challenging thing was balancing the time between my other school work and reading for the PMP exam.

Peak Point: Can you share a difficult moment or a time when you felt stuck in your preparation and how you worked through it?

Talent: Some practice questions were confusing when it seemed like more than one multiple-choice answer was correct. I would be stuck for some time, referring to the course materials trying to understand the gist of the question. At some point, I would just pick up the phone and call our class instructor Ronald Kefa, PMP, DASM, PMD Pro, to assist in demystifying the challenge. The instructors were really all very helpful in this journey.

Peak Point: Were there specific areas of the PMBOK Guide or the other PMP content that were particularly challenging?

Talent: Initially interpreting the Cost Performance Index (CPI) and the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) was a bit confusing whether +ve or -ve meant over or under budget but after some thorough assessment, it all made sense.

Peak Point: How did you balance work, study, and personal life during the preparation?

Talent: I had a very short time to prepare and balance study, work, and social life. I remember staying indoors throughout Christmas and New Year’s day trying to follow David McLachlan's practice questions on YouTube.

Exam Day Experience:

Peak Point: What was your experience like on the day of the PMP exam? How did you feel leading up to and during the exam?

Talent: I was very nervous in the beginning but I tried to distract myself as much as possible leading up to the test centre. During the exam, it was a very quiet and peaceful environment. I finally settled comfortably, the experience was very good and the environment very conducive. I managed to finish the exam on time and had enough time to review the questions I had marked for review. I took both breaks as I needed to get some fresh air and decompress.

Peak Point: Do you have any tips or strategies for staying focused and managing your time during the exam?

Talent: Staying focused is easy, just focus on the content and relate it to real-life scenarios, and it will flow nicely. Managing time is key, make your best guess on challenging questions, mark them for review, and move to the next as soon as possible, especially to the short and direct ones. Once you get to the end of the exam, you can review the marked questions.

Results and Celebrations:

Peak Point: How did you feel when you received your PMP exam results? Can you describe that moment?

Talent: I received the provisional result at the Pearson VUE test center in an envelope, I just opened it a bit and saw the congratulatory message. I was not much moved as I was keen on knowing the breakdown of the result per domain area. I went home and life continued as usual. I was happy inside but stayed calm.

Peak Point: What did you do to celebrate your success and achievement?

Talent: I did nothing; I just took some rest and told a few friends and family who were even happier than me. Seeing them happy was exhilarating.

Key Lessons and Advice:

Peak Point: Looking back, what are the most important lessons you learned during your PMP journey?

Talent: Cramming is never a strategy for the PMP exam. Know and master concepts as they relate to real project environments. PMP exam questions are not theoretical, they are situational.

Peak Point: If you were to advise someone just starting their PMP preparation, what would it be?

Talent: There are no shortcuts, learn the concepts and master them. The whole world might depend on you as a global PMP so, give it your all and make it count. It is worth the time, money, and effort you put into it.

Study Habits and Time Management:

Peak Point: How did you balance your work, study, and personal life while preparing for the PMP exam?

Talent: I had no specific timetable, what was demanding at that moment was what I was doing as all were quite demanding.

Peak Point: Are there any specific study habits or time management techniques that helped you stay on track?

Talent: Each free moment counted; I would multitask at some point trying to balance. There was no specific trend that helped me stay on track as I was trained to be flexible in an ever-changing environment.

Final Thoughts:

Peak Point: Is there anything else you'd like to add or any final thoughts you'd like to share with aspiring PMP candidates?

Talent: Our instructors always said: "Schedule the damn exam." Once you pay the exam fees and schedule the exam it is better to channel the efforts towards that specific date and time. Unlike mere preparation without a targeted end date. It is a great achievement to be a PMP, the benefits outweigh the struggle of preparation, and one shouldn’t give up. This is a global certification with no ceiling to what you can achieve with it.