After
you pass, everything seems to be a piece of cake, doesn't it? I wish I
could say that about PMP exam. First of all, this is no easy exam but it
is beatable. However, it will test you both mentally and physically.
The reason most people pass is not that it's easy.
They pass because they have spent a good few months preparing for it. Whether you are an experience pro practising product management on the job, or you simply have 'a mammoth' memory, capable of learning PMBOK by heart, just one of them might simply not be enough. You will need most likely need a little bit of both. Here are a few tips.
Be prepared to be bombarded by one 'unpleasant' question after another. As you know, they go for four hours non-stop. They are deliberately constructed in a way that will make you uneasy. You might be pretty familiar with a concept and still choose a wrong answer. It will test you on several different fronts: Concentration, logic, attention to detail, resistance to stress, ability to keep composure and not to panic, manage time (knowing when your time for a question is up and so having the ability to balance between 'quality' and 'quantity' in your answers, intuition, memory, planning skills (plan the right day), and last but not least, testing your physical endurance. And I don't mention luck, a bit of which you will need as well.
All in all, I simply felt exhausted at the end of "the process". But overstudying is not good either. My suggestion is: Just go for it when you feel in the 'best form', when you have the best momentum. I planned to go to the exam short after finishing all 9 exam simulations from C. Fichtner. That gave me a confidence boost, at least in the ability to manage time. I had a much better feel about how much of it is left and whether I am behind or ahead without looking at the bloody clock (that's by the way "ticking down" 'unforgivingly'). Control your emotions. Remember that negative ones can only make things worse, not better.
There is no universal formula, so you will need to find the best way to relax, one that works best for you. During the exam you're pretty much left to a few moments away from the room or you might find a breathing technique that will pump a few more atoms of oxygen in your brain. Relax the day before the exam too. Find an interesting or intriguing story, or something challenging that will occupy your mind, spend time with children, go to a cafe, spend time with children, in short do any thing that will make you forget about tomorrow. Physicals and mentals Compromise between not going to toilet (which means not drinking much beforehand) or losing the few minutes going to the loo, refresh yourself but loose 'few questions-worth of time'. I personally planned to go to the loo but never made it.
With about 2,5 hours left I was 20-25 questions behind. I was just too concerned about 'quality' of my answers and forgot about 'quantity'. I had hard time to make it up and virtually completed the last questions seconds before the end.
Fortunately, I kept my cool which is in part thanks to the fact that I had gone through all 9 practice exams in PMP Exam Simulator. This was money well spent.
I only had 40 seconds to go to my 'marked' questions to fix them. Luckily, there was just one which I answered in haste.
My advise: don't leave more than 2-3 questions unanswered and MARK THEM DOWN ON PAPER. ..
They pass because they have spent a good few months preparing for it. Whether you are an experience pro practising product management on the job, or you simply have 'a mammoth' memory, capable of learning PMBOK by heart, just one of them might simply not be enough. You will need most likely need a little bit of both. Here are a few tips.
Be prepared to be bombarded by one 'unpleasant' question after another. As you know, they go for four hours non-stop. They are deliberately constructed in a way that will make you uneasy. You might be pretty familiar with a concept and still choose a wrong answer. It will test you on several different fronts: Concentration, logic, attention to detail, resistance to stress, ability to keep composure and not to panic, manage time (knowing when your time for a question is up and so having the ability to balance between 'quality' and 'quantity' in your answers, intuition, memory, planning skills (plan the right day), and last but not least, testing your physical endurance. And I don't mention luck, a bit of which you will need as well.
All in all, I simply felt exhausted at the end of "the process". But overstudying is not good either. My suggestion is: Just go for it when you feel in the 'best form', when you have the best momentum. I planned to go to the exam short after finishing all 9 exam simulations from C. Fichtner. That gave me a confidence boost, at least in the ability to manage time. I had a much better feel about how much of it is left and whether I am behind or ahead without looking at the bloody clock (that's by the way "ticking down" 'unforgivingly'). Control your emotions. Remember that negative ones can only make things worse, not better.
There is no universal formula, so you will need to find the best way to relax, one that works best for you. During the exam you're pretty much left to a few moments away from the room or you might find a breathing technique that will pump a few more atoms of oxygen in your brain. Relax the day before the exam too. Find an interesting or intriguing story, or something challenging that will occupy your mind, spend time with children, go to a cafe, spend time with children, in short do any thing that will make you forget about tomorrow. Physicals and mentals Compromise between not going to toilet (which means not drinking much beforehand) or losing the few minutes going to the loo, refresh yourself but loose 'few questions-worth of time'. I personally planned to go to the loo but never made it.
With about 2,5 hours left I was 20-25 questions behind. I was just too concerned about 'quality' of my answers and forgot about 'quantity'. I had hard time to make it up and virtually completed the last questions seconds before the end.
Fortunately, I kept my cool which is in part thanks to the fact that I had gone through all 9 practice exams in PMP Exam Simulator. This was money well spent.
I only had 40 seconds to go to my 'marked' questions to fix them. Luckily, there was just one which I answered in haste.
My advise: don't leave more than 2-3 questions unanswered and MARK THEM DOWN ON PAPER. ..
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