The PMP ^®: A Recent Success Story

You sit there looking at your glossy new copy of the PMBOK^® and wonder, “How will I ever remember all that?” Opening the book doesn’t make it much better – unless you have a special love for charts, lists and definitions. Let’s face it: studying for the PMP ^® can be a tedious and grueling affair, but it is an important achievement for many project managers worldwide.

We decided that rather than doling out generalized PMP^®  prep advice, it would be interesting and potentially very rewarding to ask someone who had just taken the test to share some tips, advice and lessons learned. We turned to Chuck, who used MyProjectAdvisor’s online PMP^® prep course and who just recently passed the test (congrats!), to share what he gained from his experience. Here are some of the things he told us:

1. Don’t Play College

 “In college, you study to the test. You show up for class – hopefully most of the time – and the night before the exam you start looking at the book and your notes (if you took any). With any luck, you identify enough key concepts and information to study, enabling you to pass the test. After one look at the PMBOK^® Guide, I knew that the college model wouldn’t work.”  Clearly, this is not a test to be crammed for.

The PMP^® exam is one of those instances in which no single study method alone can sufficiently prepare you, especially if you want to actually incorporate the methodologies into your own practice of project management, not just pass the test.  

2. Do Study the PMBOK^®

 Chuck was quick to emphasize the necessity of learning the material in the PMBOK^®, since that is what you will be tested on. “It provides the framework – concepts, terms, techniques, and processes. You cannot get away without doing the bookwork.” However, while learning the contents of the PMBOK^® is critical for the test, the book alone should not be your only resource. In short, “the PMBOK^® provides the basis for preparing for the PMP, [but] it doesn’t give you the perspective for how the methodology is incorporated into practice.” Therefore, it’s important to find other resources and learning tools that can present the material in a more practical manner.

One particularly useful tool is a database of test questions to use for practice. These are incredibly useful for tracking your progress, seeing what areas you need to work on, and just getting a feel for the way the test flows. “I used it everyday, whether I was taking a 10 question quiz on Scope or Quality or a 200 question comprehensive exam… I would not have passed the PMP without it.”

3. Have a Mentor

One of the best ways you can fill this gap between theory and practice is to have a mentor guiding you through the test preparation process. Chuck says of his mentor, “He helped me to focus on areas where I needed more work and clarified when things were not so clear. If I wasn’t so sure how things were going and he sounded confident, then I felt more confident. Having the support of a mentor is a big help.”

4. Create whatever additional tools your need for yourself

We all study and learn best in different ways, so as you go along, you will probably need to create new tools and methods for yourself. Chuck says, “And as I progressed in my studying, I began to get a feel for what was working but also for what I needed. There is no question that book study, online learning and mentoring were the major components of my preparation. But as I went along, I would see that I needed to create additional tools myself – checklists, exercises, and flash card questions on index cards – to fill in the cracks. I created my own curriculum and syllabus. I had to own it. You have to own it.”

Chuck also recommends using your project environments as resources. Go back to the project archives, and take a look at those documents to see how the project worked and where PMBOK^® methodologies were used. This will also contribute to bridging the gap between theory and practice.

5. Use your organization as a practice ground

At the same time as he was studying for the PMP exam, Chuck was hired to lead several projects in his company, an opportunity which provided him plenty of chances to put what he was studying into daily practice. “I was able to create project charters, WBS, WBS dictionary, risk registers, project schedules and even a Pareto chart – among other things – at the same time I was studying for the exam. I realized that I couldn’t use everything that I was learning – sometimes it wasn’t feasible or needed – but I was able to use quite a few tools and techniques that helped bridge the gap between PMBOK content and its practical use.”

Not all of us have this opportunity, but if you do, don’t let it go to waste. Pay attention to what you are doing and what methodologies you are using, and see how they fit into your studies.

6. Don’t let it end with the PMP^® 

So you passed the test; now what? Keep that PMBOK^® guide on your desk. Use the concepts and methods you learned from it. You did the work; now make it work for you. As Chuck puts it:

You can’t use every PMBOK concept and practice all the time and on every project. But I’m convinced that if you utilize what you have learned where you can and when you can, your projects have a much higher chance at success than if you don’t…But there isn’t a next PMP test. My next test is the project I am currently working. My pass/fail score is the success of each project…The challenge now is to keep working and keep studying to build upon what I learned in my PMP test journey and become a better project manager and project team member.

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