By Vignesh Lodiya Radhakrishnan, PMP
Introduction
I have been managing IT project for last few years and wanted to gain formal knowledge in Project Management to improve my performance as a project manager.
I enrolled for PMP classroom training in mid-January, 2018 in successive weekends of Jan 19th, 20th and 26th, 27th. I completed the exam on March 14, 2018.
PMP 35 Contact Hours Experience
I googled for best PMP coaching within Bangalore and shortlisted one for following reasons. Very good reviews on Coach (Satya Narayan Dash), dates availability, competitive 35hrs course fee.
Classroom Experience
Satya is a fantastic coach if you are serious about attaining PMP certification. He gives you the narrative of complete PMP course in first few hours. His 4-day session will give you all essentials required to start exam preparation. His coaching focuses on inter relationship of 5 process groups and 10 knowledge areas which I felt very helpful as the exam questions are all situational.
As an aspiring candidate, I immediately understood his expertise and willingly accepted to follow his instructions like “Always revise the day’s learning for at least 2 to 3 hours if you want to follow the next day class,…Be attentive and raise doubts at appropriate time and so on”.
Own Study
I had set 6 to 8 weeks target to attain PMP certification when I enrolled for the course. I knew it’s a tough target to achieve and so decided to be very attentive during Satya’s 4-day classroom training and always spent 3 hours to revise the day’s learning. By the end of 4th day over two successive weekends, I was confident to achieve the 6-8 weeks target with adequate preparations.
Immediately after classroom training, I submitted the PMP application for review and it took five working days for PMI to accept the same. Luckily for me there was no audit. It would have delayed my target date.
Post classroom training, I spent studying 4 hours during work day (2 hrs in the morning and 2 hrs in the evening) and nearly 8 hours during weekends for 6 weeks. Fortunately, my family was out of station and so able to completely focus on studies.
Approach
First 2 weeks, I read “I Want To Be A PMP” book authored by Satya at least 3 times and learned all processes and work flows in real projects from initiating to closing.
Week 3 and 4: From third week, I starting reading PMBOK guide for deeper understanding on various Input, Toot & Techniques and Outputs (ITTOs) and why a specific input / output is fed to a process and more details on tools and techniques.
The PMBOK guide is too detailed to start with, but otherwise explains the concepts well and clears-off all ambiguities with examples. My good fundamentals due to Satya’s 4-day classroom training and “I Want To Be a PMP” book made PMBOK read easy and informative. One pager overview of each KAs (Knowledge Areas) in PMBOK is really helpful to understand how each process within KAs interact. Also, the PMBOK guide’s definitions section under glossary is really helpful in revising my understandings.
Mathematical Concepts: Classroom attentiveness and revision post training are enough for all mathematical lessons. I spent a day to understand how formulas are derived and practised few exercises to back up my understandings.
Week 5 and 6: Practised 6 full 200 questions like PMP exam i.e., 4 hours ( 3 each from the provider &“I Want To Be a PMP” book. ). Post every practice questions paper, I took a day or two to review all 200 questions with PMBOK guide and understood why a specific option is better (correct) than others. On average I scored above 75% on all 6 practises.
Book Review - I Want To Be A PMP
Book Media: PDF in Google Platform. It includes video content for vague and important concepts.
Readability: Very Good! Simple English words, Lots of flow diagrams and Video contents.
I purchased “I Want To Be A PMP” book on day 1 of my classroom training. As I knew, it is very critical to revise the concepts post classroom sessions and get ready for the next day class. Again, it’s very tough to follow any trainer if you don’t revise and practise. Satya has structured the book very well and the book follows similar approach to classroom sessions and this enabled me to revise immediately and start preparing for the certification from day 1.
The book shares lots of tips for better understanding with simple daily life examples. Video contents are really helpful in understanding mathematical and difficult workflows.
PMP Exam Experience
Exam Centre: I booked for Bangalore Prometric centre (PSN) in ITPL Road. I work in same IT park building and hence locating the place was easy. Visited the place 2 days in advance of the exam date to confirm the documents required. They requested ID Proof with photo & signature and Prometric Hall ticket (exam date confirmation print-out).
On examination day, I reached the centre an hour earlier and Prometric agreed to start exam immediately and didn’t waited for the stipulated exam time. Prometric has systematic exam process and it was very easy to follow, i.e., document checks and followed by physical checks.
About Exam: I practised full question papers without break and so followed the same during the exam. Question were relatively easy when compared to practice questions and I finished the exam 10 mins before the stipulated time and submitted after reviewing the marked questions. The system took me to a survey screen to get feedback on exam process and it hardly takes 5 mins to complete and get your results.
I saw a congratulation note with details of how I have done in each process groups and overall result.
My Overall result: Above Target (4 Above Target and 1 Meets Target [for Closing])
Questions Outlines
Dos
Brief Profile
Name: Vignesh Lodiya Radhakrishnan
Current Role: Service Delivery Manager, Credit Suisse.
Brief experience details: IT professional in financial services industry with more than 15 years of experience in various roles across development in project management.
I have been managing IT project for last few years and wanted to gain formal knowledge in Project Management to improve my performance as a project manager.
I enrolled for PMP classroom training in mid-January, 2018 in successive weekends of Jan 19th, 20th and 26th, 27th. I completed the exam on March 14, 2018.
PMP 35 Contact Hours Experience
I googled for best PMP coaching within Bangalore and shortlisted one for following reasons. Very good reviews on Coach (Satya Narayan Dash), dates availability, competitive 35hrs course fee.
Classroom Experience
Satya is a fantastic coach if you are serious about attaining PMP certification. He gives you the narrative of complete PMP course in first few hours. His 4-day session will give you all essentials required to start exam preparation. His coaching focuses on inter relationship of 5 process groups and 10 knowledge areas which I felt very helpful as the exam questions are all situational.
As an aspiring candidate, I immediately understood his expertise and willingly accepted to follow his instructions like “Always revise the day’s learning for at least 2 to 3 hours if you want to follow the next day class,…Be attentive and raise doubts at appropriate time and so on”.
I had set 6 to 8 weeks target to attain PMP certification when I enrolled for the course. I knew it’s a tough target to achieve and so decided to be very attentive during Satya’s 4-day classroom training and always spent 3 hours to revise the day’s learning. By the end of 4th day over two successive weekends, I was confident to achieve the 6-8 weeks target with adequate preparations.
Immediately after classroom training, I submitted the PMP application for review and it took five working days for PMI to accept the same. Luckily for me there was no audit. It would have delayed my target date.
Post classroom training, I spent studying 4 hours during work day (2 hrs in the morning and 2 hrs in the evening) and nearly 8 hours during weekends for 6 weeks. Fortunately, my family was out of station and so able to completely focus on studies.
Approach
First 2 weeks, I read “I Want To Be A PMP” book authored by Satya at least 3 times and learned all processes and work flows in real projects from initiating to closing.
Week 3 and 4: From third week, I starting reading PMBOK guide for deeper understanding on various Input, Toot & Techniques and Outputs (ITTOs) and why a specific input / output is fed to a process and more details on tools and techniques.
The PMBOK guide is too detailed to start with, but otherwise explains the concepts well and clears-off all ambiguities with examples. My good fundamentals due to Satya’s 4-day classroom training and “I Want To Be a PMP” book made PMBOK read easy and informative. One pager overview of each KAs (Knowledge Areas) in PMBOK is really helpful to understand how each process within KAs interact. Also, the PMBOK guide’s definitions section under glossary is really helpful in revising my understandings.
Mathematical Concepts: Classroom attentiveness and revision post training are enough for all mathematical lessons. I spent a day to understand how formulas are derived and practised few exercises to back up my understandings.
Week 5 and 6: Practised 6 full 200 questions like PMP exam i.e., 4 hours ( 3 each from the provider &“I Want To Be a PMP” book. ). Post every practice questions paper, I took a day or two to review all 200 questions with PMBOK guide and understood why a specific option is better (correct) than others. On average I scored above 75% on all 6 practises.
Book Media: PDF in Google Platform. It includes video content for vague and important concepts.
Readability: Very Good! Simple English words, Lots of flow diagrams and Video contents.
I purchased “I Want To Be A PMP” book on day 1 of my classroom training. As I knew, it is very critical to revise the concepts post classroom sessions and get ready for the next day class. Again, it’s very tough to follow any trainer if you don’t revise and practise. Satya has structured the book very well and the book follows similar approach to classroom sessions and this enabled me to revise immediately and start preparing for the certification from day 1.
The book shares lots of tips for better understanding with simple daily life examples. Video contents are really helpful in understanding mathematical and difficult workflows.
PMP Exam Experience
Exam Centre: I booked for Bangalore Prometric centre (PSN) in ITPL Road. I work in same IT park building and hence locating the place was easy. Visited the place 2 days in advance of the exam date to confirm the documents required. They requested ID Proof with photo & signature and Prometric Hall ticket (exam date confirmation print-out).
On examination day, I reached the centre an hour earlier and Prometric agreed to start exam immediately and didn’t waited for the stipulated exam time. Prometric has systematic exam process and it was very easy to follow, i.e., document checks and followed by physical checks.
About Exam: I practised full question papers without break and so followed the same during the exam. Question were relatively easy when compared to practice questions and I finished the exam 10 mins before the stipulated time and submitted after reviewing the marked questions. The system took me to a survey screen to get feedback on exam process and it hardly takes 5 mins to complete and get your results.
I saw a congratulation note with details of how I have done in each process groups and overall result.
My Overall result: Above Target (4 Above Target and 1 Meets Target [for Closing])
Questions Outlines
- Few Mathematical questions on Leads/Lags, EVM, CPM, and Communication channels: Around 20 Questions
- Change Request and related process flows: Around 50+ questions
- Conflict Management/Conformance/Power – Interest Grid, RAM – RACI, Delphi Technique, Risk Responses Strategies - around 25+ questions.
- Few straight and simple questions on ITTO and work flow – around 25+ questions
Dos
- 35 hrs classroom training is very important and so try to be very attentive.
- Revision after daily classroom training is very critical to follow next day’s class.
- Buy 1 quality PMP book as early as possible (It will help to revise the day’s learning)
- Read PMBOK guide at least twice (usually after going through PMP book)
- Practice quality full question paper at least 4 times and then revise the reasoning behind your answers with PMBOK. – Revise all questions and its answers irrespective of you being correct.
Don'ts
- Avoid free questions on internet, it’s a waste of time and may mislead you.
- Don’t panic during examinations if you get few difficult situational questions, it’s fine for few to be wrong.
- Do not follow the timings closely, keep a target for every 1 hour.
Conclusion
I am sure PMP knowledge will help me in improving project deliveries but attaining PMP certificate has given me more confidence to pursue interests outside of my comfort zone.
Brief Profile
Name: Vignesh Lodiya Radhakrishnan
Current Role: Service Delivery Manager, Credit Suisse.
Brief experience details: IT professional in financial services industry with more than 15 years of experience in various roles across development in project management.
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