By Sindhu Pillai, PMI-ACP, PMP
One year ago, I attended an interview and the interviewer asked me a large number of questions on Agile methodologies. I couldn’t even answer a single question properly.
I took it very personally and felt very offended by it. I made up my mind to master this topic and decided to earn the PMI-ACP credential.
At the end of my journey, I’ve not only earned the ACP certification, but also understand the Agile mindset and I want to pursue this understanding in my career path.
ACP 21 Contact Hours Experience
I bought Satya's PMI-ACP Book and PMI-ACP Live Video Lessons because I believe in the guarantee he claims. Both the video course and the book have helped me crack the ACP exam. In fact, I was sure that I would crack the ACP exam with Satya’s help.
After going through all domains, I wrote a test conducted by Satya (as a part of ACP Live Lessons, FAQs). After completing the test, I received the needed 21 contract hours to fill the ACP exam application form.
Own Study
I first bought Satya’s course material (bought both the book and video course) to kick-start my preparation. However, I couldn’t stick to a regular routine of keeping in touch with the course as my official workload increased. I also had a few family emergencies because of which I had a gap in my studies and was finding it very difficult to get back on track.
I did put my heart and soul into preparation and went hard during December 2021, when the workload reduced. In this month and previous one, I could invest up to 8 hrs a day in preparation.
Preparation and practice of questions will be the keys and there is no shortcut to success! I’ve gone through Satya’s Live Lessons course a couple of times till my concepts were clear. Simultaneously, I made my notes, which I could refer to whenever needed. And I did a lot of Mock Questions, which were provided by him.
I did have my ups and downs during the preparation. Satya was always available to help me with all queries and guide me through any obstacle I came across.
Review – PMI-ACP Live Lessons
The ACP Live Lessons course comes with a money back guarantee with no conditions applied, except you appearing in the exam. I was very certain that this course is a complete package to earn this certification. Also, I’ve already used Satya’s PMP Live Lessons, which helped me to clear the PMP exam. Hence, I didn’t have any second thoughts before getting the Live lessons and the I Want To Be An ACP book from Satya.
The ACP Live Lesson course covers every possible aspect of Agile and associated concepts. Satya has created short and long videos and broken down the lessons in such a way that it makes our life easier. At certain points Satya asks a few questions which act like revisions automatically. There are a set of Smart Card questions after every domain which ensures you have the fundamentals in place.
After every domain there are a good number of mock questions provided. This helps you to gauge your understanding with respect to the specific domain. Once you are done preparing with all the domains, there are lessons available with video exercises which gauges your overall understanding of this course.
I found this course very helpful in understanding the Agile principles, values, methodologies in a very insightful way.
After you are done with all the domains and practice tests provided at the end of the individual lessons, there are six full-length questions sets provided in this course. These question sets get tougher with each set.
Finally, in my ACP exam, I was able to score Above Target in five domains and Target in two domains. This I did in a few months after the knowledge I gained using this course material and by doing 6 full length questions provided by Satya.
ACP Exam Experience
I booked a centre close to my house to avoid longer travel in traffic. I visited the exam centre a day prior to the exam and enquired about the documents required on the day of exam. The full-length mock questions had given me a feel of the actual exam. The more seriously you take it, the easier it will be for you in the exam.
Following are highlights from my ACP Exam:
- In the ACP exam I faced a lot of questions on Scrum, Retrospectives, Kanban and Velocity.
- There are not many mathematical questions. I had faced one on Velocity.
- The exam follows the domain distribution closely. The better prepared you are, the higher chances of you clearing the exam.
- During the exam, keep a tab on timing and ensure you don’t spend much time on a single question. There is an option to flag the question which can be reviewed later.
- There is an inbuilt calculator on the screen. Hence, you don’t have to carry a calculator.
Suggestions for ACP Aspirants
Dos:
- Always stay focused and always stay in touch with the course during preparation.
- Do a lot of practice questions and revisit the areas where you go wrong.
- Pay special attention to topics where Satya says: it’s important.
- I did prepare thoroughly on Scrum, Kanban, Velocity, Charts, XP, Retrospective and I did get a lot of questions in my exam related to them.
- I’ve always visualized myself clearing the exam and returning home with a pack of sweets and that did happen, so it’s important to stay positive.
Don’ts:
- You should always remember that by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail!! Hence, leave no stones unturned when you prepare. Success will follow you.
Conclusion
Sindhu Pillai, PMP, PMI-ACP
I’m currently working as a Project Manager in Kyndryl (previously IBM). Now I would like to work in an Agile Environment and use the knowledge & skills earned with this course and the ACP credential.
More on ACP Live Lessons - Guaranteed Pass:
Good and striaght forward review.. Will surely check it..
ReplyDeleteCongrats Sindhu. Surely it's not a easy task to Crack it....
ReplyDelete