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Welcome to another issue of the PM Exam tips newsletter.
This I will share a very helpful article about "The Secret Of Creating Your PMP Exam Brain Dump Sheet". Read more about our recommended study material - PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide by Kim Heldman, PMP.
Don't miss your weekly dose of sample PMP Exam Q and A, tips and lessons learned from successful PMP Exam passers.
Enjoy!
Until Next Time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
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Recommended Study Materials
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 PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide
by Kim Heldman, PMP
Written by project management expert Kim Heldman, PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide (Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate) is an excellent book that will guide project managers on their way to the PMP Exam.
It provides comprehensive coverage of the exam objectives, essential PMP topics, concepts, and key terms.
Your benefits are:
- Prepare you to take the PMP Exam and the CAPM Exam both offered by PMI. It covers all essential procedures and concepts from PMBOK Guide, 4th Edition.
- Uses real-world scenarios and How This Applies to Your Current Project sidebars to fully illustrate concepts.
- Includes CD with testing software, practice exams, electronic flashcards, and over two hours of audio review.
- Serves as a valuable go-to book to keep on hand -- even after the exam.
Project managers who took the exam noted how PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide is exceptional in teaching useful information that consistently appeared on the test.
For more information and customer reviews, click here!
Full Disclosure: PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide is an affiliate product. If you click and choose to purchase the book, we will earn a commission.
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The Secret Of Creating Your PMP Exam Brain Dump Sheet |
There's no better catalyst for self realization than taking the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. I'm kidding you, of course, but there is some truth in that the PMP exam day will illuminate that "you don't know what you don't know."
The PMP Exam is a 'closed' book exam. That means the only reference material you are allowed to carry into the testing facility has to be contained in your brain. But during your exam, your brain is going to be very busy interpreting the exam questions and trying to apply all of the knowledge, skills and principles you've accumulated in your studies and work experience.
If you haven't already, you should go for a visit to the local testing facility where you'll take your exam and confirm what to expect. Most likely, on your exam day, the exam monitor will check you into the testing facility, hand you six or so sheets of scratch paper and two pencils, then show you to your seat and confirm that your PC is working. Then you'll have about 15 minutes to go through a tutorial that really only takes about 5 minutes to do. Then you begin your exam.
During the test, recalling what you do know can be daunting. Quite frankly, some of your ability to access that knowledge is going to seem misplaced amongst your grey cells. So how do you create the best opportunities to pass the PMP Exam that day? You can use the 10 minutes you don't need from the tutorial time to do a Brain Dump!
What is a Brain Dump?
A Brain Dump is a technique used by many students on closed book exams to create their personal mini reference table. Brain dumps are abbreviations of components and concepts, which you have committed to memory and are then spilled out on to sheets of paper prior to the exam for reference.
Brain dumps contain just enough key concepts, theories, formulas and content, which will jog your memory. By having the information on your Brain Dump, your mind can focus on the question at hand instead of trying to remember the formula needed to answer the question. It helps you to be in the the right frame of mind specific to each question.
What goes into a Brain Dump?
Brain Dumps are only as good as the quality and quantity of information that you can spill out on the piece(s) of paper just before you begin your PMP Exam. They contain the formulas, theory, concepts and PMP-isms that you might otherwise forget for a moment at the very moment when you need it most.
Here is what you can generally find as part of a PMP Exam Brain Dump:
- Table 3-1 of the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition
- Formulas, such as earned value, PERT, communication channels, procurement, probability, project selection and depreciation
- Values, such as 1, 2 and 3 sigma and estimate ranges
- Acronyms, such as BAC or TCPI
- Powers of a project manager
- Conflict resolution (best to worst)
- Sources of conflict (order of priority)
- Herzberg's motivators
- Project closing check list
And of course: you must include all the items that you personally have trouble remembering during your studies and that you feel need to go onto your sheet. The list above or using a Brain Dump that someone else created can be a good start but you really need to customize it to your needs. Don't study what others are having trouble remembering. Instead, include what gives you the hiccups.
How do I Study a Brain Dump?
Brain Dumps are pure memorization. As part of your exam preparation, exercises and studying, go ahead and practice committing the content of your Brain Dump to memory and then writing them out onto a blank sheet of paper on a daily basis.
Every morning, practice your brain dump until you're satisfied with your progress. By the end of the first week you should be able to write out your brain dump in its entirety on the first go.
Then continue dumping it on a regular basis, going back to the daily routine in the two weeks leading up to your exam.
So What *IS* The Secret of Creating My PMP Exam Brain Dump Sheet?
Creating and studying your very own, personalized PMP Exam Brain Dump Sheet is a means to an end in itself. It all begins with creating the content that goes into it by getting to know your weak areas as you prepare for the exam. Then you memorize, you dump and you repeat. Pretty soon what seemed too complex to remember is at the forefront of your knowledge.
So the secret is that you will accelerate your studies and knowledge simply by going through the motions of creating, studying and knowing what's on your personalized Brain Dump.
Last but not least, your PMP Exam Brain Dump is a great tool not only to help you bring your reference material into the testing facility, but also providing stress relief knowing it's there as you encounter questions that require it. You'll help yourself to learn the material as you study for your PMP Exam and give yourself an important edge in passing.
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Implicit and Explicit Customer Requirements
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 We help you prepare for the PMP Exam by explaining explicit and explicit requirements from the Collect Requirements process. This is just a short portion of our complete 38 hour long PMP Exam preparation video workshop that you can download to your portable media player.
Watch this video we have prepared for you: http://bit.ly/qnlXBC
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Sample PMP Exam Question
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The following PMP exam sample question is taken from The Free PMP Exam Simulator at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com - The answer is at the very bottom:
You are the project manager of a dress manufacturing company. You have been asked to estimate for a project that requires you to create 500 shirts. You know from experience that since the time required by a person to create a shirt is 8 hours, the total effort required would be 4000 person hours. Which estimation technique are you using here?
A) Analogous
B) Bottom up
C) Three point
D) Parametric
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Exam Tip: Don't use too many PMP Exam Prep Books.
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What usually happens is that students preparing for the PMP exam try to go through too many PMP Exam Prep books or on-line courses thinking that they will be able to absorb everything that they watch and read. That is far from the truth. Too many books will in fact confuse you. Usually, one good exam prep book and one course is enough to complement the PMBOK Guide. Reading the PMBOK Guide is of course a must for any PMP student and no exam prep book is a substitute for it. And don't forget to read the the PMBOK Guide Glossary. As boring as that may seem, you'll really get to know and understand the terminology you need for the exam.
There are topics on the exam that are not mentioned in the PMBOK Guide, but still make regular appearance on the exam. Many popular exam prep books cover these topics. But PMI adds new topics on an ongoing basis so it's difficult to know what lies ahead on your own exam. To be able to overcome this, it is wise to learn from others. Try to read PMP online forums where exam passers are more than willing to share their experiences in taking the exam. Read their lessons learned to hear what topics may appear. This can be an essential part of your preparation, but don't get carried away. Spending a few minutes daily, reviewing and commenting on posts is usually sufficient.
So instead of muddling your brains with too many prep books, choose the one you like best to complement your PMBOK studies to ensure a successful exam.
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Solution
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 All our questions are updated to the latest PMBOK Guide standard. We are a PMI Registered Education
Provider.
The Correct Answer is D.
Stop by at http://free.pm-exam-simulator.com and try The
PMP Exam Simulator free for 3 days.
We also offer 110 free questions at http://www.free-pm-exam-questions.com.
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Lessons Learned from Tracy Celaya
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Wow! What a ride! I passed the PMP this morning!
I scoured the message boards for stories of people who passed the exam, so I leave my simple story for those of you doing the same thing.
I took a 5-day PMP Prep course through my company last year so I had a copy of the PMBOK and the Head's First guide. However, I didn't pick up the books again until I decided to just take the test three months ago.
I submitted all of my paperwork, got audited, resubmitted paperwork, and was approved. The audit isn't a horrible process, just time consuming (especially waiting for final approval). After approval I immediately scheduled the exam; it really is a motivator for studying. I also told everyone important to me that I was studying to pass this exam, to keep me accountable and on my toes. It worked. My friends and family would ask how my studies were going and they all had the date marked in their calendars. Pressure's on. Read more here..
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