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In this issue... |
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 Hello ,
Becoming PMP certified is quite intimidating. This
involves months of preparation to pass a 4-hour difficult exam. After
passing the exam, you will need to find ways to earn PDUs for
recertification. To help you with this journey, I have created The Short Guide to Becoming a PMP. More about this in the article below.
Meanwhile, if you want another sample PMP exam question, we have created another one just for you. Also, read our PMP exam tips for this week and learn an important study technique while preparing for your exams.
Until Next Time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC
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New E-Book Reveals Secrets to Project Management Certification and Recertification the Easy Way |
Becoming PMP certified is quite intimidating. This involves months of preparation to pass a 4-hour difficult exam. After passing the exam, you will need to find ways to earn PDUs for recertification. To help you with this journey, Cornelius Fichter, a top PMP, wrote The Short Guide to Becoming a PMP.
It's an ebook designed to give you a short walk-through of the things you need to learn in order to be a PMP exam the easy way. It contains essential steps that you can do to make you better prepared and absolutely ready for that particular day and the day after you passed the PMP exam. It will teach you how to:
- Assess your eligibility
- Fill out the PMP application
- Create a PMP Study Plan
- Acquire essential study materials
- Develop techniques for studying
- Answer sample test questions
- Prepare for the examination day
- Recertification process
Everything you need to know and more is found in The Short Guide to Becoming a PMP. What's more is that this is absolute FREE. Just share this great news with your friend in Facebook or Twitter to access the ebook. It's that simple!
The ebook will be launched on October 20, 2011. So watch out for more details on where to access this on our next newsletter. |
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| Answer all PMP Exam questions from the PMBOK perspective |
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 The number one tip to remember is to answer all questions on the PMP Exam from the perspective of the PMBOK Guide.
Watch this video we have prepared for you:http://bit.ly/gbDp2T
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Sample PMP Exam Question
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 You are managing a telecom project. You have got two teams reporting to you. One team is responsible for equipment installation and the other team is responsible to commission and test that equipment. Both teams are working in parallel such that as soon as the installation teams finishes equipment installation at one site they move on to another site for installations and the commissioning and testing team start their activities on the newly installed site. The reporting structure is such that each of the teams have 5 engineers headed by a team lead. Each team member interacts with each other, however only the team leads interact with you. Both the team leads also interact with each other to synchronize their operations.
How many communication channels do you have in your project?
HINT: Calculate communication channels for each team and add them together.
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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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 The correct answer is: A
Reference: PMBOK4 - pg:253
Explanation: This was a hard question, wasn't it? Lets analyze the scenario to calculate the answer. Here we have two independent teams. Each team has 6 members, i.e., 5 engineers and one team lead. Each team member is interacting with each other, so communication channels for each team are (6)(6-1)/2=15. Both the team leads are communicating with you so there are two communication channels for this interaction. Further since both the team leads are interacting with each other there is an another communication channel between them. Hence the total communication channels in your project is 15+15+2+1=33. Choice A is the only correct answer to this question.
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Lessons Learned from Wesley McFee
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I purchased 4 materials to study from:
- The 4th edition of the PMBOK
- PMP Exam Formulas Study Guide & Cheat Sheet (by OSP International LLC)
- Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep book
With the above 4 items, and a 3-ring binder organized into sections, I began my journey. I studied for the exam much as I've studied for courses in graduate school: I followed along to Cornelius' lesson while I had the PMBOK open to the corresponding section, and wrote a ton of notes in the margins and blank spaces on the pages in pencil. If Cornelius said something was important, I flagged the page with those colored flags made by Post-it (Think: sticky notes). I also had blank index cards with me, and occasionally paused the PM Prepcast to make flashcards. This study method took a long time (roughly 2.5 months for 5-8 hours a week) but I think my understanding was more effective than most approaches. I then reviewed the PMBOK again, stopping to read through sections I was weak on. Then I printed out Cornelius' Formulas Cheat Sheet, used white out on every part of the formula after the "=" sign, and then made copies of the augmented document. I then practiced writing in the formulas by hand until I could recite almost the entire sheet by memory. Also, I printed out all the emails that correspond to the Formulas Guide and kept them in a single section of a 3-ring binder. (Other sections included PMP Application, PMP Test (the printout with the test date, exam site, and confirmation #), and PDUs.) I glanced over PMI's Practice Standards (Risk Management, Scheduling, WBS, and Earned Value Management) available to PMI Members. Finally, I skimmed through Rita's PMP Exam Prep book, and really only took the time to master "Rita's Process Chart".
Exam day was challenging. As Cornelius advised, immediately upon entering the testing area, I wrote out formulas and important information onto one of the pages of scrap paper. (AKA, a "brain dump".) The exam was as difficult as claimed, but I was significantly prepared because of The PM PrepCast above all; material not in the PMBOK was adequately covered in the PM PrepCast. Thank you, sincerely, Cornelius--in part because of you, today I am PMP#1371585.
Some more success stories here..
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