PMP Certification Study Routine

As of 13 May, 2010 I am PMP v4 Certified. I have to say the experience was very satisfying and relieving.

 

I would like to share my experience with all.

 

Study 

I took my contact hours training exactly one month back and thats when my study started.

The training gave structure on how to go about my study.

 

I used Rita Book, Fast Trac and occasionally I used audio flash cards. 

 

Rita Reading First Round

First reading of Rita could be quite difficult. Some times during the reading you might feel the book discouraging you, may be because you didnt understand what it mentioned or because you didnt do a certain process in your company or even since you picked a wrong answer. Dont worry, it just means you have a knowledge gap and you need to concentrate on the topic and fill it up. Have the goal of being PMP in sight.

 

During the first read, mark all the important points and points that were difficult to understand.

 

Diligently answer all the questions at the end of each chapter as soon as you complete the chapter. Do not guess the answer, if you dont know it leave it blank.

All the questions that you answered wrong, mark it in the book and DO NOT read the reason given for the correct answer.

Maintain an excel sheet for marks obtained in each topic.

 

Rita first round reading can take the most time, so dont worry if its taking too long. On an average each topic reading should take around 3 ~ 4 hours of dedicated effort. Some of the topics like Communications, HR and Professional behavior should NOT be skipped or given lesser importance.  

 

One problem with Rita book (In my honest opinion, might not be the same for others), is that the book is not organised. In the sense we cant understand when the heading of the topic is infact the next process she is talking about, or sub part of the earlier topic, or just additional information regarding the topic she is already discussing. It would have been lot more helpful if she has some kind of hierarchical numbering scheme for topics. That would have given readers a better perspective. Atleast the first time I read I understood the individual topics, but couldn’t knit them together.   

 

More on this topic at : http://sites.google.com/site/mypmpprep/pmp-certified/mycertificationexperience