PMP Lessons Learned: How to Pass the Exam with Minimal Resources

Josh K passed the PMP Exam in the first try. The exam lessons learned are detailed as follow:

I used a pomodoro timer to keep track of my dedicated study duration. I studied for 1 – 3 hours per day, Monday – Friday (with some weekends here and there).
For my contact hours, I studied Joseph Phillips – ‘PMP exam prep seminar (PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition)’. I then went over the material again while lightly referencing the PMBOK® Guide guide. I also purchased ‘PMP PMBOK® Guide 6 Practice Exams: Set One and Two for PMP Candidates’ (only attempted half of set two), again by Joseph Phillips.

After 3 months of going over the material (70 hours studied) I took my first attempt on 26/June/2020 and failed, with a T/T/NI/AT/T.

Determined, I read through your website as well as PM Prepcast forums on how to pass a second attempt. My 3 key takeaways were; First, getting to 180 hours studied. Secondly, read an exam prep book. Finally, doing 1000 mock exam questions at minimum from various mock exam providers. I learnt from your website that HeadFirst PMP exam prep is image and situation oriented in the way the information is presented. I purchased it on amazon and proceeded to study for 2 -3 hours, Monday – Friday (again with a few weekends here and there). Finally, I read through all your study notes and attempted about 1,400 free mock exam questions (of which I timed myself in an exam situation environment for about 3 mock exams). I got my selection of free mock exam questions from Edward Chung’s and Oliver Lehmann’s website. I took the weekend before the exams easy by relaxing and getting enough sleep.

For my second attempt, I ended up studying for 160 hours. I took my second attempt on 17th/Aug/2020 and passed with AT/T/BT/AT/AT!

Cost incurred in USD:

• PMI membership – $150
• Joseph Phillips – PMP exam prep seminar (PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition) – $10
• PMP PMBOK® Guide 6 Practice Exams: Set One and Two for PMP Candidates – $20 ($10 each)
• PMP First attempt – $340 (with Africa promo code)
• HeadFirst PMP – $40
• PMP exam second attempt – $275

Total – $835

My approach was self study to keep my costs as low as possible. The trade off here as compared to a paying for live classes is perhaps time spent researching information on how to access effective study resources. Thank you for the work you are doing and passing the PMP has been a great experience. I hope sharing my experience above can help others as well.

~ Josh K, PMP

Thanks for the valuable PMP Exam lessons learned!