This is how Tejiri Ekpeki overcame his fears and passed his PMP exam

I started preparing for PMP from June 2015. Although I had thought about taking the exams several times, but I was not really very serious. This time I decided to go for it.

I started by reading PMBOK 5th edition after I finished my PMP class at Ciel Consulting to get the 35 contact hours needed by PMI during my application process.

My PMP Preparation

I made sure I put in atleast 2 hours daily reading the PMBOK Guide. The PMBOK was quite difficult to read and follow. But I knew I had to stick with it if I must pass. After completing PMBOK I started reading Rita Mulcahy 8th edition. I really enjoyed it. I liked the way she explained concepts and I understood every knowledge area very clearly.

I made sure I solved the questions at the end of each chapter. This helped me build my confidence. I marked the questions I got wrong and reviewed it before going for my real exam. This helped me to prepare for those difficult questions.

I related what I read from the book to some of the projects I have done in the past. This helped me understand everything in a practical way. I imagined how those projects could have been done using PMP processes when I read the book. This approach helped me a lot to internalize the application of the processes. This understanding is critical in solving PMP questions.

After I completed Rita’s book in August, by September I picked it up again started reading it from the scratch. I completed it once again and then I  skimmed through it two more times to remember all classifications, formulas etc.

In all I read the book thoroughly 2 times and skimmed over it 2 times.