My PMP Exam Experience

Hi Friends, I am happy to inform you all that I have successfully cracked the PMP (Project Management Professional) examination in the 1st attempt on June 27, 2013. I would like to share my experience about how I became a certified PMP.
Every Project has five stages - Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitor and Control, Closure. I have tried to write this article in the Project Management style to make it interesting for all PMP aspirants.

The Initiation : After years of managing vendors and teams, i decided to pursue my career completely towards project management. As i was contemplating several  ideas on that direction,a good friend of mine sowed in me the idea of PMP. After a lot of research and brainstorming with my spouse, i finally took the decision to pursue my career in Project Management.
Project PMP had finally kicked off.

The Planning : With the eligible criteria of education and experience already met, i needed to further do the following steps for my certification.
1) Obtain 35 hours of formal project management education from an registered provider
2) Become a PMI member
3) Submit my PMP exam application
4) If not selected for audit, PMI will directly confirm your eligibility for taking the exam
5) Pay the exam fees and schedule the date
6) Clear the PMP exam and become certified
With a fixed target deadline in mind, i set out for obtaining my certification.

The Execution : Manged to finalize a PMI R.E.P(Registered Education Provided) and successfully complete my 35 hours of project management education. It was a fun-filled, highly interactive 4 day class. Became a PMI member by providing my details and paying the requisite fees. Then submitted my PMP application. This is actually quite a time-consuming one. Thankfully, i was not selected for audit and PMI confirmed my eligibility for taking up the exam. The only problem with audit is that it will take at least a couple of months for completion. Otherwise, its fine.
I dedicated 2 full days for each chapter and studied from all reference materials possible on that specific chapter. Even though the main goal is to crack the exam, one must understand each chapter (knowledge area  along with process group) thoroughly to implement in real world. The reference material information along with several tips will be discussed in Part 2.
It took me a total of 25 days of rigorous study(around 6-7 hrs per day) to completely understand the concepts of Project management. Once i had gained confidence, i went ahead and paid the exam fees and booked myself an appointment date for the exam.

Monitoring and Control : With such a wide syllabus and vast database of information, it is easy to get lost and lose focus. I had a target for each day and ensured that irrespective of whatever happens, I managed to complete those. I ensured that the first and the last thing to do in a day was to study for PMP exam. When you study/revise the chapter and then go to bed, the subject stayed in your sub-conscious mind and occur in dreams , I actually experienced it!!! After the completion of each chapter, I took as many practice tests as possible which is widely available in the Internet. My practice scores were always around 60-75% which i believe is not sufficient to clear the main exam. The big problem is that PMI does not specify a pass percentage which makes life even more harder. The only time I managed to score 80% was in the mock exam 1 day prior to the main exam. Keep in mind, practice at-least 1000 different questions before embarking on the main exam. I also ensured to attend two full 4 hour exams for checking my speed.

Closing Act : With several days of hard work behind, now its time to get the act together. The examination day. Ideally, the examination part must be in the executing stage as that is the actual deliverable, but i have mentioned this in the closing stage just to keep with the flow. Since my exam time was 9 am, i had a light breakfast and started from my home at 8 am to be safe from ever growing traffic on the streets. Reached the prometric center around 8:40 am and after the signing formalities, I was led into the examination hall. Once the exam started, it was sheer pressure of answering 200 questions in the next 4 hours. The actual exam was way tougher and time consuming than all my previously attended mock drills. In fact during my practice sessions, it never took me more than 2.5 hrs to complete 400 questions, but here, I took exactly 4 hours to answer all questions and review them. I felt both physically and mentally exhausted. Once i clicked on the submit button, my blood pressure automatically rose to unprecedented levels. The next 20 seconds staring at the blank screen was probably the most difficult part in the entire PMP certification process.
And finally, it was a great feeling and relief to see the word "Congratulations" on the screen.
Its time for Celebration . PMP - A tough nut cracked!!!
Thanks for patiently reading my experience. As part of the trilogy series (Yes, you need to bear with me two more articles on PMP!!!),my next part will provide you with Steps, Tips and Tricks to clear the PMP exam 

Looking forward for your comments and questions.

Wishing you all the very best in your careers.