Cum am obtinut certificarea PMP – 42 „The class was awesome!”

Cum am obtinut certificarea PMP – 42  „The class was awesome!”

„As a proud owner of a brand new PMP certification, I’d like to say that the entire experience – preparation, #PMPclass with Ilie Dragan, post-class self-study, and finally the exam – has been very enjoyable!

I happen to be what they call a ‘nerd’, and committed to it – so this may have a played a role in my learning experience. However, !

Before #PMP class

As I registered for the PMP journey, the first step was pre-class preparation – which meant reading through the ‘Rita Method’ PMP book. I strongly advise all those pursuing this certification to read the entire book prior to the classroom sessions. It really helps to take the best out of the class. It’s not easy-reading, it requires a lot of focus – I used highlighters and post-it notes and underlining, as I like my study pages to be colourful – but it’s so worth it.

PMP Training..

The class was awesome, it’s like going back to school but with all the modern methods. Ilie is a wonderful trainer, talented, open, communicative, funny, engaged and supportive – all I once wished my university teachers to be (but they never were). Ilie helps the trainees to draw the logical connections that bring all concepts together, and that’s what makes the methodology ‘come alive’. I actually had some A-HA moments during the class, remembering times from my PM career when things did not work out so well.  This was maybe the most valuable takeaway. And the most enjoyable: Ilie does a lot of graphical facilitation while delivering the class. For all you visual persons out there (I know there are many of us :), this is the memory boost you needed in order to remember all the processes and terminology.

After the PMP Training

After the class, it was time for self-paced study – re-read the book (it helped that by now I had highlights on all the main topics) and use the simulation software. The PMP EXAM PREP BOOK is important, as heavy and discouraging as it looks, and I do believe it is well-written and the exercises very helpful. The simulation PM FasTrack software has its own role – after studying the methodology, it helps you discover how to think for the PMP Exam, because the questions are never straightforward, and choosing the best/next/least useful action in a given situation often requires assessing what compromise to make. So don’t get demotivated if you get the wrong answer while practising – that’s actually great because you can read the explanation and then you’ll get a similar question right for sure. That’s what the software does, it helps cover the gaps that are still there after all the study – and that’s always the case.

PMP EXAM

On the exam day, I was pretty nervous – but once I started working through the questions I became so focused that I actually relaxed. I used up all the exam time – and it was just enough to answer all the question and review the ‘marked’ ones. Before starting the questions, I spent 10 minutes to write down the Planning processes in order and the earned-value formulas – because, as I mentioned before, I am a true geek.

For instance, one extra piece of support Ilie offers is that he answers any question that comes up after the class, while you’re studying – I did not ask any such question because I knew I had all the materials and I preferred to work my way through them. I’d rather assimilate the logic behind the short explanation of each question and try to apply it, instead of keep asking ‘’why?’’ until the explanation got tailored to my own logic. But one size does not fit all, so ask your post-class questions with confidence!

PMP, as a start

I am very happy to have obtained my certification, and what I learned is already helping me in my professional life. I recommend this certification to everyone hoping to improve their expertise, and I am sure it will bring a lot of value to my resume. And once the decision to pursue the certification is made, go get the whole EDU experience – it is tremendously helpful, and it will make your learning super easy and fun!

I hope the story of my experience can be of help to other test-takers – but I do recommend to use whatever works for you!

Iliuta Adriana, PMP

Transition & Innovation Manager

31 Ianuarie 2018

Iliuta Adrianalogo-adpPMP