Wish me luck Taking the PMP today at 12:30 central time

I've prepared for over 2 months averaging anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours a day. Used the CBT Nuggets and then read Rita's PMP Exam Prep and barely touched the PMBOK. Maybe a total of a 100 pages 1/3 the book. Going back through a few formulas [variances, indexs etc]. Covering some of the knowledge area's I score low on.

Took the practice exam and scored 73% and 84% so I feel somewhat confident.

I'll post back later on how things went.

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erpadmin

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I couldn't agree with this statement more. I get in arguments with people over this all the time. I'm sorry to hear you didn't pass though. I hear this is a tough one.

Unless you got 0% right on any exam, I can't see how you couldn't learn something from a failed exam.

Those people who disagree with you are probably not worth arguing with.

From my own failures on the 70-643, I probably know more about IIS, RDS, and Sharepoint than I care to. The only thing though is that I didn't know more enough to pass the exam; but I know more than I did before I started and that's the main point of that argument.

UnixGuy

Just focus on the areas of your weakness and take it as soon as possible, good luck

justanotherday

Way to get back up on the horse. It is frustrating not passing an exam. I know two people who took the PMP, one was a PM for 7 years and failed it and another took it 3 times and failed. It is one of the toughest exams from what I hear. It scares me so much I am just planning on doing the CAPM which hopefully is easier.
You may want to check if there is a local PMI chapter in your area that you could join. Many chapters have semiannual or annual training sessions that are often cheaper for members (membership is maybe $50 or something like that) Plus you get to network with other PM's

Good luck!

veritas_libertas

I'm glad to see that you are continuing on with your PMP journey. Best of luck to you

N2IT

Thanks for the kind words and support.

So far I am making my way through the PMBOK. I am about halfway through the book and plan on reading it again. I also plan on reading Rita's book one more time and going through the lesson plans along with listening to her audio. I also just purchased a book via Amazon headstart, which has a lot of picture. It's a very nice piece of visual learning. Along with that my approach hasn't changed much. This is marathon and a long one at that. I have see plans were 30-60 days is enough, I plan on extending that out a bit farther. Around 90-120 days.

erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

Thanks for the kind words and support.

So far I am making my way through the PMBOK. I am about halfway through the book and plan on reading it again. I also plan on reading Rita's book one more time and going through the lesson plans along with listening to her audio. I also just purchased a book via Amazon headstart, which has a lot of picture. It's a very nice piece of visual learning. Along with that my approach hasn't changed much. This is marathon and a long one at that. I have see plans were 30-60 days is enough, I plan on extending that out a bit farther. Around 90-120 days.

I wish you the best of luck N2!! You went through the exam once, you got the nervousness of failing out of the way, now you can sit back, study your butt off, and bring back a pass!

Personally, I don't plan on reading the PMBOK from front to back like you are. I plan on using it when I need to reference something from a book like Rita's or that Headstart (I saw that book at Barnes and Noble. I did like the pictures. LMAO) when I start taking this exam. I do not forsee PMP happening in 2012. Right now, the only certs I'm worried about are SQL Server 2008 DBA and perhaps right after the 646 exam. Gonna see if I can get the DBA cert done (432 and 450) before end of Q1. If I feel it will take away from grad school, then I'm gonna have to stop.

Best of luck to you brother!!

N2IT

erpadmin wrote: »

I wish you the best of luck N2!! You went through the exam once, you got the nervousness of failing out of the way, now you can sit back, study your butt off, and bring back a pass!

Personally, I don't plan on reading the PMBOK from front to back like you are. I plan on using it when I need to reference something from a book like Rita's or that Headstart (I saw that book at Barnes and Noble. I did like the pictures. LMAO) when I start taking this exam. I do not forsee PMP happening in 2012. Right now, the only certs I'm worried about are SQL Server 2008 DBA and perhaps right after the 646 exam. Gonna see if I can get the DBA cert done (432 and 450) before end of Q1. If I feel it will take away from grad school, then I'm gonna have to stop.

Best of luck to you brother!!

Thanks for the warm wishes and good luck!

I personally think your plan is wonderful. In your role and where you are at now the SQL track makes A LOT of sense. Don't get me wrong first and foremost I like your plan of going on to NJIT. That gets me giddy because I know that will unlock a lot of doors. However with your database knowledge I love the idea of reinforcing that with a few SQL certs. Plus it could potentially fill some knowledge gaps.

Since I am electing to forgo graduate school at this time I still want to still stay productive and synch my certification track with my job role and knowledge set. It seems you are doing the same. I always have and probably always will be of the thought that the best return on knowledge and investment is to gain at least some real world knowledge and certify in that technology after you had a taste of that technology. That's why I think highly of your certification and educational track.

One last thing. If I was your advisor I would agree with all your moves. Honestly I wouldn't touch the CISSP or PMP until you have your master diploma in hand. Make sure to get the highest GPA you can. That to me has move value than another cert or two. Besides you introduce more risk when you take on additional studies while you are doing your masters.

erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

One last thing. If I was your advisor I would agree with all your moves. Honestly I wouldn't touch the CISSP or PMP until you have your master diploma in hand. Make sure to get the highest GPA you can. That to me has move value than another cert or two. Besides you introduce more risk when you take on additional studies while you are doing your masters.

I totally agree with this. I have always suspected that an exam such as the CISSP or the PMP would require way too much time to just prepare for; time that I would rather want to spend on my Masters or perhaps a MS cert or two (while MS certs can be difficult, nowhere near the level of the CISSP/PMP in terms of preparation and exam-taking...I imagine.)

As for the GPA...I have a motto for that:

"Shoot for an 'A' but fight for a 'B.' "

I'm perfectly happy getting a 3.00+, at a minimum. But I know that in most programs (and mine is no exception) a "C" is as good as an "F."

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

I wish you the best of luck N2!! You went through the exam once, you got the nervousness of failing out of the way, now you can sit back, study your butt off, and bring back a pass!

Personally, I don't plan on reading the PMBOK from front to back like you are. I plan on using it when I need to reference something from a book like Rita's or that Headstart (I saw that book at Barnes and Noble. I did like the pictures. LMAO) when I start taking this exam. I do not forsee PMP happening in 2012. . .

That's one of the burning questions for me at the moment. I have a few smaller certs I'd like to wrap that would be supplementary to what I've learned in the last year, plus I'm contemplating taking CCNP SWITCH to re-up my CCNA. (Then there's that Idiot's Guide to Stats I should read.) But I don't think I could do all that and concentrate on a master's.

There would be one advantage to delaying the master's for certs, though. . . (thinking out loud here). . . I could maybe get signed up for a B&M program in the fall rather than some other lesser-known rolling start program. Decisions, decisions. . .

I had also thought about some other PM cert, MS 70-642 and maybe ITIL Foundations for 2012. I think my eyes are bigger than my calendar.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

That's one of the burning questions for me at the moment. I have a few smaller certs I'd like to wrap that would be supplementary to what I've learned in the last year, plus I'm contemplating taking CCNP SWITCH to re-up my CCNA. (Then there's that Idiot's Guide to Stats I should read.) But I don't think I could do all that and concentrate on a master's.

There would be one advantage to delaying the master's for certs, though. . . (thinking out loud here). . . I could maybe get signed up for a B&M program in the fall rather than some other lesser-known rolling start program. Decisions, decisions. . .

I had also thought about some other PM cert, MS 70-642 and maybe ITIL Foundations for 2012. I think my eyes are bigger than my calendar.

If it were me, I would think along these following lines:

To me, certifications were always something that validated knowledge already gained through being on the job. I've always thought people were (and perhaps ARE) crazy to think that getting such-and-such cert would land one a better position. UNLESS of course, they were gunning for one of those vendor-partner gigs, where having a cert would be useful, but how many of those jobs are around?

I guess the same thing can be said for a Masters, but I gotta tell you, most of the jobs I've seen for PeopleSoft management positions preferred a Masters. Heck a lot of positions that weren't management prefer a Masters. The Masters has become the new Bachelors, much like the Bachelors replaced a HS diploma (though I was real late to that party....but I'm about fashionably late or maybe a little on-time to this one if I stick with it.)

To paraphrase a quote I read on the WGU communities...certifications expire, but education lasts a lifetime. While my EA will be irrelevent after about 10-12 years (based on how long W2K3 has lasted), my undergrad degree will still be valid. So I might as well gun for a Masters and just get that done. The CISSP/PMP certs will still be around, and no doubt they will get harder, but I'd have to be insane to gun for either of those now. HOWEVER, one thing I'm kinda contemplating is ITIL because the Info Sys Principles class I'm taking is supposed to be based on ITIL principles. I will see how I feel after the course is over in May. I am very much considering SQL 2008 DBA and I already have the Sybex book and in addition SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed on Kindle ($10 FTMFW!!! Thanks etextbook promotions!!

) I should probably throw the 646 in there as well but I gotta see.

In any event, that's my take on it.

N2IT

erpadmin wrote: »

I am very much considering SQL 2008 DBA and I already have the Sybex book and in addition SQL Server 2008 R2 Unleashed on Kindle ($10 FTMFW!!! Thanks etextbook promotions!! ) I should probably throw the 646 in there as well but I gotta see.

I really hope you stick to this plan. I think the SQL track is $$$$$

This is off topic but I thought you might enjoy this. I created a report in access utilizing SQL to query the two tables. I ran a left outer join on two tables the left being the primary data source and the secondary table possessing notes. The requirements were to link any possible notes from the secondary table with the master table for lack of a better term. Both possessed a PR_Number column which I ran the join off of. I set them up to have referentials integrity. Not quite Boyce Codd Normal Form, but at least no update or deletion anomolies should occur. I then **** the data back into Excel and created a report. I was going to create a report in access, but I haven't gotten down the report or form creation yet. I really need to practice that.

Oh and the kicker to this whole rant is my mother asked me to do it tonight LOL. She is a developer so I figured I would do it for her since she is tired of developing.

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

To paraphrase a quote I read on the WGU communities...certifications expire, but education lasts a lifetime.

It wasn't so much a matter of master's OR certs, but how/when. For a while, I was chomping at the bit to start a master's right after my current program-- so much so I was passing up some quality programs for others with close start dates. Part of that was the thought that I would pace the floor like crazy waiting for a fall program to start, part of it was wanting a master's NOW.

After reading your guys' commentary, though, I get to thinking I could probably be OK starting a "better" program in the fall, and catch up some certs in the interim as long as I have least start dates and applications locked in. Doing certs would keep me from getting bored, and possibly avoid "idle hands".

N2IT

petedude wrote: »

It wasn't so much a matter of master's OR certs, but how/when. For a while, I was chomping at the bit to start a master's right after my current program-- so much so I was passing up some quality programs for others with close start dates. Part of that was the thought that I would pace the floor like crazy waiting for a fall program to start, part of it was wanting a master's NOW.

After reading your guys' commentary, though, I get to thinking I could probably be OK starting a "better" program in the fall, and catch up some certs in the interim as long as I have least start dates and applications locked in. Doing certs would keep me from getting bored, and possibly avoid "idle hands".

Sounds like a plan

I don't know if my advice is good or not but I am hell bent on passing this damn PMP exam

Next up is fun stuff related to my job. I have some MS server 2003 books I want to thumb through, but what I am really working on is ramping up my Excel/Access skills. Currently I am providing support for MS Office 03-10, with ERP support and some other items. However there are some guys in my group who do more of the OLAP Cube analytics. That begins to get a lot more technical and I am very interested in it.

Right now the PM/UNIX piece is looking more bleek each passing second and my opportunity to transition into this other field is beginning to open up. It's weird but I have to keep my doors open and be a man of opportunity.

And for the Windows 7 project coordinator role, that looks like it's completely out the window at this point. I guess it's not all bad, I am getting paid 5-10 hours a week and I do nothing but create charts, mine data, analyze cost and scheduling metrics, and talk strategy. I've officially fallen into the consultant role at the service management company. I honestly doubt I will ever hold another fulltime position there.

universalfrost

i just coughed up the $555 to take the PMP and just got my PMI eligibility ID...!!!!!

as for the masters thing, I already have a masters in Information Systems Engineering and I keep seeing folks with MBA's in the same or higher positions as the one I am in. I just think to myself that they don't have a clue about the IT/IS world and yet they are running the show! It made me think so much that I started my MBA last year and if I had not moved for the current position, I would have had it finished by now.

Most of the jobs I have interviewed for recently told me I knew a lot about managing projects, so why didn't I just get my PMP! I am taking their advice now!

The PMP is the right choice for moving up the ladder, whether it be IT or a business related track.... seems that the PMP is the new buzz word certification that gets instant recognition with the HR and hiring officials.