My Pmp journey – Mr. Raman Nanda
1. A brief introduction about me
I have been working in IT for 25 years. I have worked in many different areas and domains. As a Project Manager in an MNC, I have managed numerous projects in the Testing and Data Migration areas. Prior to this, I worked in the graphics and hardcore development areas.
2. PMP Journey –
It began in July-2019 as a casual conversation with a friend over tea. Within a week, both of us decided to obtain the PMP certification and get global certification for the craft that we had been working on for many years. He told me that he had completed the required training a few years ago and was now eligible to take the exam. To me, the first step was to complete the mandatory training.
3.First Step – Mandatory Training for the Exam:
For the exam, you must complete a professional PMP training course of 36 hours. This earns 35 PDU (Professional Development Units). Next, I had to find a professional institute where I could complete my training. I spent a week surfing on the Internet. There were many online and offline options. After doing some research, I decided to contact Prothoughts for training. Prothoughts also offers offline courses, which allowed me to interact with my instructor and other aspirants. Our instructor was Mr. Arvind, who was an expert in the PMP area and had extensive industrial experience. He is an expert in his field, and he explained each concept clearly and in an easy to understand manner. This greatly helped me to gain a deeper understanding of them. He was always available to answer questions and to help us with any queries. I had the chance to interact with other participants, e.g. I was able to interact with other participants from different fields, such as banking, insurance, IT, and manufacturing. This showed me that PMP isn’t limited to any one field. The session was broken up into two weeks, which were held over weekends. I enjoyed the session immensely. It gave me a much-needed break and allowed me to learn about terminologies that I didn’t know. After the course, I was energized to get my certification as soon as possible. Prothoughts gave Rita Mulchay the book “PMP Exam Prep”, which is easy to understand and a great book for learning.
Online courses can save you thousands, but it is worth attending classes in person to get different perspectives. You can make new friends.
4.Application for Certifications
It is an essential step. It is a crucial step. I have completed the application. I have sent it to Mr. Arvind. After making the necessary corrections, I submitted it to PMI for approval. Once your application is approved, you can apply for the exam.
5.Preparation for Certification
I was excited to begin the preparation. For three weeks, I studied for an hour each day. My office workload meant that I had to stop this studying routine. In this time, I was able complete half the book. A few months later, I received messages from the Prothoughts Whatsapp Group confirming that 2 of my batch had passed the exam. This was a reality check.
I had more time to study in April/May 2020 so I started my preparations again. I set an August 2020 deadline to complete the exam. I reviewed the chapters I had already completed and then I covered the rest. I had completed the PMI membership in March 2020. Due to client productions at work, I was forced to leave my study. After a few months of not studying, I was informed that 5-6 additional members had passed the exam. The new condition was here, the PMP exam pattern was going to be changed in January 2021. It was imperative that I pass the exam this year, as I was already preparing for the new pattern. I was fortunate to have ample time to prepare for the exam, as productions that had significantly increased my workload were postponed at the beginning of October 2020. This was a great opportunity for me, and a crucial period.
I began my preparations again (1-2 hours daily) and continued to study over the weekend. I had already completed the entire portion twice and was now attempting 10-50 questions each day via the internet. Many applications are available online for free.
6.Final days of preparation
I took four mock exams from Prothoughts the week before the exam. They were identical to the real thing. The real challenge was to
