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 Note from PMHUB Admin: this is one of the most detail discussion of an LL, written by Nagesh that give all aspirants a very good insight of what happened in the PMP exam and how to cope with it. Nagesh is in active contributor, a PMHUB moderator and an active donator to PMHUB funds

I had been a silent observer and now it’s my turn to contribute to the forum. My thoughts about the exam are mixed – it’s not easy exam to crack, but hard work pays off! I passed with a good percentage.

My preparation span was around 3weeks or so. However, the last 2 weeks it was more intensive. I do have an MBA and PM experience; However in my opinion, it did give me an edge during preparation but NOT during exam.

Disclaimer: Mileage will vary. Questions below are just a sample to provoke your thinking! However, I think the tips below will help in steering your preparation in right direction

Exam Preparation:
In my opinion, the rescue during exam came from my recap of important points from my hand-written notes. I prepared notes based on 3 books – Mcgraw Hill , Andy Crowe and Newell. I also got 11concepts material. Tests were from Self-test software/Transcender. Most of the questions in the exam were 1 or 2 liners which is similar to SelfTest/Transcender. What I noticed when I was doing these tests is 2 things:
- The questions became tricky when I just studied the obvious but did not collate information. This is very important for the exam. For instance in Time chapter, I studied Precedence Diagram and Arrow Digram but didn’t pay much attention to the differences between those two! Similarly bar charts and Gnatt charts.
- Read all the 4 answers.
That’s it – Nothing more than that, not even PMBOK.

Tips/Tricks/points to ponder:

- DON’T PANIC. KEEP COOL. The exam seems to be designed in such a way that you will get questions which will knock your socks off even with the right amount of preparation. Remember passing # is 139/200 and that should be your aim first.
- You cannot stop the timer during exam. So keep that in mind if you want to go for restroom or something like that.
- If you are well prepared, 3. ½ hrs should be sufficient to go over questions twice (2nd pass is for Marked questions only)
- You have to start the Demo module first – it goes on for 15 minutes. You can exit out whenever you want to start the exam.
- When the Demo module starts, brain dump the following on the given papers
- Formulas for Cost equations, Float, LF/EF, PTA, Seller fees, PV on 1 page
- Cross chart of the knowledge Area & process group on 1 page
- Know AC, EV, EAC, EV, SV, CV, SPI, CPI very well. I almost had 10 numerical questions or so.
- Look at these below: Do you see an easy way to remember the CV/SV/CPI/SPI ?
- CV AC EV PV SV
- Develop Mnemonics to create the knowledge Area & process group on 1 page.
- If you can remember inputs, outputs, tools and techniques, that would be great but I could only remember few of them.
- There are questions on inputs/outputs. But if you look at the cross chart you have developed and understand them, you can narrow down the choices to 2. That means 50% probability of hitting the right answer.
- There were plenty of situational questions – PM should not do things with a knee jerk reaction. Don’t run to the customer/Sponsor FIRST. Evaluate options/impact FIRST.
- Read delegation.
- Know when WBS and scope statement is an tool/input.
- What changes in the project will impact which plans: For instance say there is an upgraded version (which fixes most of the bugs and conforms to other customer requirements) of a software available from the vendor; but due to the relationship with the vendor he/she is willing to give that version for free and it would make no difference in cost or schedule. However since this is a version which is of improved quality, which plans get impacted?
- Expected value calculations
- Probability ( Remember how dependent and independent events are evaluated)
- Read theory on NPV/IRR; not just higher the NPV select the project kind of thing.
- Problem Solving is the nirvana.
- Motivational Model –direct questions
- Which conflicts happen in which phases and why
- Risk response strategies
- Know the impact of resource leveling on the project.
- Understand Ethnocentrism, how multinational projects are managed to deal with cultural issues.
- Know quality control definition and understand it word by word!
- If you know direct and indirect costs, then read also about Fixed/Variable.
- Critical path – longest path, shortest time
- Administrative closure is not just at the end of the project. Really?
- Contract closeout is not just product verification. So what else?
- Which changes lead to re-baseline?
- Why is scope verification and control important?
- What are the functions of CCB?
- Why do you want to use value analysis or function analysis?
- Know staffing management plan and tools needed
- Know the components and importance of performance reporting.
- Know the use of control charts, scatter diagram and Pareto charts.
- Conformance = Prevention plus Appraisal
- What are the disadvantages of matrix structure’s?
- Secondary risks are from following a risk mitigation strategy.
- If a project is terminated due to starvation what would you do?
- Understand when you would use PERT vs CPM.


More to come……

Please post your questions and I will try to answer them.

Good Luck!!

I have been getting requests for some more pointers.
Here are the formula's to remember:

Slack/Float = Critical Path - Sum (Duration of that Path)
ES = Sum of Predecessors +1
EF = ES +Duration -1
LS = ES + FLOAT (Remember FLOAT = LS- ES which is a transpose of LESS)
LF = LS+Duration-1

Dummy activity has zero duration

=============================================

PV = %Complete x BAC (This is for schedule)
EV = %Complete x BAC (This relates to work)

PTA = Target Cost +( CP - TP) / % of share of cost overrun

How much will it cost = EAC= BAC/CPI
How much MORE will it cost = ETC =BAC/CPI

Given CPI, EV, BAC, PV how will you calculate the EAC or ETC or SPI ?

=============================

Target price 20,000 Target profit 2,000
Target price 21,000 Ceiling price 22,000

Share ratio 80/20.

If actual cost = 18k then Amount to be paid to the seller by the buyer equals ?

What if actual cost = 20k

What if actual cost = 23k

======================

Nagesh

 Target cost/price/profit all relate to fixed price incentive.
Target cost - Actual cost = savings ---- Remember it could be loses too!

Now this savings plays the major role in this contract. The incentive is based on these savings. Hence more the savings , more the seller gets!
So if there are savings, then seller would get the cost plus his fee plus %of savings.

Now try the example.

Thanks,
Nagesh

If you were presented with several project selection methods, which one would you choose ? What would be your reasoning behind it.

For instance ,if a project selection method involves building complex model which would incur lot of cost and not practical, but its user friendly and would help you do lot of scenario analysis and it would use cutting-edge technology and latest and greatest algorithms. Would you go with it?

Nagesh

by vizkid » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:43 pm

Nagesh

Note from PMHUB: if you need more details of  this long thread (4 pages thread and is still continuing in May 2009) of Questions and answers between Nagesh and other members, just check PMHUB Forums:  http://pmhub.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12205&start=15

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