Get tips and recommendations from the successful passers of the PMP Exam.

1. The PM PrepCast Student Profiles
5 Stories about PMP Exam Study and Exam Experience

2. Student Profile: Jan Pamp, PMP
I’m a Master of Science in Physical Engineering and a
certified Project Management Professional
(PMP)® from Sweden. Currently @Sony Mobile, I am
passionate about software, hardware testing,
automation, production and IS/IT. Studied Business
Knowledge at Executive Foundation (EFL) in Lund, so I
am very suitable for commercial parts.
I found that the PMP® certification made my CV much
more valuable on the job market of today.
I think it is very important for students to read the
official PMP handbook from Project Management
Institute (PMI)®, in order to get the official version
made clear to you, and also to get the right
terminology. The first time I read the book, it seemed
very theoretical, but on the second reading, and after
having taken a couple of test exams, the book
suddenly made everything seem much more clear and
visible.
Jan Pamp, PMP

3. Student Profile: Dennis Domino, PMP
I started working for Philippine National Oil
Company-Energy Development Corporation (PNOC-
EDC); a power industry player in the Philippines, in
1991. It has been my sole employment for the past
25 years until I applied for early retirement on June
30, 2016 to pursue other interests in Civil
Engineering like high rise building construction,
ports and harbors, airports, rails and the likes here
and abroad. This would then fulfill my goal of
becoming a well-rounded civil engineer.
In my case, the exam was 50% situational and 50%
memorization. Around 25 items are computation. I
remember computing for the critical path using
activity on arrow (we are now used to "activity on
nodes"). One thing that worried me during the exam
was that there were around 30 items where the
questions/situationnaires almost filled the whole of
the screen. Practice fast reading. I finished the 200
questions with barely 15 minutes to review.
Dennis Domino, PMP

4. Student Profile: Annette Hackenberg, PMP
As someone who has spent the last 14 years as a
manager in the aerospace industry, I value continuing
education and professional credentials as an
important element of professional success. Because
much of my experience involves managing large
military training projects, I decided to pursue the
Project Management Professional
(PMP)® certification.
Reading the official PMP® Handbook is essential to
understanding all of the key requirements and
project management principles and terminology.
While I have found that “real life” project
management does not reflect the PMP principles and
processes exactly, it is very important to learn this
information as a framework for successful project
management.
Annette Hackenberg, PMP

5. Student Profile: Jerry Tarley, PMP
I'm the father of three small girls at home, ages 5, 2, and 1, with
more than 22 years in the Construction Industry; beginning as a
laborer in my early twenties, and presently working as a
consultant with a concentration in Federal and Military projects.
I think to read the official Project Management Professional
(PMP)® Handbook from Project Management Institute (PMI)® is
very important. I would suggest reading everything from
PMI® pertaining to the certification that you pursue, if not for
any other reason than it realistically moderates your
expectations. It is a difficult test! For me, I was very nervous in
the weeks leading up to the test, and everything that lent some
familiarity to the process was personally appreciated.
One of the most valuable bits of knowledge that I came across
in preparing for the PMP® Exam was How to Plot the 47
Processes of PMBOK® Guide, in 3 Minutes Flat outlined
here: http://www.wikihow.com/Plot-the-47-Processes-of-Pmbok-
5,-in-3-Minutes-Flat. Learning that technique really led to being
able to visualize the flow of the processes. It was like a key; and
once it was learned, all of the knowledge that I had accumulated
became logically aligned. It was also a huge confidence builder,
and the last couple of weeks prior to the exam, I was like a
sponge, as that knowledge really increased my retention of the
data on the processes.
Jerry Tarley, PMP

6. Student Profile: Chris Love, MSM, PMP
I had taken another class locally, but didn't get enough out
of it to even consider taking the test, so I bought the PM
PrepCast and a few books (Rita's, PMP® Exam Simplified
by A. Ellis, All in one CAMP/PMP and the A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide)). I went through the PM PrepCast videos,
read Rita's book and the PMBOK® Guide once each then
answer 1000s of prep questions - mostly from the PMP
Exam Simulator. After about 5 months I took it and
received 4 MPs and 1 P.
I did not read the PMP Handbook from Project
Management Institute (PMI)®. I found Rita's book and
the PMBOK® Guide helpful after the PrepCast to reinforce
and more or less pound the information into my head.
In the week before the exam I spent a lot of time on
simulator questions. I feel the more the better. I did a little
bit of refreshing from the books, but mostly questions. I
won't say the exam wasn't difficult, but I think I may have
been a bit over prepared - which to me, isn't a bad thing.
Chris Love, MSM, PMP

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Student Profile Page at:
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prepcast.com/customer-reviews/student-profiles