365QOD- Day1018

One and Done

“I do not want to do this again.”- My thought during my PMP exam

Yesterday I took my PMP exam.  PMP exam consists of 200 questions that you must answer in four hours.  It was probably the second hardest test I have taken in my life.  The hardest being the qualifying exams for Ph.D.

The knowledge behind the test is something that I do every day.  I manage people and projects.  So getting a Project Management Professional certification is not too far of a stretch.  It makes sense to understand the framework of how to manage large projects and certify that you understand it.

What makes the PMP test so hard then?  Well, it is a multiple choice test so you are guaranteed the monkey score of 25% even if you do not know anything.  The problem with the test is that most of the choices were in the “gray area”.  To answer the questions not only did you have to understand what they wanted but most likely have applied it.  Book smart folks could pass the test but it is very unlikely in my opinion that without experience you can pass it.

The benefit of taking the test was the preparation for it.  It immersed me into the framework for doing projects and I started noticing the knowledge creeping into my every day conversations.  It is good to stretch ones knowledge and then test yourself to see if you mastered it.

I did pass the exam.

Today’s question is:

“What is a learning challenge you are trying to overcome?”