There are many aspects of PMP exam prep. But the exam day has its own importance. Just before the exam aspirants have questions like:
- what happens at the PMP Testing Center?
- what are some of the PMP Exam Day Tips?
- what happens once you walk inside the Prometric Exam Center?
In this post you will find answers to all these questions. Brad Ferrell has shared his experience about PMI, exam day, testing centers et. el. in this post.
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Brad Ferrell is part of the PMP prep Linkedin group that I moderate. He shared his PMP experience notes on the group. I requested him if I can share his notes with the blog readers. He kindly acceded to my request. I wish him good luck for the future. Here is Brad’s experience in his own words.
My Experience With PMP Testing Center On The Exam Day
All of the work that I had set aside for the last nine months had come down to this day. If planning had been better in the beginning, my studying could have probably been done in 3-4 months, but I digress. The anxiety of the exam left me restless that day, but I wasn’t going to let that dictate my performance. My studying in the morning wasn’t too rigorous, just reviewed my cheat sheet (mentioned back on page five). Just hours before driving out to the testing center, I did some relaxation techniques to clear my mind, drank some hot tea, and watched a little bit of television.
Scheduling my exam at 1 PM worked better for me since I don’t label myself as a morning person, but was early enough that my brain is somewhat fresh. I left my house about 90 minutes before exam time to give myself enough time to eat lunch and allow for any other circumstances (i.e. traffic, weather, GPS malfunctions, large meteor strike, zombie attack, etc.). Fortunately these became an non-issue.
When arriving at the testing center 12:26 PM, I signed in and took a seat in the waiting area. If you weren’t aware, you’re required to be at the testing center 30 minutes before your scheduled exam time. A few minutes later my name was called and I was given a locker to places my belongs. You’re not allowed to bring in your wallet, mobile devices, keys, or other belongs into the testing rooms which should come to no surprise. Next I was escorted to another room where I was patted down to ensure I wasn’t hiding anything that would give me an advantage on the exam. The staff gave me the check-in/check-out procedures, a couple of pencils, and some scratch paper. I had to request a calculator, otherwise, this would not have been given to me. When the staff showed me to my computer, I did a few pre-exam checks such as:
- Adjust my seat according to my liking.
- Move the computer monitor as close to me as possible to enhance my focus level for each question.
Maybe I got accustomed to studying with distractions at home, but one of the first things I felt grateful for would be four hours of exam time without any interruptions. As you probably know, the exam time to complete 200 questions is four hours, but you are allotted a 15 minute awareness session. You can use this time to get comfortable with your surroundings or play around with the functionality of the computerized exam. However, your best option is to dump all the information you have absorbed over time onto your scratch paper. For me, this included the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, all of the knowledge areas, the processes for time, scope, and risk management. In addition, I included the most important earned value analysis formulas, communication channels formula, and power/interest grid.
Now it was go time.
Over To You
Have you heard any stories about the exam day? Are you planning to visit the testing center just before the exam? What special preparation are you planning for the d-day?
Please leave a comment.
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I passed my PMP exam last December 2017. The day was pretty much you described however I left home 120 mins ahead since traffic in Mumbai is crazy and wanted to ensure that I have enough buffer. It turns out that buffer I had kept had definitely helped as while I was about to board the bus I realized had forgotten sweater(which my colleague told is must as Airconditioner is at full flow at the centre)
Sprinted towards home and collected the sweater and then continued the journey towards the exam center. The center in Mumbai is good 2-2.5 kms from the railway station and you dont get Auto’s, Ola etc for such short commute. Decided to go by foot and reach 25 mins before the exam.
Overall the pressure is intense over there however once you are settled(20 mins to exam) you will be all set to pass the exam 🙂
One quick note though, here in mumbai you are not allowed to make the brain dump during the tutorial time.