PMP Audit and Exam

If you are like me, then after 4 months of studying PMP Exam Prep in transit, you registered at pmi.org and applied for the PMP exam. And (if you are like me) you have seen the sacred "your application has been chosen for the audit". Feel free to be like me and give yourself 20 minutes to panic: I recall running into the bathroom and confessing to my wife that I have just wasted $630 and 4 months of transit reading. I do recall sticky heat that covered me from from head to toe and, as mentioned earlier, it took me 20 minutes to get myself together. 

Now, supposedly, you got yourself together and got ready to face the reality - you have 90 days to complete the audit. In fact it took me 40 days to notify my former bosses, gather all of the envelopes and send the application to the PMI. Never shall I forget Canada Post and 10 long days before my documents crossed the border and reached the recipient.

After PMI approval I have spent another 2 months of reading and preparing for the exam, and today I have finally passed it! My first impressions are as following:

• I find that fingerprinting, metal detector and eversion of pockets is an overkill for a certification exam
• Despite $630 tag there was no coffee or even potable water dispenser (at least this is true for the certification center at Metrotown in Burnaby, BC)
• As mentioned in hundreds of posts from around the world - PMI requires you to immerse into their "world of PMI-ism", and your exam success is fully driven by the level of immersion

In summary:

• I have used PMP Examp Prep [1] as my primary source:

• PM Fastrack [2] turned out to be a very useful tool:

• It took me 6 month to prepare myself for the exam and additional 40 days to prepare documents package for the PMI Audit.

• Don't forget to enrol to PMI before applying for PMP. This will save you $25.

• Remember to fuel yourself with coffee before entering the examination room, as you might have no other opportunity before the end of exam.

Cheers!

[1] PMP Exam Prep:
http://store.rmcproject.com/Detail.bok?no=392

[2] PM Fastrack:
http://store.rmcproject.com/Detail.bok?no=310