u/Jay_161986

First of all, I would like to thank everyone in this subreddit. I have been following this community throughout my PMP journey, and reading the experiences of other members kept me motivated, especially after failing my first attempt. I hope my journey helps someone who is either preparing for the exam or planning a second attempt.

A Little About Me

I have 17 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry and work for a Public Sector company in India. Throughout my career, I have worked in predictive project environments and had almost no exposure to Agile before I started preparing for PMP.

Like many working professionals, I have a demanding job (around 10 hours a day), along with family responsibilities. Finding dedicated study time was always a challenge.

Why I Decided to Pursue PMP

Getting PMP certification had been on my mind for several years. Every year, I would plan to start my preparation, but official work always took priority.

Finally, in early 2025, I decided that if I kept postponing it, I would never do it.

I enrolled in Andrew Ramdayal's 35-hour Udemy course and completed my contact hours. At that stage, I genuinely believed I had understood the concepts well enough to clear the exam.

Looking back, I realized later that understanding project management concepts and understanding how PMI asks questions are two completely different things.

My First Attempt

I took the PMP exam in September 2025.

Result: BT / T / BT

Failing the exam was disappointing. I started questioning whether PMP was really meant for me. With office work, family responsibilities, and limited study time, it was easy to convince myself that maybe this certification was beyond my reach.

I stopped studying for a few months to clear my mind.

Looking back, that break actually helped me reset.

What Changed Before My Second Attempt

When I started preparing again, I decided not to keep collecting more books and more courses.

Instead, I asked myself a simple question:

"Why did I fail?"

The answer wasn't that I lacked knowledge.

The answer was that I was solving the questions based on my real-life project management experience instead of PMI's expectations.

That realization completely changed my preparation strategy.

Resources I Used

I intentionally limited my study resources instead of trying to study everything available.

1. PMI Study Hall Plus

This was the best investment I made during my preparation.

The biggest advantage of Study Hall was not the difficulty level of the questions—it was helping me understand how PMI frames questions and expects candidates to think. The actual exam felt very similar in terms of the thinking process required.

2. Andrew Ramdayal's Mindset Videos

I watched the free Mindset videos multiple times.

Each time I watched them after solving more Study Hall questions, I understood something new. These videos helped me shift my thinking from "real-life project manager" to "PMI project manager."

3. Mohammad Rahman's Mindset Videos

These videos reinforced the same mindset from a different perspective and helped me understand the reasoning behind PMI's answers.

4. Third3Rock Study Notes

These notes were excellent for revision and strengthening the basic concepts. I found them concise and easy to revisit before the exam.

I did not use multiple books or too many different resources. Instead, I focused on understanding a few resources thoroughly.

The Strategy That Made the Biggest Difference

The biggest change in my preparation was how I reviewed my mistakes.

I didn't simply check why an answer was correct.

I reverse engineered every incorrect question in Study Hall.

For every wrong answer, I maintained an error log and asked myself:

• What was PMI actually testing?
• Was this a knowledge gap or a mindset gap?
• Why did I eliminate the correct option?
• Which PMI principle did I miss?
• What should I remember if a similar question appears again?

After reviewing hundreds of questions this way, I started noticing patterns.

Most of my mistakes were not because I didn't know the concepts.

They happened because I was thinking from my organization's way of managing projects instead of PMI's way of approaching project management.

Once I corrected that, my Study Hall scores started improving consistently.

The Biggest Lesson I Learned

One thing surprised me during my preparation.

Sometimes, experience can become a disadvantage.

People with many years of project management experience naturally answer questions based on what happens in their organizations.

PMI expects something different.

PMI expects you to answer only based on the information given in the question.

Don't assume anything beyond the problem statement.

Don't imagine missing details.

Don't think about how your organization would handle the situation.

Answer the question exactly the way PMI expects.

That was probably the single biggest lesson I learned throughout this journey.

My Final Advice

If I had to summarize my preparation strategy, it would be this:

• Keep your study resources limited.
• Spend as much time understanding the PMI mindset as learning the concepts.
• Use Study Hall seriously—not just to solve questions, but to analyze every mistake.
• Maintain an error log and identify recurring patterns in your thinking.
• Never answer questions based on your organization's practices.
• Never assume information that is not given in the question.

Remember, PMP is not only a knowledge exam.

It is also an exam that tests how PMI expects a project manager to think.

Final Result

First Attempt: BT / T / BT ❌

Second Attempt: T / AT / AT ✅

I wish everyone preparing for the PMP exam the very best. Stay consistent, trust the process, and keep moving forward.