How Greg Morris Passed His PMP After His Third Try

Yeah, but congratulations on passing your PMP.

Thank you. I had to do it 3 times, but I think, you know, like I was telling you, with— through your Helena Exam PM program, the PMP content, the course, yeah, it really helped me kind of break through. I'd already read the book cover to cover, and I'd gone through 3 boot camps actually, because I took one through My last one was InfoSec. I forgot what the first company was that I took it through, but I did InfoSec. And what's nice with them is you can repeat the course and they don't really put a timeline. It had been more than like 6 months since I first took it, and then I contacted the PLC, but they were— we were a customer. I'm with the US Coast Guard. I'm in the reserves now. I was active duty, but since we sent so many of our Coast Guard members through InfoSec, they said, yeah, sure, go ahead, you can pop into class anytime. So I took it the second time and I'd taken the test actually after the second time I took it, I didn't want to fail it because I was going to attempt the test for the third time. And then I found your software, which was affordable and it was effective. And I think I told you, I was— I got it up on my Xbox, so I used the Internet Explorer through my Xbox. And I was literally using my Xbox remote here and my controller and just going through the practice questions. I probably, I spent probably 2 solid, maybe 2 and a half weeks going through all your practice questions, which were pretty relevant to all that version material of the test. So I finally got confidence and understood the processes and why I was choosing which answers, because as you know, The PMP is a very difficult test because it's based on the best answer. It's not the partially correct answer, it's the complete answer.

Right. Sometimes for multiple choice questions that you get, the answers could look the same. Congratulations on passing your PMP again.

Oh, thank you.

What made the difference between your first and second time? You know, how did you stick around and, you know, have the motivation to do it the third time? Because a lot of people get discouraged when they don't pass the first time.

Well, one of the big proponents for me was the fact President Obama, before he ended his term, actually he drafted up an executive order for federal government to have all the general service federal positions and senior leadership positions from like, I believe, a GS-13 on up through SES, that it was required to have PMP certification. Now what had happened is, I know for Department of Homeland Security and DOD have both come up with their own project program manager program, which is pretty much adopted all the principles from PMI. So, but of course, if you had the PMI certification, it's equivalent or kind of satisfies all the requirements for the PPM for the DOD. It's just their kind of like customized version of PMI. But to be honest with you, the PMI exam itself is much more challenging because I've gone through the DHS PPM and I was about to test out, but I just— after finally passing my PMP, I'm like, I'm good, you know, having that on my job title and my email signature. I'm in, you know. I knew the content. It wasn't a question of me not knowing the material. It was just me getting over the hurdle of choosing the best or the most correct answer. I was choosing good answers that were partially correct, but it wasn't the most correct. And that's, that's the big difference. And the question exams, the actual question content that you had was matched up very well to the actual test that I found, like, more than any of the other PMP courses that are offered for students.

Right. Oh, well, thank you. Thank you so much for saying that. That's so kind.

Of course.

Yeah, yeah. So did anything help you when you were trying to choose the right answer? Was there a strategy that you used? I kind of just know it now, like, kind of like the back of my hand, but was there like a thought process where methodology that you used that could help people who might have the same problem as in the past?

I would just say probably just narrowing down. I mean, 2 of the 4 multiple choice answers are bogus, and you have a 50/50 shot. So because you're, you know, they took away the prep time. There was like a 10-minute prep time in the beginning where you could kind of like do a a data puke of everything that you try to remember 30 minutes or an hour before the test. So doing that helps, obviously, the data puke of information, writing all that on your scratch paper, but that does cut into your testing time. So it's realizing that you're going to spend 10 or 15 minutes data puking if you've done it right, because you've got to write out all the formulas and some of the other principles of PMP that you need to remember. for the test, especially all the 47 processes and the initiating and planning and executing, controlling, monitoring, and the closing. And all the other acronyms. So I wrote all the fancier creative acronyms that we came up with in the course, and there were some good ones too through ExamSPM as well. I had one morbid one that I'll think of in a minute. I stole the— I stole the cash quick, her corpse, which is initiating a stakeholder, um, and it goes through all the, uh, the other processes.

Yeah.

But it was kind of morbid, but it was kind of like a murder, uh, scenario. Um, but, uh, so, uh, that helped me remember. But mostly, um, like you said, you would have— had asked actually what was my main strategy, was just picking the, the 2 most correct answers and then Really focusing on the difference between those 2 and, you know, why they were different and which one was the most correct answer and which one was partially correct. And that's, that's the key to the whole test because one or 2 of the multiple choice answers are bogus. You pretty much rule them out. So it's kind of process of elimination, but then, you know, having those 2 left, which gives you a 50/50 shot at each question if you've studied well. And if you've done the practice exam questions, which it was a huge help for me.

Yeah.

I think also too that you mentioned it, my other strategy was taking those practice exams helps you like for the mental endurance of it. I think after getting through all the chapter quizzes that you offer through your course, the main part of it is doing the actual 200-question exam. Those are your mock exams. Not exactly what's in the question, but just, um, being able to like run a marathon through 200 questions. Because as you know, it takes a good solid 3 hours, sometimes the full 4, um, to get through it. And I think I had done the, the full 200-question mock exams probably 4 times, maybe 5, before I tested.

Yeah.

And so I really put myself through the rigors. So, because it's like a race, I mean, If you're going to run a marathon, you don't run 26 miles the first day. You build up to that point.

Yeah.

So, and that's the big misconception I think a lot of people have with the boot camps is, oh great, you know, I'll sit in class Monday through Thursday and test out on Friday. I'm like, I've got news for you. Unless you've been exposed to it, like a lot of the content, or you've got an MBA, a Master's in Business Administration, to really kind of lean back on for all that, the body of knowledge. then you're gonna fail. So, and it took me 2 times, 2 failures, to realize that I wasn't gonna fail my 3rd.

So, oh, that's— well, yeah, no, that's a great point. Like, a lot of people think that if they have a lot of experience, they can just pass based on their own experience, and you really can't because there's so many new terminologies, and PMI has their own specific way of doing things. So you really have to stay study the content. Yeah, so in terms of your actual exam date, what kind of questions came up more often? Like if you were to hack this, like if you could start over again, if you were to shortcut this, what would you kind of do to do that?

It's tough. I think just memorizing the formulas is a huge part of it. I mean, knowing all those in the earned value management and those equations. You've got to be able to do your data puke with that, write down all the processes and the phases, and know all the other interfaces. I forget the actual terminology because it's been a year and a half or almost 2 years since I tested it out.

Yeah.

But so all those many processes that go along with it, but there really isn't any shortcut. I hate to tell you.

Yeah.

It's just, you've got to roll up your sleeves and read the book at least once cover to cover. And then go through a boot camp. I know it sounds pricey because it is, but if you're in a fortunate situation, your company or employer can support you through that. And then lastly, it may sound like overkill, but it's not going through your course because That's just another positive reinforcement of everything that you've studied. And then the question exams, like I said, for me doing it through my Xbox One, or I'm sure you could do it on PlayStation as well, was great because it was almost like a video game format. You know, I had my controller, again, my Xbox One controller, and I just whizzed through the questions. And yeah, some of them are problem solving. You have to take time to read, but it greatly helped just having it on my nice 55-inch HDTV so I didn't get nearsighted vision or had any focal problems reading the questions. Because, you know, that part of it too is like the endurance part with your eye. You got to train your eyes to keep reading through 200 questions because that's enduring and exhausting. And then mentally, you know, just solving the problem. So there's—

Yeah.

I hate to say it, there's really no shortcut other than come up with— get your cheat sheets memorized. Read the book cover to cover, go to a boot camp so you understand the methodology of all the processes and phases, and then study your butt off with ExamSPM mock questions, quizzes, and exams.

Yeah, sure. Well, that's, you know, I think that's great advice and just, you know, keeping that rigor. How did you manage to find time to study, you know, even when you're working full-time in a demanding job as well?

Um, that's an interesting part. I was in between jobs when I passed it. I wasn't before. I was working full-time, and that's probably why I failed the first 2 times, is I wasn't able to completely devote the time that I had. I was, I was in between jobs. I knew I was, I was being looked at for hire. Um, I had already gone in and interviewed, but It was for a federal position, which takes a lot of security clearance time, but it was dependent upon passing the PM, which they had full faith I would do, but I had to do it, right? So there's a big motivational factor. I did finally have the time. I spent probably 3 solid weeks. Week 1 was the boot camp that I took over again, and the following 2 weeks were your mock quizzes and exams. So that's, you know, the other piece too is I'm a parent. I've got 2 kids, so I wasn't able to really carve out any extra time in my night or day because, you know, working full-time, taking care of 2 kids is really exhausting. So fortunately, I was in between jobs and had some extra time where that 3rd time there was— I had no doubt. I was like, I am going to pass this test. I was 100%. 110% determined to do it and I did it. So that's what you've got to— you got to see it, you got to will it, you know, you manifest it and study hard, roll up your sleeves and just do it. You'll achieve it.

So yeah, no, I think that's probably the best advice is to see it, to believe it. And, you know, it's because if you can see it from the inside, that's when you can really manifest it into your life as well. So I think that's a That's a great piece of advice that not many people talk about, 'cause they always talk about the tactics of this type of question, this is how you handle it. So of course now people talk about the mindset of going into the exam as well, so thank you for bringing up that point.

Absolutely.

Yeah, so what did your study plan look like? How did you study? We talked a lot about the actual exam. What did your study plan look like when you were studying for it?

I mean, it's, as you know, you have to study all the knowledge body areas because you've got to get at least moderately proficient in every category, which is what I did. I wasn't— I forgot what the qualitative testing was, but I was moderately proficient in everything, which I did. That's— I think it's strongly proficient is the next one up from that. But yeah, I was moderately proficient everything and not below proficient anything. So that helps if you're able to, you know, not completely master everything but have a solid foundational understanding of the transition of all the phases and processes and how they link together. So again, the big challenging part is if you're already a project manager and you have real-world experience, your mind conflicts with the test, with the testing material, because it's not real. They're not real-world answers. I mean, yeah, there's good tools and information and applications to it, of course, but even PMI, if you go to any boot camp, will tell you this is not viable. These are all best practice scenarios and most correct answers. They're not the absolute correct answer because there is no absolute correct answer. So it's just kind of removing yourself from being a real-world PM and just studying what PMI expects you to pass and be proficient with. So that was the other major hurdle.

Yeah, for sure. And how did our course and exam simulation from Examspm help you? during this journey?

Well, like I said, it was kind of like a 3-pronged approach because the first prong was going to boot camp and then reading the book cover to cover. And then the third prong was your course, ExamSPM, which did all the positive reinforcement of everything I had learned and then getting that marathon mental endurance practice in for the questions.

Yeah.

A, the questions, just blasting 200 questions, but understanding the content and the most correct answer.

Right. Okay, awesome. Yeah, that's a pretty unique way to use our course. This is actually probably the first time I've heard it, that you're using it as a reinforcement tool. And to— yeah, Xbox. Yeah, Xbox.

Hey, I'm a big kid at heart. I play video games, and when I saw I could pull your course onto my Yeah, you know, 55-inch with my Xbox. I'm like, this is what— this is my language, right up my avenue.

Yeah, I'm so glad I did help you. Um, do you have any other tips to share with, with people potentially who are getting ready to take their exam?

Besides, uh, don't get discouraged, you know, even if you have to go at 2 or 3 times like I did. You'll— I mean, if, if you see yourself in this role, you hit— you have good leadership and you love You're a personable, natural leader. You like teams and projects, you know, getting from point A to point B, or maybe alternatives, and that whole reiterative cycle that is waterfall and agile. This is just a start, but don't get discouraged. You will pass it if you're determined and want to do it. It's a big breakthrough because after I got certified, I've had like 2 jobs already as a project manager. I was already doing it with the military unofficially. As a program project manager, but now I'm able to get private sector jobs where before— I'm a Master Chief in the US Coast Guard and now in the reserves. So, of course, I've gone through enough military and federal program project management courses, and just by rank alone, they put me in a position of power. But when you go out to the private civilian sector, that's not the case. So All the time, a lot of the time. So you have to have that certification. So just realize it takes you 2 or 3 tries. Don't get discouraged. You will do it. And once you've done it, I mean, the sky's the limit. So there's other certifications after that. I highly suggest doing Scrum, Scrum Master, and probably Six Sigma. I've also got that as well. So I didn't get Scrum Master, but I've got Six Sigma.

Yeah.

But that's another good one to do. So you get that statistical analytics worked in there too.