PMP Lessons Learned: How Cynthia Trahyn Passed Her PMP Exam Using ExamsPM

There we go. All right, so we're good. So today we're here with ExamSPM and Cynthia Trinh. Trinh?

Yeah, that's fine.

She's talking to us from Mexico City today, and I want to welcome you and thank you very much for being here and sharing your ideas about your certification. I understand that you took the immersion, our immersion course.

Yeah, that's correct.

Yeah. Okay. So I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions and feel free to answer just the way you'd like to. The first thing I'd like to ask is, why is it that you decided to take the PMP? Give us a little bit about your story.

Okay, perfect. Well, I decided to take the PMP. mainly driven by my career development. I have been working as a PM for probably 7 years now.

Okay.

I have managed global projects within the tech industry, the technology industry. It's like I had a lot of experience there, but the certification was always postponed, right? Because, you know, as PMs, we sometimes have very, very busy lives, right?

Yes.

We are busy all the time. So I was postponing that all the time until I really, you know, got this reflection, you know, from my upper management as well, you know, where they questioned, you know, like, you know, you have these years of experience, you have, you know, you have delivered good results.

Yeah.

If you have this certification, you would probably be considered for a promotion, right? And they really encouraged me to think about it, right? And to, you know, stop procrastinating. That's, I think that's it, right? So after having this discussion, right, with my manager, I thought that it was the time for me to focus on this particular certification, right?

Sure.

My experience was that I went through a course last year. I did the exam, presented the exam, but I was not successful at that first try. And I realized that I, for different reasons, either because you are very busy, because you are unable to focus accordingly, I was not successful at the first try, but after that happened, I was, as usual, I was really discouraged. I really wanted, I don't want to know anything about this certification again. Right?

Right.

You got a lot of experience.

Yeah.

That probably took me—

Yeah.

I mean, I think it's normal. I really want to share my experience because probably a lot of people out there are experiencing something similar, right? So I decided to take a break, let's say. And then, but that break was for, probably that break was 7 months, right? So, you know, after I saw, because you have this 1-year, you know, period to present the exam.

Yes.

So when I, you know, I just, reviewed that my timeline was getting closer. And I said, okay, I don't want to really miss this year, and I will try again.

Right.

And that's why I started looking for options for me to refresh all the knowledge, right? Because after taking the course, Probably, I mean, that happened a year ago. So I was just not, how can I tell? I forgot a lot of concepts and situations that are needed.

Yeah.

So I started looking for options of courses that were, I was looking for something practical, right? I am very busy. I have a lot of projects going on and I don't have maybe a lot of time to take a presential course.

Yeah.

So I found these exams, ExamsPM.

Okay.

And I started following your, like your, I started following you guys on YouTube and in your webpage. And I started looking for different options, right? I was not really deciding anything at that point. So what I liked from this course is that it was very short. It was only a 2-day—

Right, right. That's the immersion course, just for people listening. We do have a 2-day immersion over a weekend. Yeah, that's a really good one.

Yeah. And I really recommend it, right? Because it really helped me a lot to refresh all the all the knowledge that it was there in my mind, but I really needed some help to really focus on the important things because we have the PMBOK Guide is huge. I was just unable to really defer of what is really important and what is not.

Yes, it's definitely massive. You really do need to focus. I agree with that. If you're— yeah, some people, they read that over and over again and they still have problems, you know, because they don't know where to focus. So it's very different. Yeah.

Yeah. So basically, you know, when I read about the, you know, this course and it was just for a weekend, you know, I think it was 5 hours per day. And, you know, what I liked was like, we will focus on what you really need to know. know, and what you really need to learn to be successful for the exam. And I decided to give it a try, right? Because I was with this very, very tight deadline and I really wanted to do it, right?

Yeah.

And so I looked for options. I found you on the web and I just decided to go for it. And it was a really good experience, right? It helped me a lot to focus on the key concepts and, you know, really important stuff instead of, you know, feeling drowning, you know, between many, many, a lot of information. So it really helped me a lot. And, you know, after the course, I dedicated 3 weeks, you know, to study.

Okay.

You know, I went through the lectures.

Okay.

And then I worked on the exams, you know, and the mock exams and the simulators, I think.

Oh, excellent, excellent. Yeah, because some people don't do simulation questions, and I think that it's really important to do a lot of them.

Yeah, it is very important to do a lot of them. Yeah, I mean, I think it's very— I think that was the main difference, you know, between my first try And the second try, right? Because when I went for the exam the first time, I honestly, I didn't do many of these simulators, you know? So I was, you know, when I arrived to the exam, the questions were very situational, you know, very long questions.

Yeah.

And honestly, you know, I failed, right? That's it. I failed. So the second time, I took your course, which was awesome for me because it really highlighted key concepts, key points. It was more strategic, let's say, on really getting into the important stuff, right? And then I studied for 3 weeks. I went through the lectures. I did the mock exams. And I presented the exam on September 13th, I think, and I was successful. And, you know, my score was above average. So yeah, I felt super happy, you know, with the result. Yeah.

That's great.

Yeah, because, you know, it was, it was a relief, you know, because I was honestly, I was having some pressure, you know, from my, you know, from my team, my managers, you know.

Okay.

They were kind of pushing, you know, for, you know, because the company that I work for has, you know, PMs that work regionally, right, that are managing regions. So I'm in charge of managing the LATAM region.

Yeah.

So sometimes we do have, and I understand it, right, we have some pressure from the management to have this certification, you know, in order to advance, you know, our career within the company, right? So honestly, it was just, you know, it was awesome for me, right? Because I was just, you know, I felt super happy because really the knowledge was really good, you know. The result was awesome. My managers are super happy. I am super happy.

That's wonderful news. Yeah, that's really great. Cynthia, I don't want to take up too much more of your time because we did promise this would be a short interview. Is there any, like, any key tips that you might give people, like, that, you know, to help them in their sort of pursuit? I know you mentioned a whole lot of stuff, but if you're gonna boil it down to 2 or 3 key tips that you might offer people, that would be— Okay.

Wonderful. I think that, okay, I would say that whenever you are done with the course, you shouldn't let— I mean, you shouldn't overthink on presenting the exam. Just take the course, take probably 3 or 4 weeks to study, and then go for the exam. Because if you let a lot of time pass by, your knowledge won't be so fresh and you will forget concepts. So I think that's a good one, right?

Yeah, for sure. Strike while the iron is hot, they would say. Do it fast.

Do it fast, get it done. Don't procrastinate because that will cost you. You won't be successful if you keep procrastinating, right?

Right.

first tip that I would share because that's something that really happened to me. And then I would say focus on these simulation, the exam simulators.

Yeah.

Do lots of them. And I really suggest you to do exams per chapter, right? By knowledge area. And then Go through the process, you know, like focus on how you are in the planning, execution, monitor and control. Yeah, that one. And I think that's it. I mean, and take your course. I mean, I really recommend this course, you know.

I like that one.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, I thought, you know, I was Kind of, how can I tell? Yeah, like, because it's a very short course, right? I mean, this is a very short one.

Yeah.

And I was not, honestly, I had some doubts, you know? But, you know, honestly, you know, due to my workload and time that I have available, it was the perfect choice for me. So for PMs that are very busy all the time, that are traveling, doesn't have time to invest to be in a presential one, it would be a perfect, perfect tool.

Yeah. One thing I would add to that, because not everyone knows, but what I would add to that is like this, this immersion course gives you, I believe, 12 PDUs over the weekend. And for people who want to write their PMP, they'll need 35 training PDUs. So this is really— the immersion course is really for people who already have those 35 or they're working towards their 35, and then they want a refresh of their, you know, of their— just like you did, kind of refresh their knowledge and really focus. So that's really the way we've designed it. So I just wanted to make people aware who don't know about that piece.

Oh yeah, that's important. Honestly, you know, I already had the PDUs of the first course, you know, that I, you know, that I attended that was a presential one. But, you know, I think, yeah, I mean, several factors are involved, right? But I think that the key one is that, and I really liked from this course, is that it goes straight to the point. You know, they highlight all the key important information, right?

Mm-hmm.

And they provide, you know, like really good tips on how you should You know, read the questions, you know, even, you know, during the exam.

Yeah.

And then, yeah, and my suggestion is, you know, take the course, focus on that, study 3 or 4 weeks, no longer than that, and then go for your exam and you will be successful.

Wonderful.

I think that's it. Yeah. And working on the simulation exams, that's a key That's key for everyone who is really, you know, looking for the PMP certification.

Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing yourself and sharing this wisdom with us today. And all the best. I know that you're going to have a great career. The sky's the limit for you, you know. So, so many thanks to you, and thanks for being here today. Yeah. So have a great day.

Thank you, Alan, for your time and for the opportunity to share my experience. I think it's very important for people out there that are looking for options. I can really talk from my experience. So I really recommend this course. And, and yeah, I wish you all the best.

Okay, thank you so much. Bye for now.

Bye, Yalan. Take care.

You too.