In this interview, Helena Liu talks with Sonny, a chemical engineer and project manager from the oil and gas sector, about his rapid journey to PMP certification. Sonny explains that he pursued the PMP to gain international credibility and to qualify for larger, mega‑projects. He leveraged a four‑week leave to compress the standard six‑week ExamPM study plan into three weeks, studying intensively each day and completing the core material in two weeks before spending a final week on simulation exams. He used the ExamPM course’s process‑chart memorization technique, EVM equation explanations, and a brain‑dump strategy (pre‑exam note‑taking) that he learned from Helena’s videos. Sonny took at least one full mock exam per day, completing five unique exams and repeating three, aiming for an 80% score after an initial 66% practice result. On exam day, he paced himself at roughly 50 questions per hour, used the first 15‑minute tutorial period for his brain dump, marked uncertain questions, and reviewed them later, finishing all questions within the four‑hour window. He shares advice: read every question fully, consider all answer options, and prioritize practice. Post‑certification, Sonny is seeking senior project‑manager roles, preferably in oil and gas, and plans to relocate to Canada, currently visiting family in Saskatoon while his headquarters are in Toronto. He credits the ExamPM course for making the process manageable.
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All right. Hello guys. So today we're joined with Sonny and he just recently passed his PMP and he's going to share his experiences with us. And just before we get started, Sonny, can you just kind of tell us like why you wanted to get the PMP before we dive into your exam strategies and, and, you know, everything involved around that?
Okay, no, I, I have practiced as an engineer and project manager for a couple of years, so I thought to grow in my career I just needed this international certification attached to my name, something like that. So I thought I'd do the PMP exam and get certified.
Yeah, so what kind of experience did you have going into it?
practiced as a disciplined chemical engineer as well as project manager on several projects, mostly small and medium projects I've led as project manager. So mostly in the oil and gas industry. So that's my experience basically in project engineering and project management. So I've been through projects leading from end to end of the project, basically from initiation all the way to closeout. I've had practical experience working with managing people, managing project resources, and basically all the project groups and knowledge areas I've practically applied previously without necessarily following the PMBOK guide, if you get what I mean.
Yeah, I get what you mean. Yeah. Yeah. So what, um, okay, so you were starting— so at what point in your career did you say to yourself, okay, I really need, uh, the PMP certification?
Okay, no, I, I think I want to go into full-time, uh, project management. So like I said, I've been doing a lot of, uh, small and medium-sized projects up till date. So I'm thinking that, okay, with the With the PMP certification, it will give me and my employers the confidence that I'm able to manage large and probably mega projects as well. So that's why I decided to do the PMP at this point. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So just kind of get like the skills you need to manage a mega project and kind Kind of just learn the ins and outs and get, you know, kind of get into the industry, right?
That's it. Yes.
Yeah, awesome, awesome. Okay, so you decided to get your PMP, um, and how long did it take you to get certified?
My story is quite interesting. Um, I decided in, in June actually that I was going to, to, to do the PMP exam, right? And then I I registered with the PMI Society and then I got access to the PMBOK Guide. So I started reading it on my own, but I was carelessly reading it. So whenever I had the time, I'll just read it in the evening. And so I've been on leave for the last 4 weeks and I decided, okay, now I want to do this thing. And I did it in 3+ weeks. That's when I— after I got the The Exam PM, I attended the Exam PM seminar online. I decided, okay, no, I saw your program said it could be done in 6 weeks. I said, okay, no, I'm going to do this during my leave. And then when I went through the— now maybe I'm jumping the gun now— I went through your study guide, that there was a plan which you had put online.
Yeah.
I adjusted that plan to be able to accomplish that in 3 weeks. I did a lot of things in parallel, things that were to be done in 3 days I did in 1 day. And so I finished, I did the exam, started really seriously and wrote the exam in 3 weeks. Wow.
Wow. So you got— you passed your PMP in just 3 weeks. So you adjusted the study plan that we have in the course, which says how— which kind of plans out how you can pass in 6 weeks, and then you Fast-forwarded that and passed it.
Yes.
Wow.
I had a 4-week leave, so I just thought, okay, I can— let me get this thing done in this period.
Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's amazing. That's amazing. That's definitely, um, you know, a feat to accomplish. Congratulations, first of all. Yeah, so walk us through your kind of like day-to-day, like what are your study plans? Like what did you do on day-to-day pass—
Okay, so like I said, um, because I'm on leave, I had the luxury of studying morning and night, so virtually spending the whole day studying. And then I actually finished the study material in 2 weeks, and then I spent the last week I spent the last week— what's it called now— studying, doing simulation exams. So I did at least one simulation exam per day.
And how many did you do before your actual exam?
I finished— I did 5 and I repeated 3. Okay, I had access, like I said, when I But when I didn't— when I registered in June with the PMI Society, I also registered with another—
Another course?
Another course. And just to protect them, I wouldn't mention them, but I consider— I almost consider it a waste of money because I didn't learn anything from them. They were also just regurgitating the PMBOK to me with no explanations. It was as good as me reading the PMBOK myself.
Yeah.
So what I did was, okay, since I had this study guide in 2 weeks, I got my certificate out of the other course which I had done. So I applied for the PMI evaluation first while I was still studying, right, because I had that 35-hour certificate and everything already. from the previous course. So I applied for that. And then, but like I said, I wasn't in no way ready to write the exam with what I learned there. It was just not possible because like I said, I was just, it was like reading the PMBOK myself. Like, so the course was almost useless to me. The only benefit was that it allowed me to apply on time for the PMBOK. for the PMI because I had the certificate from there and then I could write. So I used 2 weeks to read up and in those 2 weeks I applied for my PMI evaluation and then I was allowed to write. I was— my application was approved, so I scheduled the date, uh, when I knew I would have finished writing the the simulation test because from the first, from my very first simulation test, I think I scored 66%. So I was a bit confident that, okay, you know, with more practice and more study, I'll be able to get the average of 80%. I've been reading online everywhere that, you know, if you can get that, you can pass the exam. Yeah, yeah. So I applied for the exam and then I wrote it. And yeah, it was quite good because I strangely, or I had above targets in every area. So, but I, that's why I agreed to do this interview. I would not take it away from ExamsPM. You made it easy for me. Like a lot of things, in fact, 2 things I will stress.
Okay.
Was one, that table, the The, uh, what's it called now, the PMBOK process chart.
Yeah.
I, in my— I never would have thought about how to memorize it until your presentation just gave us that trick. And so what I used to do was that every day as I read a new, uh, knowledge area, yeah, I'll fill in the process chart for that area. So that's how I memorized it over the period.
Yeah.
And it really helped me. And then the, um, the, uh, what's it called now? The equations, the, the equations that we needed.
Yeah.
EVM and all of that, how you helped me memorize, made me understand it actually, not just memorize. So it was— it's different to just memorize something. It's another thing to understand what you're doing.
Right.
And so you— the Exam PM course helped me understand those 2 things very well. So memorizing them was very easy. And least— last but not the least, because it also helped, was I also read one of your— well, actually, I watched one of your videos on YouTube where you said that you should— there'll be 15 minutes, uh, time before the exam And that we should use that for the brain dump kind of thing. That really helped me because it was like, so once I got into the exam, I knew what to do. Otherwise, I would have wasted time starting the exam first before I started doing my brain dump.
Right.
And that would have taken into my exam period.
Right.
And all that information also helped me to start. It was a good strategy for me. So I spent 3 minutes going through, because during my practice, I timed how long I required To do my brain dump, and I realized it took me 12 minutes. So on the exam day, I made sure I didn't spend more than 3 minutes going through the tutorial, and then I spent the remaining 12 minutes— actually, I did it in about 11 or so— putting down my brain dump. So by the time I was starting my exam, my brain dump was ready and everything was good to go.
Wow.
It was perfect strategy from ExamPia.
Wow, so happy to hear that you had a positive experience with that course. That really makes me really happy as well. Yeah, so in terms of the brain dump, I just want to quickly say that it depends. I think it depends on the Prometric center generally. What happened now is that they changed the rules that you can't use the first 15 minutes to write anything. You can You know, think about it, but then you have to use your actual exam time to write something. So I think you got lucky with the center that you went to.
Yeah, maybe I was then.
Yeah, yeah, so you got lucky there. So generally their new rule is that you can't write anything. You can have the paper in front of you, you can think about it, but you have to use your actual exam, the actual 4 hours to do Oh, okay, okay. For yourself. But yeah, that's good that, you know, you were able to use that time to draw Qi Shi for yourself. Yeah, so what— is there any other tips that you could, you could give someone who is going through this certification journey? Or another way to put this, if you could rewind time and do it all over again, would there be anything you do differently?
I'm not so sure there's anything I'll do differently. I think it all worked out well for me. Maybe I'll— because it works for me, I'll still recommend it that passively, because you might not know what you're getting into your head, go through the PMBOK roughly first before you go to the videos. So once you start hearing the videos, you start making sense of what you've seen. In the PMBOK, you get what I mean? And I didn't finish the PMBOK before I saw your videos, but I mean, I'd read a substantial amount of it. At least I read up to the resource knowledge area.
Right.
So the other part was easy to understand when I watched your video, if you get what I mean.
Right.
My advice would be that 2 things: practice, practice, practice. Like, do a lot of simulation tests. I'll be honest, you might not find all the questions in the exam, but it gives you— puts you in the right frame of mind. Typically what it did for me was not to tick the first answer I see. It helps me to understand that some answers are tricky, and so some questions are just trick questions. So the first answer you see might be a correct answer, but there will be more correct answers than the options.
Right, more correct answers going on. Yeah, that's actually— that actually leads me nicely into my next question. Do you have any tips for people on their actual exam? exam date were choosing the right questions on their exam?
Yeah, so I mean, for me, that's the major tip. Read all the questions to the end and read all the options available. I mean, the first answer might be right, but the last option might be more correct. And I think they always want the more correct. I assume that's what they want because I had a good score.
Yes, yes, they always want the most correct answer, not, you know, just something that looks correct. So, so on your actual exam date, how did you find the actual exam? Like, walk us through what that day looked like for you, the actual day to go into your actual exam.
Okay, it was a heavily snowing morning and I went for the exam. It was my exam was supposed to be at 9:30 in the morning. I went in there to a Prometric center. The guys were were warm. I was seated, and then I started the test. I mean, I was told to do the the the what's it called? The tutorial, and I did my brain dump during that period. Now you let me know it's not the right thing, but I was lucky.
Yeah.
I did my brain dump during the period, and then I started the exam. I paced myself properly. I, during my practice sessions, I just told my— I realized the trick was doing 50 questions per hour. And I see one of the most recent, someone also said that, but I noticed that during the practice session, so I made sure That I timed myself that way. And with that, you still have a couple of minutes after the exam, actually, if you do that, to review any question. I tried to finish every question before I moved on because, like I said, my aim was to do 50 questions before in 60 minutes. So I was able to time myself properly and make sure I did— I completed every question I wanted to do, uh, before moving on. However, for those I wasn't sure of, I just marked them and then checked them again when I finished the exam completely. So that was just my strategy on the exam day.
Right, so timing yourself And making sure that you have enough time to complete the exam. Did you find the 4 hours was enough to complete your exam?
Yes, I finished all the questions, or rather attempted all the questions in the 4 hours.
In the 4 hours? Okay, that's awesome. So what's next in your career now that you are PMP certified? What are you looking forward to do with your new certification?
Okay, now I'm looking For opportunities now as a project or senior project manager, where I can apply the skills and knowledge I've learned.
Yeah, any industry in particular?
Uh, I wouldn't limit myself to any particular industry. However, my experience over the years has been the oil and gas industry, so my focus, yes, or preference will be the oil and gas industry, but I'm not limiting myself to any industry at the moment.
Got it, got it. That's awesome. Any city in particular, or just, you know, in general, you're open to any?
I'm open to anywhere, although I'm moving to Canada, so I'm thinking I would look for something there, and then anywhere I can find an opportunity, yes, I will.
And where are you right now? Where are you located right now?
I'm in Canada. I'm working in South Africa, but I'm moving. My family's in Canada, so I'm joining them in Oh, got it!
That's so exciting. Our headquarters is in Canada, so you should come visit us when you're—
Oh, that's cool. I'm actually in Saskatoon visiting my family at the moment.
Oh, that's so awesome. So we're located— our headquarters is located in Toronto.
Oh, okay.
So yeah, well, thank you so much, Sonny, for sharing your experiences with us. It's such a pleasure to have you, and congratulations again on passing your BSN. MP in 3 weeks, and I'm really, really thrilled for you, and I'm so happy that this course made a difference for you and helped you, helped you accomplish this goal.
Thank you, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.
