In this testimonial interview, Pat, a professional geologist and project manager at Florida Power & Light, recounts his three attempts to pass the PMP exam and the strategies that finally led to success. He explains how his initial lack of preparation—taking a one‑week class and sitting the exam immediately—resulted in failure, and how a second attempt fell just short despite extensive study. For his third try, Pat concentrated on mastering the Inputs, Tools, Techniques, and Outputs (ITTOs) of the 49 PMP processes, using ExamSPM’s modules and full‑length practice exams. He describes a disciplined study schedule (evenings and weekends after work), the challenges of interpreting the exam’s English‑heavy wording, fatigue during the 200‑question test, and technical issues with the online platform that sometimes prevented review of incorrect answers. Pat also shares a memorable car‑accident anecdote that reinforced his process memorization. Motivated by career transition and upcoming retirement packages, he emphasizes the value of the certification and offers advice to future candidates: allocate sufficient time, use the program’s shortcuts, and be aware of platform limitations.
Chapters
I did not get through the first 2 times.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Okay, so what did you do the first 2 times and what made the difference this time?
The first time I did it, I probably wasn't as prepared. I took a 1-week class and I sat for it right after that. I was not prepared for the questions. And then the second time I sat for it, I spent a lot of time going over the materials and I was that close to that line. Just on the wrong side of it. And this time I concentrated. I mean, I knew the information, but when you sit for the test, the questions just throw you off. So I focused a lot this test on the ITTOs, so that I think made a difference for me.
Right. What do you mean by focusing on ITTOs?
I'm really understanding, you know, what, like, all the different I mean, it's kind of like you know it, but then when you get thrown a question, okay, which process is this in that you would do this, this, this? And then it's kind of like, wow, I know it, but I don't know it in that respect.
So how did you— what strategies did you use to help you with ITTOs?
Well, I did your class. That's the one thing I did, you know, spend a lot of time on looking at that and focusing on that.
Yeah, okay. So what I mean is, like, did you just focus on, like, telling yourself the story of, you know, how these inputs become— are transformed into outputs using the tools and techniques? Or, you know, was it a hard memorization?
No, it wasn't a hard memorization, though some of them, you know, it's like when you talk about one of them, it may be, you know, something applies, like, For 4 of the categories, but not the 5th one. I had to stop and think about that one.
Okay, awesome. And I mean, what do you do? And what's the next step now that you have your PMP certification?
I am a professional geologist and a project manager with a utility company called Florida Power and Light. My company, at least my management, doesn't seem to appreciate this, but But it's also a company with a lot of transition, and they're offering people— I'm at an age where they may be offering what they call enhanced retirement packages, so it's always good to have this because I'm not quite ready to retire yet.
Oh yeah, I get the feeling. Yeah, yeah. I'm sure a lot of people are in the same position that you are. So how did you motivate yourself to study all the time because you have A busy job. You've probably been out of school for a while, so getting back into the routine of studying and everything else.
Right after Christmas, I told myself I was going to focus on this. So every night I come home, I mean, I get home around 6:00, 6:30, and then I usually like do dinner, maybe watch a little bit of TV. But from like 8:00 to 10:30, I was pretty disciplined about Studying. And I took, took it the second time on mid-February, around Valentine's Day, and just barely missed it. I mean, I was so close.
Oh no.
And then I just continued studying. And weekends, I used to just use one day of the week to study and play the other, but this time around I focused Saturday and Sunday too on it.
Good, good for you. Good for you. So how did you find the actual exams, the actual exam questions?
I still say the way those questions are worded, it's just— I find that challenging. And I speak English as my first language and I struggle with it. I sometimes wonder how people that don't speak English as a first language, how you do with it. Because it can be— I just find those questions intimidating. And when you've got 200 questions, by the time you're on hour 3, you get really tired. It's kind of like, okay, I better reread this correctly.
Right, right. So what kind of helped you get used to that style of question as you went along? Was it just more practice, or did you start noticing patterns?
No, I did a lot more tests. I mean, I had a book that I was doing tests before, but you had those 5 practice tests. I was like, okay, I did a lot of 50-question tests. I probably— for the previous test, I probably did, I don't know, 50 or 100 of those. Previously, but not a 200-question test. And when I did those 5 tests, I mean, it was like 78%, 72%, 71%, 70%, and then like 65%. And I thought, oh my gosh, I'm just getting worse and worse and worse.
No, no, no, no. Yeah, so for those who don't know, we have 5 full-length exam tests The questions do not repeat at ExamSPM, and that's what she was referring to, for anyone who was wondering what that was. Okay, so you took the test. Okay, so was there any other advice that you can give to people for taking the test?
I would say trying to study the textbook from start to finish is not Practical, which is what I did the first time when I sat for it. You know, I understood all the principles and read that book and understood it and highlighted it, but it's not, not the same as putting it into, into context.
Right. Okay. And was there any— did you start to notice any patterns in the questions as you did more and more of them? Or, you know, as you're studying, like, what helped you understand the context a bit better to understand, to answer those situational questions?
You know, you had that, that 49 processes. I think being able to come up with a methodology to be able to put them all in order really made a difference because prior to that I was doing a lot of memorization and sometimes you miss things. So putting it in that, in that order was, uh, It was good. And it's funny, you know, you talk about hitting Carol's rear passenger side. In the midst of all this, I was driving around town and I got hit by an 88-year-old woman, and it was like my rear passenger side. I'm like, oh my gosh, I wouldn't want to wish this on anybody to remember it.
Oh my goodness, that's the first time I've heard that one. Oh my goodness, I hope you're okay and I hope your car is okay.
My car's all fixed already. I'm still going to the chiropractor, so that part's not quite done yet.
Oh my goodness. I hope it's something that's reversible though.
Well, over time it will take care of itself. It's just one of those things. And ironically, her name was Carol too, but it was her— it was my car, but it was her. So I was like, wow.
What are the chances of that? What are the chances of that?
You could rest assured I would not forget that at all.
You would not forget that acronym for the rest of—
The rest of my life.
Yeah, I've heard of another student who put the numbers on his phone and called it once a day. Thankfully, it's not to anybody. I think it's a business phone number. I never tried to call it myself, and that's how he remembered the numbers associated with the knowledge areas. I haven't heard of that one before. At least you got certified, you know, at least that.
Yes, that's true. This process started last year.
Yeah, yeah, so I know it can be long. So what kept you motivated throughout the entire process? Because it's not the shortest process in the world.
Well, after the second time I didn't get through barely, I was like, man, am I getting stupider or something as I get older? And then it was kind of like, All right, I can do this. And I mean, after this, if I did not get through, then you have to wait another year and apply the whole process again because it's only 3 times that you can do it.
Right, right, right, right. Yeah, so just kind of like going for it, right? Mm-hmm.
And plus, when you had your— when you advertised that training material, you said that if you didn't pass, you'd give a full refund. I thought, okay, I got nothing to lose here.
Yeah, yeah, no, we do. We do within 6 weeks. If you don't pass, we give full refunds.
Yeah.
What else? So how else did your training at Examspm help you throughout this process?
I think sitting through full-length exams gives you a feel for it. My only thing is, as having a lot of internet connections, it's like I could do the test, I could get the score, but then When I tried to go back to look at the questions that I got wrong, it just either froze or it couldn't— it wouldn't work. I had a lot of issues with that. So 2 of the tests, I was able to go back in and just look at all the things that went wrong, and that helped because then I could see. But 2 of the other tests, I just couldn't do it. It just— Unless I wanted to spend another 4 hours sitting for the test and hoping This time that wouldn't be a problem. That was the biggest issue I had.
Okay, so being able to see the score after internet connection, that kind of thing.
For the exams, I don't know why. I mean, the presentation modules were all fine. I could look at it and all that, but the exams were just challenging.
Oh, I see. I see.
You look back, you'll see I had a lot of emails to y'all because it wasn't working and I tried it on a different internet address. It just—
Yeah, well, thank you for that feedback. That's something I'll look into for sure. And in terms of— so, you know, you took— in terms of your study plan, first you took, you know, a week-long course, and then after that, did you self-study or did you take another course?
Self-study after that. I self-studied for about a month before I took the exam.
Okay, so you self-studied and then you came into our program at ExamSPM to help?
No, then I did the second time where I studied first, and then right after the second time I didn't get through, which was close, I came into your program.
Came into our program. Did you go through our program before going into the practice exams, or did you—
Yeah, I went through all your modules first before I went into the practice exams on the ones that you had online. Now again, I've done a whole bunch of those 50 questions. I've got books, I've got online stuff, I've got all kinds of stuff with those questions. So I did a lot of those 50-question tests.
Yeah, I bet, I bet. There's a lot of studying that goes on beforehand. A lot of people do a couple thousand questions before their actual exam, so I totally get it. Cool, so do you have any other tips for people who may be taking their certification?
Well, I think your program really helped a lot. So if people know they want to take it and they've got enough time, then it makes a difference. I mean, if they signed up for your program today and tried to do it in 2 weeks, I don't know whether it's feasible, even if they didn't do anything else. You know, your body, your brain anyway, can't take in that much stuff. But I wish I'd known about your program. I mean, I'm online thinking, you know, how can I remember these processes? And then I came across and you showed a shortcut, and I was like, wow, that makes a lot of sense. Why didn't I know about this? And then You know, after that I got, I got some information from you. And so if I'd known about it beforehand, I probably would have done it sooner.
Right, right, right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time and jumping on this call and sharing all your lessons learned with everybody.
