How I revised and sat for P3.express Practitioner exam

Hello everyone! My name’s Arthur and for more than three years I have been fiddling with the#nbsp;Analyst and Project Manager responsibilities. I was lucky enough to#nbsp;start in#nbsp;this position in the#nbsp;translation industry#nbsp;— one of the#nbsp;most relevant fields to#nbsp;me, and then slowly but steadily I made my way to the IT#nbsp;sector.

I haven't been the#nbsp;most ambitious Padawan since my school days, but if I get engaged with something, I tend to#nbsp;immerse myself in it as#nbsp;deeply and fast as#nbsp;possible. The first example of such a#nbsp;goal was learning English, followed by other foreign languages, and when it came to the#nbsp;professional sphere, I turned my attention to state-of-art frameworks and methodologies.

Honestly speaking, when I assumed the#nbsp;position of a#nbsp;PM, I often used to#nbsp;realize projects in a#nbsp;random way, lots of things went wrong, colleagues kept rubbing my nose in my mistakes and most of the#nbsp;time was spent on sealing up those “leaking holes”.

As the#nbsp;time was passing by, the#nbsp;projects changed and I gained more experience with each new project. In most cases, the#nbsp;entire experience was directly related to#nbsp;fairly basic rational rules: “speak up if you don’t know where to#nbsp;go”, “don’t lie about the#nbsp;result”, “try to#nbsp;be honest and straightforward”, etc. Sometimes I managed to#nbsp;pick up something useful from my colleagues’ experience, at#nbsp;other times I was taught by different involved people (thank you!), so all of this contributed to my knowledge and expertise.

Because of switching to larger projects and meeting new teams, I had to#nbsp;adapt to the#nbsp;pre-existing rhythm, study various books on Scrum, Agile, just to#nbsp;stand the pace. I also accumulated the#nbsp;experience, which I tried to#nbsp;structure and adapt in projects, but at#nbsp;some point, I realized that everything I knew required a#nbsp;better systematization. I'm not the#nbsp;biggest fan of systems or some kind of rusty processes for the#nbsp;sake of processes, but still I had to#nbsp;somehow consolidate the#nbsp;gained experience and skills.

My colleagues introduced me to#nbsp;pmclub and at#nbsp;first I watched webinars on#nbsp;YouTube (thanks for them!), which turned out to#nbsp;be quite convenient to#nbsp;adapt in real life, later I got familiar with P3.express and it appealed to#nbsp;me due to 3#nbsp;factors:

When we concern P3.express itself as a#nbsp;framework, it is based on a#nbsp;minimum of complex steps, and the#nbsp;emphasis is made on transparency and the#nbsp;ability to#nbsp;understand the#nbsp;very project management process from its launch to#nbsp;completion. It#nbsp;is adaptable enough for agile and waterfall, so P3.express can be put to good use by most project teams.

The framework has its own benefits and drawbacks compared to#nbsp;PRINCE2 or PMBOK, but there#nbsp;is no point in comparing them, because broadly speaking all these practices can be compared with a#nbsp;tool. Its presence is only a#nbsp;part of the#nbsp;success, as each project will always be headed by the#nbsp;Coordinator#nbsp;/ Project#nbsp;/ Manager, who will skillfully apply the#nbsp;knowledge and experience gained in practice and lead the#nbsp;project to the#nbsp;desired result.

A#nbsp;small digression: while I was preparing for the#nbsp;certification, I was doing the#nbsp;course from pmclub. Their theoretical material combined with plenty of useful information made it much easier to#nbsp;pass the#nbsp;exam.

So, let’s get to the#nbsp;preparation itself!

The#nbsp;P3.express itself, especially its lectures did#nbsp;not cause any problems. I’m keen on self-tuition, so I narrowed down the#nbsp;preparation process to the#nbsp;simplest and most basic rules:

On average, I tried to#nbsp;find at#nbsp;least 3-5#nbsp;hours a#nbsp;week for revising the#nbsp;theory, attending the#nbsp;course and doing my homework. Sometimes I managed to#nbsp;do more, and by the#nbsp;end of the#nbsp;course it all came down just to#nbsp;studying the#nbsp;notes.

As soon as I realized that I needed practice, I decided to#nbsp;do trial tests. When the#nbsp;fourth test was passed with 100%, I stopped as I saw no#nbsp;point in keeping doing it.

Once I realized it was pointless to#nbsp;do practice tests, and revision became more boring than before, I started steeling myself for the#nbsp;real exam.

A#nbsp;month after purchasing the#nbsp;course, I decided to#nbsp;set a#nbsp;deadline for passing the#nbsp;exam: 30#nbsp;days from the#nbsp;moment I started studying P3.express.

Just before the#nbsp;test, I went through the#nbsp;following steps:

— put off the#nbsp;exam for one#nbsp;week, because I was afraid of failure and focused on cramming too much;

— 3#nbsp;days before the#nbsp;exam, I looked through all the#nbsp;suggested learning materials

1) NUPP (Nearly Universal Principles of Projects)

2) Code#nbsp;of Ethics

3) All 33#nbsp;steps of P3.express

4) Practice Test Answers

5) Project Simulator

—#nbsp;I read the#nbsp;articles of those who had already passed the#nbsp;test and shared their experience;

When it became clear that there was no#nbsp;time to#nbsp;spare, and I could easily burn out because of the#nbsp;revision, I took a#nbsp;break for one day and proceeded to the#nbsp;test only the#nbsp;next day.

During the#nbsp;exam, I acted as before:

The#nbsp;experience of preparing for the#nbsp;certification and taking the#nbsp;test itself turned out to#nbsp;be very useful. The#nbsp;knowledge gained helped to#nbsp;regulate some business processes, and the#nbsp;certificate gave me some inner peace.

Certainly, my revision method may seem a#nbsp;little boring and everyone can optimize it in their own way, the#nbsp;main thing is#nbsp;not to#nbsp;be led by fear and at the#nbsp;same time not to#nbsp;overestimate your efforts, that's what accounts for success.