PMP Certification

I recently acquired the PMP certification, and wanted to share some insights.

What is PMP certification?
The PMP (Project Management Professional) is the leading project management certification, issued by the PMI (project management institute)

Why did I choose to get PMP certified?
In the software industry, project management skills are an intrinsic part of the roles of individual developers, leads, development managers, and of course project/program managers. While I am not currently looking for a project manager role, as the classical project manager seems too far removed from technology, I think the skills would be useful. And I might change my mind...
.. and, of course, the PMP designation looks good on my resume.

How was the test?
Hard. It's a hard test, the questions are misleading, and a 4 hours a test is a looong test.
I scored overall 86%. It seems traditional to share the sections breakdown, so here goes:
Initiating: 88%
Planning: 91%
Executing: 90%
Controlling: 84%
Closing: 79% [makes sense, I ran out of time before my final review of 'closing']
Professional responsibility: 86%

How did you study?
I used the Rita book, the Kim book, Achieve PMP success, the examcram2 book, the PMBOK (from which I learned very little, the style was too dry for my taste) and additional online resources - especially useful was the table of the 39 precesses, their inputs, tools, and outputs.
I spent half my time taking tests, and half reading textbooks or my notes. I estimate I put in 40-50 hours over 2 months - there seemed to be too much information for cramming.

Tags: PMP certificattion