The Swiss Project Management Journal
Young PM
For me reading the PMBOK was excrucia-
ting. You read and read and never seem to
move forward. I remember thinking at the
end of each chapter: did I really under-
stand what I had just read? The answer
was often “no,” and then I needed to read
the chapter again. Being a natural pro-
crastinator with anything I do not like
doing did not help at all. I was always post-
poning my study times until the time
remaining before the scheduled exam did
not offer me any more room for post-
poning. I then needed to pull up my socks,
sit down, read and get it done.
The PMP certification exam can be taken
only in special centers. In Switzerland
there is only one:in Geneva. Depending
on where you leave, the train ride can be
up to three hours. If you are thinking that
the train ride is a good opportunity to do
some studying - don’t. We have a very
nice proverb in Romania for this situation,
translated into English, it would be
something like, ”the pork does not get fat
overnight.” I know it sounds stupid, but
basically what you did not learn before
you will definitely not learn during that
time in the train.
I initially thought I was not going to finish
on time. I marked almost all questions in
the first half in order for me to go back and
check if I was sure with the answer. The
second half took me much less time and at
the end I finished with 30 minutes still
remaining. I chose to submit my answers -
what will be will be - spending the remai-
ning time double and triple checking
would have just prolonged my misery of
thinking if I will pass or not. Those minutes
when you wait for the result to be calcu-
lated felt like the longest in my life. And
when the positive result was displayed, I
felt the biggest relief of not needing to go
back and read the tremendous long book
again.
You might wonder now, how did this
experience help me in my career? The
PMBOK framework brings new ideas and
new perspectives on how to handle cer-
tain activities however I do not actually
think I am performing my work as a pro-
ject manager differently. What was sur-
prising though is the fact that my col-
leagues are somehow considering my
opinion differently, as if they trust it more
now that I am PMP certified. Finally one
should not underestimate the motiva-
tional impact. I was proud of my achieve-
ment which boosted my personal
motivation and performance as a project
manager.
I read so many opinions online of people
saying that they struggled to focus during
the exam because of the noise and conti-
nuous people coming and going as several
exams are taken at the same center that I
did not know what to expect. However,
the experience in Geneva was positive. It
was quiet and everyone took care to not
disturb anyone else.
Project Management Institute
SWITZERLAND Chapter
29
2017 Edition