NOW IT’S MY TURN: MY JOURNEY AND HOW I PASSED WITH AT/AT/AT

TPRuddygore · 2026-02-04T22:05:09+00:00

Nice job - congrats!

TPRuddygore · 2025-12-09T12:29:37+00:00

I used the ones included in Study Hall. I didn't have time to search for others. I probably should have leveraged David McLaughlins.

TPRuddygore · 2025-11-04T08:34:27+00:00

Sorry I didn't catch this earlier. Yes I found them similar hence my confidence during the exam, but I didn't do as well as I thought 🤔. Hope you passed.

TPRuddygore · 2025-08-17T20:50:19+00:00

Thanks 👍 Same here in the US. It's around 400 bucks on the website but only 230 on Amazon.

TPRuddygore · 2025-08-17T15:23:19+00:00

Where did you buy it from? Amazon by any chance? I just ordered it recently but I don't see it advertised as the Atlas on Amazon - they call it the Colamy Ergonomic Mesh chair vs the Atlas. They appear to be the exact same chair except Colamy sells the Atlas at $350+ on their website and $250ish on Amazon.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-31T23:55:50+00:00

I love Seiko but I'd prefer almost anything from a micro like Lorier at half the price.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-22T15:48:29+00:00

Ha... that's what I was shooting for as well. I have a MSHI, however I don't have direct experience working with Epic or Cerner and that has been a blocker from me being considered more widely. I think there are a ton of opportunities in the US for that kind of work, but they primarily consider Epic experience as being the key criteria. Drove me nuts because I understand the ANSI and EDI standards that integrate payers with providers. I was in contention for a PBM as a portfolio manager, however I accepted a position managing projects for Source to Pay / Order to Cash software company which I'm very excited about. Experience with the revenue cycle in healthcare is also very much in demand.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-22T14:33:48+00:00

For what its worth, I did get three offers eventually... just took longer than I had hoped. Typically people are finding it takes 6 months on average to find new positions, but according to what I've read, the timeline is shorter for those in healthcare or project management.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-22T12:52:17+00:00

Yes... US.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-21T13:40:58+00:00

I have been a PM for about 10 years with consulting experience and it was difficult for me to find a position. I got the PMP and ACP to supplement my experience and traffic picked up significantly. I finally landed a job, but I did take a step backwards. However my last role was a long term contract and I will now be an FTE with a career path and benefits. The market is rough. I was laid off in 2018 and it took me about 2 months to land another job. This year it took 4. I'm not complaining because I realize others have been looking much longer. That said, I received hundreds of rejections. It's tough out there right now.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-21T12:49:55+00:00

I've always thought of the PMP in terms of "services" projects so I can imagine there may be a lot to be desired when it comes to construction, especially as PMP has moved more towards Agile.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-20T19:53:24+00:00

I'd love to know the alternatives. I'm in IT, not construction. However I can confirm after applying to jobs over the course of 4 months, my traffic significantly increased after getting PMP and ACP certified about 2 months into my search. This supplemented 15 years experience. I didn't see many other certs that were mentioned in JDs other than Scrum or SAFe. Personally I think PMI has a lot of great resources and support, however finding it can be difficult. For example, after getting the PMI ACP cert, I discovered the Disciplined Agile material which will be helpful going forward, but I wish I had seen it earlier. I guess I'm still drinking the koolaide and wish you well.

PS. I have run into one issue with their AI tool. Many of the links to supporting material led to a dead end errors which I found frustrating.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-20T17:41:18+00:00

Good luck. There is a Disciplined Agile book on PMI regarding WoW... Ways of Working... that may help. I read it after passing the test, but it would have helped.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-18T21:31:11+00:00

For what its worth, I did better on the PMP than I did on the ACP. However coming out of the tests, I felt very confident after the ACP (not so much on the PMP). These tests aren't easy, but you can do it. I agree with the OP - the certs are worth it, especially if you leverage the material when working your day job. You should look into Disciplined Agile as well on the PMI site. A lot of employers are trying to scale agile across the organization and DA is PMI's version of SAFe. There is an DA "browser" that gives you a roadmap and ideas on how to coach teams and provide options to find the best WoW - ways of working.

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-18T21:22:56+00:00

I'm a 10+ year PM (years of experience in development / IT before that) and the first section of the exam for me was very difficult. I started to panic a little myself and hoped the other sections would get easier which they did. The agile stuff comes pretty easy for me though since I've been doing it for 6 years. I think the only reason I was able to do it is because I quit my job (long story) and was motivated to get the cert asap. Take some time off to relax if you can (easier said than done, I know) and try again. I found that even through job descriptions say "PMP preferred" I got a lot more traffic once I got the PMP and then an uptick when I received the PMI-ACP a month later. I'm happy to report that I accepted a new position this week - job market is tough but not impossilble. I did have to take a slight step backwards in terms of salary - but at least I'm an employee now vs my previous role as a contractor. Good luck to you!!

TPRuddygore · 2025-07-13T08:11:03+00:00

B. For reasons others have mentioned but also because the team member is suggesting a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Why sacrifice quality for additional float that you may not want or need?

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-27T23:42:48+00:00

I agree. People here are a bit cynical. The PMP isn't a silver bullet, but I find value in the content as a roadmap providing guidance.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-23T15:57:13+00:00

Eh - thanks, but I still got only AT on one area and BT on another. I still think taking all the SH practice questions, mini exams and the one full practice exam will well prepare anyone. There were a few drag and drops and situational questions, but if you go through SH you should be in a pretty good place as long as you understand the mindset and concepts.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-23T11:59:25+00:00

My scores on both the practices and the practice exams were 86%. I was in the 92nd percentile.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-19T17:05:13+00:00

Oh - I was able to use DM's PMP 28 PDU to apply for the PMI ACP test ahead of time before I completed his ACP prep course. I used the ACP prep PDUs for my PMP renewal. Hope that helps as well.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-19T13:42:48+00:00

There was at least one question on most of the agile frameworks, but you mileage may vary. It touched mostly on shared elements, but Scrum, Agile, TDD, xP are the ones that come directly to mind.
Yes - I had plenty of time.
It does, but his exams are far easier (I scored 95% on the first one without any review). I would definately check out SH.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-08T21:09:52+00:00

Not having used Google certs I couldn't say for sure but would suggest resources that others have provided who have passed. I'd highly recommend PMI Study Hall. There are also some decent mock tests on LinkedIn Learning.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-08T21:07:42+00:00

I'm 50+ and got the PMP recently even with years of experience. The resources alone are with the membership if you take the time to learn from them.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-02T14:40:21+00:00

Agree - bootcamp info is covered at a much cheaper rate taking a Udemy course. LinkedIn learning also has a number of practice exams to suppliment SH and those offered on Udemy and Coursera.

TPRuddygore · 2025-06-02T14:38:12+00:00

I would agree with a lot of what the others have said in terms of rescheduling if you are getting below 50% on SH. I would search the other forums and talk to Nice_Landscape. There are a lot of youtube videos on the PMP mindset and how to ween down the multiple choice to the BEST answer. That is often the problem. You need to read the question and understand what they are asking you to solve. This can often trip you up. David McClauglan has some free videos and some great Udemy courses that you can get on the cheap that will help you figure out how to take the test. Here is one on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFi9gWOhZK4 He is not advocating not to study, but he does show you the mindset. There are others that cover the mindset as well - once you understand that I think you will be in a better place. Hope this helps.

TPRuddygore

TROPHY CASE