PMI-ACP lesson learned and certificate road map

Alhamdulalah, last week 29th July 2020 , I had passed PMI-ACP exam, and I would like to
share my personal experience with you.

I started studying 1st June 2020 and I passed the exam on 29th July 2020 with "Above target".
During my PMI-ACP preparation journey (2 months ) I had studied the following :

Ø Books & References:

1. Agile Practice Guide, PMI Main reference for the exam.

https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/practice-guides/agile

2. Agile exam outline

https://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/agile-acp/exam-prep

3. PMI-ACP Exam Prep., Mike Griffiths, Advantages of reading PMI-ACP Exam Prep book

o Introduce each domain in a separate chapter with detail explanations and exercises
o Good for those candidates has little or no Agile experiences
o Simple language
o Has Q & A after each Domain.
o Good handbook for implementing Agile in real life work environment

1. I attended Portolrearn online interactive course with Eng. Ahmed Yousry ,

https://portolearn.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.yousry.abdelaziz

2. I watched Eng. Mahmoud Nassar course at Udemy.,

https://www.udemy.com/course/pmi-acp-in-
arabic/?referralCode=9F47DB96E54BBE90B823

3. I read PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Updated 2nd Edition for Mike Griffiths - I read this book 3
times with different level of understanding.
4. I read the Agile Practice Guide which comes with the PMBOK Guide 6th edition one
time

Ø STUDY NOTES:

1. After reading PMI-ACP Exam Prep. 2 times , I had my own notes for all terms,
domains...etc. which was new to me.
2. Many T&T I was familiar since its repeated from PMP and PBA .
3. I did not answer many exams, I focused on understanding and review the domains T&T
and K&S .
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 Ø THE LAST 2-3 DAYS BEFORE THE EXAM:

1. I reviewed my personal notes and the dictionary for the last time.
2. I took again quick review for all domains.
3. Review Very Important-Notes from PMI-ACP Domain
4. Review Scrum events or ceremonies
5. Review the PMI-ACP domain tasks
6. Review the PMI- ACP-Glossary

Ø THE EXAM DAY:

1. I take the exam at home .

2. Insure that your PC tested in advance and availability of high speed internet source .
3. The check process and admission before entering the exam took form 10 - 15 minutes.
4. I didn't take any break during the exam (not allowed).
5. Exam time is sufficient, and I finished before 15 Min.
6. After I complete the exam questions, i saw the result directly , then there is a quick
optional survey.

Ø The exam questions:

Questions are very intelligently designed and required a thorough understanding of the subject
to answer correctly. Most questions are just one-liners, but the answer choices were superbly
well-crafted (and super tricky). Expect 120 question like this:

v 10-20 questions - straight forward questions, which anybody with reasonable

preparation could bag easily.
v 20-30 questions - could be answered by eliminating 3 wrong answer choices.
v 60-70 questions - 2 correct answer choices and required some reasoning or logic to
determine the better of the 2 choices.
v 10-20 questions - tough questions with 3 very close answer choices.

- Very important to understand the Agile mindset, most of the questions on the exam are
situational questions. Asking you as (PO, Agile Coach, team etc.) what you will do in
these situations.
- The roles and responsibilities of Scrum Master/Agile Coach/Team Lead, Product
Owner, Sponsor, Agile Practitioner should be clearly understand.
- Each meeting and whom should attend this meetings.
- Stakeholders engagement.
- Few questions on MOSCO, Prioritization, Affinity, Estimation & Persona .

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 - It is important to have a good knowledge on what is those terms and when to use them:
Value stream map, Kanban board , burndown chart , information radiator,
interpersonal skill, servant leader ship, product backlog refinement, issues and risks
,project charter, WIP.
- No Math quotations.
- Many questions the customer complain about the product and ask you as a product
owner or scrum master or Dev. Team ! how you will act?
- Please take care that almost 90% of the questions are situational.
- Win time from the easy questions don’t spend too much time on it
- PMI-ACP is not easy exam. It is between medium to hard. You will need to focus during
the exam.

Feel free to ask any questions, I'm more than happy to answer.

Good luck with your studying and exam.

Emad Zehry

PMP, RMP,PBA and ACP certified .

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