PMI- ACP taking the exam during the pilot period (Sep 2015) II: lessons and materials


In summary my lessons learned are:
1) Using paid material does not mean that it is aligned to the exam or that it is of a higher quality.
2) PMIisms by Mike Griffiths / RMC: the most valuable "hidden" learning material.
3) When preparing for the exam think PMP-style.
4) Prepare your own notes for it utilizing different sources / materials.

Please note that below is relevant as of Sep 2015. It seems that it would be outdated pretty quickly.

1. Mike Griffiths: PMI-ACP Exam Prep, Premier Edition


I liked: comprehensive guide combining all the books you need for the exam. Therefore the new edition will be out in Oct 2015. My recommendation is to wait for it.

It's an excellent if not the best resource for PMI-ACP exam preparation.

2.Mike Griffiths: PMIisms
Free pdf downloadable from RMC website once you register your book (http://www.rmcls.com/)

I liked: this is what the book doesn't tell you. Very relevant even for the new exam version.


I liked: the structure that I didn't find in Mike's book (if those two are combined that would be the best material ever), links for further information and it is updated as per the latest Exam Content Outline.

My mistake: I spent too much time researching terminology. That remains for my own benefit.

Materials that were somewhat relevant:
  • 360 PMO (http://www.360pmo.com/): Material is not fully aligned with the current exam, but their tests  run smoothly on Android smartphones. If they improve the content and provide a report on which areas you need improvement (per each domain), I would highly recommend it. They also reference books from the Examination Outline, not their own materials.
  • ProplanX (http://www.proplanx.com): exam set 3 - good, but not aligned to the new exam format. All test questions were referencing their prep courses.
  • Simplilearn (http://www.simplilearn.com/): at the point that I took the contact hours and the exam it wasn't aligned; that might have changed. Test questions were referencing their exam prep course.
Materials that were not relevant (as per my experience):

Note on LinkedIn support groups:
  • My opinion is that postings like "I cleared the PMI-ACP today" add zero value....just junk. Nevertheless that is what most support groups are full of.
  • Old posts should be ignored.
  • PMI-ACP with Mike Griffiths: good group with (the only) relevant content. It needs some moderation / cleanup in my opinion but it is the best out there.
  • PMI-ACP℠ Support Group: no relevant / recent material at the time I was writing this post.

    Good luck!.  

PMI-ACP - taking the certification exam during the pilot period (September 2015)

First thing I want to start with is that all of the below are my personal opinions, I am not receiving any financial or other benefit for sharing them. 

PMI-ACP is an excellent addition or even an alternative to the PMI PMP for IT project managers. I will go even further saying it is more relevant for them. Let me summarize how I see it based on my experience preparing for the certification as of September 2015:

  • PMI ACP is excellent for people that would like to understand multiple methodologies rather than focusing on one (like Scrum for example).
  • It is convenient for people that completed PMP as the PDUs are being collected together.
 Few points to note:
  • PMI ACP is not as mature as PMP and that is visible from the reference materials: a lot of them are blogs, websites etc. In some cases only blogs are currently available for the new version of the exam (note: I didn't go through the new PMI reference materials). I don't personally mind this, but in some cases there are differences on certain aspects of Agile, the question is really what the exam considers the right answer. With PMP you have the PMBOK - here you don't (exam is based on multiple books from different authors).
  • There are plenty of materials, but: 
    • not many are updated as per the new PMI Examination Outline (as of Sep 2015)
    • the test questions are based on the materials that the publisher sells (usually as separate course / product) that may or not be aligned with the exam itself. I tried several different materials and I am confident that if you show me a few mock test questions from the most popular materials I might be able to tell you where you took them from.
    • There are materials with questionable quality/relevance.
Overall my opinion is that this certification would be having more and more similarities to PMP rather than other Agile certifications down the road. With this I mean the structure of the reading material and the exam itself.
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