|
|
|||
|
PMI-OC PMP Exam Prep Student Information |
|||
|
Welcome to the PMI-OC PMO
Exam Prep Website. This page provides the
central communications distribution method for the students. As you may know, the PMP
certification has grown as a requirement by many employers. While this is the
primary reason many of our student take the class, students find that this is
a start of increasing their understanding and knowledge of the Project
Management process. It is often the first step
in a life long journey to becoming a better project manager. |
|||
|
STUDENT INFORMATION |
|
|
|
|
Interested in getting your PMP certification? Congratulations on taking
the first step! You have a great number of options on getting your
certification, and we appreciate you considering our course. The course is sponsored by
the Orange County PMI chapter, and is conducted to assist our members in
becoming certified. We offer discounts to PMI members, and strive to conduct
a first rate class at a cost less than half the price commercial firms charge.
All funds not incurred in executing the class are used by the local chapter
as operating expenses, so you can be assured that your fees are funding the
local chapter effort in Project Management. Below is all the information
you may need to decide to take the course and information on the course
itself. Already signed up and have tons of questions? You found the right place!
|
|||
|
LOCATION INFORMATION |
|
|
|
|
Click here for more information on the course
locations. In general, the locations
are |
|||
|
CLASS INFORMATION |
|
|
|
|
We typically conduct 3
classes a year in each location. Classes are usually conducted during
January, May and September. The following list provides dates and the instructor
roster for each course. Course Structure The course is 6 Saturdays,
starting at 8 AM and finishing at 5:pm 08:00 – Start 09:45 – Break 10:00 – Class 12:00 – Lunch 13:00 – Class (1 PM) 14:45 – Break (2:45 PM) 15:00
– Class (3 PM) 17:00 – Close (5 PM) We do not teach on Federal
Holidays and most major religious holidays. If we are teaching on your major
religious holiday, we welcome feedback, as cultural sensitivity is an
important aspect of our approach. |
|||
|
INSTRUCTORS |
|
|
|
|
Classes are taught by
practicing PMP’s volunteers, usually 2 per subject or 24 per course. At least
one of the instructors has taught before, and typically one of the
instructors is recently certified, providing a unique opportunity to talk to
people that have recently taken the exam. All instructors will share
their experience in obtaining their certification, exposing the students to
common study tips and a series of exam prep tips that may be unique to each
instructors study habits. Please note while the
instructors can share what they did to study for the test, everyone that has
applied to take the test are forbidden to disclose the specific content of
the exam. Please do not ask the instructors specific questions about the
exam. (e.g. is this on the exam?) |
|||
|
STUDENT COORDINATORS |
|
|
|
|
Each class will have one
student designated as the Student Coordinator. This person has volunteered to
act as the class focal point between the class, the instructors and the PMP Prep
committee. For their service, the class is discounted. Student coordinators are
usually selected from people that are between assignments, do volunteer work
for the chapter and are interested in exchanging labor for fees. We view this
as a way the chapter can help people in transition to upgrade their resume by
adding the certification to their resume. Please email mike.graupner@marlai.com for more
information. Students with questions
should first contact their student coordinator. I |
|||
|
The First Day |
|
|
|
|
The classrooms will be open at 7:30 and you should
be in your seat and ready to start at 8 AM sharp. We have a lot to cover and will
need all the time allotted. Note; parking is free at both locations. Please note that we understand that you will have a
lot of questions, and the first part of class will cover most if not all your
questions. You can help yourself by being on time, and holding all questions
until after the first break. |
|||
|
Things to Bring |
|
|
|
|
·
PMBOK 3rd
edition This should be a paper
copy of the PMBOK. As a PMI member, you should have received a CD with a
printable PDF copy of the book. If you are not a PMI
member, you can order the book at most online booksellers. Google PMBOK 3rd edition and you
should find it for fewer than 35.00. ·
Pens, Pencils
and Highlighters ·
Paper for
notes ·
Sticky notes ·
4 Function
Calculator (optional) ·
Light refreshments
during the class. |
|||
|
We Provide: |
|
|
|
It is our opinion that this
is all the material necessary to study for and pass the exam. Note that the
Achieve book will have a CD with a sample test on the CD. We have found that
if you are passing the sample test with consistent score above 80%, you have
an excellent chance of passing the exam. |
|||
|
Our thoughts on other materials |
|
|
|
|
We strongly feel that if
you follow our process, the material we provide (in addition to your PMBOK
Guide) will be all the material you will need to efficiently study for and
pass the exam. We recognize that most of
the material offer in the market place is highly effective. Our philosophy is
that we know that your time is valuable, and we would like to offer you the
shortest path to certification. We discourage other
material because we have found that this increases your time to prepare and
increases confusion (a man with two watches never knows the time). |
|||
|
What you should expect from us: |
|
|
|
|
·
We will provide
all the study materials (except for the PMBOK Guide) needed to pass the test.
·
This class is
conduced by the Orange County PMI chapter. ·
All
instructors are Volunteer PMP’s, many who are professional PMP trainers. ·
We will
provide you suggestions on how to study and prepare for the test. ·
We will act
professionally. ·
We will
provide you with a copy of the presentation slides and a companion study
guide. |
|||
|
What we
expect from you: |
|
|
|
|
·
You will come to
class and be prepared to start promptly at 8 AM. ·
You will read
the assigned chapters prior to each class. ·
Class
suggested dress code is business casual. ·
You will
conduct yourself in a professional manner. ·
You will fill out
the class comments sheet after each session so that we can use your input to
improve our class. ·
You will
report any problems with the training material to the student coordinator. ·
If we fail to
meet your expectations, you will contact the class project manager. |
|||
|
What to do prior to the first class: |
|
|
|
If you do not have the
PMBOK Guide for the first class, do not worry. Just order it from one of the
on line services and you will have it in plenty of time for your studies. |
|||
|
Bonus Activities |
|
|
|
|
We also have a Yahoo group that is used for
communication. We have over 100 PMP’s that are willing to help, please join
the at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socal_networking/ |
|||
|
FAQ’s |
|
|
|
|
Q. When
will the class start? A. The
classrooms will be open at 7:30 and you should be in your seat and ready to
start at 8 AM sharp. We have a lot to cover and will need all the time
allotted. Note; parking is free at both NOC and SOC locations. Q. What
is the room number for the class? A. The
room number will be posted in the lobby as you enter the building. Often time
room changes are necessary so we may not know the room number in advance. Q. What
should I bring? A. Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge (3rd Edition Hardcopy) Pens,
Pencils and Highlighters Paper
for notes Sticky
notes 4
Function Calculator (optional) Q. Where
can I get the PMBOK Guide? A. You
can order it off the PMI.ORG website or Amazon.com (or google PMBOK for one
of the many booksellers that carry the guide) Q. When
will I be notified about the class? A. A
welcome email will be sent out the Thursday before the class repeating much
of this information. We intentionally delay the email so that the people that
are enrolling late also get the email. Q. What
are the requirements for the PMP? A. Please
review www.pmi.org for the certification
requirements. We do not support the questions that can be found on the
certification part of the PMI web site. Q. Can I
get the member discount refunded to me
if I join PMI after I sign up for the class? A. Yes, but
we would prefer you to sign up as a member and then join PMI. We will refund
the difference if necessary, but please note that we have to pay credit card
processing fees on the refund. Please remember that you are under a
professional code of conduct, and taking the discount and not becoming a
member could be considered a violation. Q. What
is the Contact Name and Phone? A. You
will be given that information in the welcome letter. Q. Can I
get the material early? A. No,
the class is designed to distribute the materials the morning of the first
day. Q. What
should I read before the class? A. Ideally
you should read the first 4 chapters of the PMBOK Guide. Q. I may
have to miss one class, what do I do? A. The
class is designed for 48 contact hours; you need 35 contact hours to apply
for the exam. The class is designed to allow the student to miss one day and
still get the hours necessary for the application. Please review the contact
hours requirement on the PMI.ORG website, most people meet the contact hours
requirement without the class. Q. What
happens if I am audited? A. If
you are using the class as the 35 contact hours, you will need the
certificate that is handed out on the last day as proof. It is your
responsibility to keep the certificate, we make no guarantee that we will be
able to issue a certificate after the completion of the class. Q. I
signed up for the wrong location, can I change? A. We
have limited seating in the Q. I
received my certificates and my name is spelled incorrectly, what do I do? A. We
take the spelling from the web site database that you entered. Please review
the sign-in sheet and verify the spelling of your name that appears on the
signup sheet is the same spelling you would like on your certificate Q. When
are the workshops held? A. We
hold classes three times a year, typically in January, May and September. Q. Where
are the workshop held? A. Location
may vary, but currently we hold classes in Q. The web
site did not accept my credit card and it will not let me re-register. What
should I do? A. Let
the Class PM know at the beginning of the class and we will have someone from
PMI-OC contact you for payment. Please attend the first class and we will
resolve the issue. Q. How do
I get notified for the upcoming classes? A. Please
join the email blast from PMI-OC. Instructions: ·
To join or tell your friends to join, please send an email to: join-blast@pmi-oc.org ·
To be removed from this list, please send an email to: leave-blast@pmi-oc.org ·
Direct inquiries or problem reports to: help-blast@pmi-oc.org Q. I
tried to sign up for a class and it said the event was closed. Can I still
join? A. We
close the event if we have sold all the seats. You may sign up for the next
closest class to attend the session. If we find that we have room, we will
allow you to switch into the class. Q. Does
the class teach project management? A. No,
the class teaches the Project management tools and process sufficient to
successfully take the exam. Our primary focus is to assist you in preparing
you for the exam, not to teach project management. The exam has situation
questions, and you will need to understand the project management process.
Many of our student report learning new project management skill from the
class, but this is not our primary goal. We suggest you take the PMI-OC advance
topics if you are interested in enhancing your skills as a project manager. Q. Will I
need additional materials to study for the exam? A. We
strongly discourage students from buying other PMP exam prep material. We have
structured the class to provide all the materials you need to successfully
sit for the exam (over 400 PMP’s have reviewed the materials). We find that
the majority of the time additional materials add to the overall investment
in getting the certification, increasing the complexity in taking the exam.
We monitor the materials very closely and have found that if you take our
advice, you can save a substantial amount of time studying for the exam. Q. I
disagree with the way you are teaching the class, can I suggest changes? A. Yes,
but only after you get your certification. In each class we have an
instructor training and Lessons Learned session, and you are welcome to come
discuss changes at that time. Q. What
If I do not like an instructor? A. We put
~24 PMP’s in front of each class, so you will not have to suffer with a
instructor for more than a single subject. The good news is that you will
likely have a favorite instructor as well. If you did not understand what was taught, please
see the class PM and they will be happy to answer any questions. Q. Will
PMI-OC organize study groups? A. No, we
have found that the study groups are most effective when the students are
responsible to form the groups. We typically will identify the geographical locations
of our students on the first day, and allow the student to exchange contact
information. You may use the yahoo
group to find people for your study group. Q. A
student is annoying, what will you do? A. A part
of the PM process is conflict management. We typically let the student self
manage the class to resolve the issues.
We will only step in under extreme cases. |
|||
|
Refund Policy |
|
|
|
|
If you have to cancel
after your receive your books, we charge a 100.00 materials cancellation fee.
You also have the option of deferring your class to the next session. |
|||
|
Class Auditing |
|
|
|
|
It is not uncommon that
students do not schedule and take the test as recommended. We welcome
students to audit a future class for no charge if they find that they need
extra review of the material. |
|||
|
Contact Hours |
|
|
|
|
After reading the PMP
handbook on the www.pmi.org site, you may
have questions regarding what contact hours are. PMI defines contact hours
are instructor lead training on the 9 knowledge area’s. Our class is one way to obtain and document
contact hours. You will have to complete the call before claiming the hours. An alternate for many
people is to use courses that they have previously taken. This could be a
project management class taken at work, college courses on related subject
(statistic as a quality class, English for communications). Only you can make
the determination, we only offer this as a suggest for your consideration.. |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
