#PMI-ACP, Achievement Unlocked!
If you are looking to complete the Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) certification through PMI (Project Management Institute), this article will provide some insights from my experience and how I prepared for the exam, which resulted in me passing it the first time.
##Background
I completed my PMI-PMP (Project Management Professional) certification in 2009 which proved very helpful in moving into more and more technical PM jobs. In the years since I have progressed from Waterfall projects to an all-Agile work environment and have worked as a Scrum Master, Engagement Manager and Product Owner for companies that heavily rely on Scrum. Early in 2014, I attained the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) cert from Scrum Alliance, which was great, but it served more to encourage continued study than an actual exercise in and of itself. The next thing I needed was a more challenging goal to encourage continued study; the PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) fit the bill.
##Preparation
As expected, the application process was serious. Justification of a lot of work history and submitting details about my existing knowledge of Agile took quite a bit of time (hours for training and self-study). Having already taken the PMP exam, I knew what to expect....3 hours to tackle 120 gruelingly difficult questions and a pretty high fail rate compared to other certs.
My prep work for the application and exam was all self-study and it took me about 4 months to complete. I find the best way to motivate myself is to put reminders on my calendar for milestones:
finish the initial course wrap up the application study milestones for exam topics schedule the exam pass the exam
##Resources
I took this course via Simplilearn to accrue the hours I needed as part of the application process - http://www.simplilearn.com/agile-and-scrum/pmi-acp-certification-training
For the exam prep I spent a lot of time with this book: http://www.amazon.com/PMI-ACP-Exam-Prep-Questions-Solutions-ebook/dp/B00D8O10SQ?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=docs-os-doi_0 I found the questions to be really helpful in preparing for the type of content that would be on the exam. One thing though, I focused a lot on the formulas and memorized them all but there was very little regarding them on the exam. I would recommend spending more time on concepts. There were several questions about the soft skills of managing a team and the agile concepts related to that (managing remote and international teams). Also, roles and concepts that you may have experience with might not match the "by the book" explanations so make sure you know those and don't rely on your "real world" experience (which I'm sure you've noticed doesn't always match the concepts of any book).
A few other books I read prior to the exam: http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Project-Management-Developer-Practices-ebook/dp/B00JDMPOZW?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=kinw_myk_ro_title
##Method
For me, the easiest way to cram information in my head was repetition and writing. Several years ago, my mom gave me a huge box full of card stock scrap that was cut into index card size pieces. That box of cards has gotten me through two PMI exams and I still have some left. What I did while I was studying was write out flash cards for everything and then used those flash cards to repeatedly quiz myself. This worked great for question/answer content that was relatively small.
For concepts that involved a lot of information, like a grid of details, I found the Mind Palace technique extremely helpful. For example, I envisioned a party at my childhood home (it helps to use a location that is extremely visual and familiar to you) and the attendees represented different roles and the actions of the party-goers represented the concepts associated with those roles. I wrote this out and then walked through it a few times mentally to be sure I wouldn't forget anything - it worked really fast!! In fact I can still remember several parts of that list.
##Lessons Learned
The thing I really liked about studying for the PMI-ACP was learning about many different ways that people use Agile. I have had a lot of experience with Scrum but there are several other Agile methodologies that other companies are using. There were things I found helpful that I have been able to incorporate into my world that were from other Agile methodologies. It also hit home the Agile manifesto and ways to apply Agile principles, which may not be clearly identified in whatever methodology you are using.
The exam changed in 2015 which was after I took it so you might want to research the changes and see if other people recommend alternate study materials. Also, you will want to check with your testing location to understand their rules around writing down notes during the exam. When I took the PMP exam, I was allowed several sheets of paper to "brain dump" when I got into the exam room and also to perform calculations as needed. For the ACP exam, I was given a laminated sheet of paper and a dry erase marker which really limited the amount of information I could write down at the beginning.
And just in case you need a little motivation during a cram session, this should do the trick
