How I Bootstrapped My Way to Passing the PMP Exam on the First Try

***Note: Please stay up to date with the current project management requirements from the Project Management Institute.***

I’m a creative professional with a project management certification. Interesting “left-brain/right-brain” combo, right? As a designer, I’ve always looked to level up my design skills: being faster and more proficient with keyboard shortcuts, learning new techniques in Adobe programs, challenging myself with comprehensive projects, etc. However, a few years back, I realized that I needed something to give me an edge in my career (I was getting weary of the corporate scene) and also a methodical way of tackling big personal goals that I so often left hanging in the balance midway through starting. It’s not that I was doing bad; I just wanted to do better.

I heard through the grapevine that project management was the way to better organizational skills, planning and execution. But I also heard all the gripes of current and yet-to-be PMPs who preached how grueling and pain-staking the exam was. Honestly, their testaments were intimidating, but I had already made up in my mind that obtaining project management certification would provide me with a much-needed turning point in my career.

At the time of my revelation, I had recently bought my first home and finances…