I scheduled the proctored exam online - I would have prefer to do it at a test center, but they only had slots for god knows when. If you do have the option, I do recommend you do it at a test center, because at least me, even all alone in a quiet apartment with good conditions, I feel like the stress of having a technical issue impacted my concentration in a quarter of my exam. Also, I clicked the “chat” button by mistake, the proctor talked with me, but for some reason I could write but not send the message. At that point, I knew if I actually had to ask for help that I would have a problem starting there. Also, if you are using a laptop, they don’t allow any kind of stand, so be prepared to have neck pain. Again, my advice, do the exam at a the test center if you can.

About the exam, if was ridiculous difficult. I must have done at least 800 different questions, and these one were the worst. Yes, they were absolutely situational, mostly about Agile, no ITTO at all, only one math question (PERT). But damn, I had dozens of questions thinking that multiple answers made sense, and just had to follow my instinct.

My study consisted on a course provided by my company (useless), its elearning module which was probably great until the revision with Agile (I ended up doing almost 500 questions here, although they were 80% tradicional approach). After that, I was lost because I was learning in a trial and error basis, so I got the PMBOK Guide and Agile practices guide. And yes, I know the first one is not very popular around here, I actually found it a good read, essential to understand the processes and their connections, and with very good descriptions for tools and techniques (and you must know those). Then, I bought the AR Udemy Course, skipped all the videos (with the exception of the Agile, conclusion, and Mindset), did all the quizzes and the mock exam. By the end, I did all 6 AR TIA Exams, one time, scoring on the 80’s.

Again, this opinion may not be much popular around , but I think the “Mindset” its too hyped. Yes, all there it’s true, but you end up learning those points if you study and practice enough. On the other hand, if you only study the mindset but not answer enough questions, you will have a problem, because you need practice to distinguish the minor differences between some answers, which today for me, was the most difficult point. About the TIA Exams, yes they are similar to the exam, in the sense that they are situational. But they are much easier, and the wording is absolutely different, adding to the problem that has dozens of gramatical errors which may be a problem for non native English speakers. There’s at least a handful of questions where I selected randomly my question because I couldn’t understand the question. My advice, you do get them, because they are affordable, aligns your mindset and answers are well explained. But be prepared to be frustrated, sometimes. As a side note, I did the triaç of the Prepcast Exams, and wording is 300% more similar to the exam. Unfortunately I don’t know about the content, the trial exam was not enough to understand that.

Also, as I mentioned I ended up almost memorizing the ITTOs, its not that you need or not need that, but as AR says multiple times, you need to understand it, and obviously, know the outputs and techniques for the most important ones.

About time management, I heard a lot of people saying they ended up with plenty of time. If you are like me, you probably simulated that at home to understand how much time you need to go through 180 questions. Don’t make the same mistake I did: at the first 50 questions, I’m pretty sure that I took double the time, because there was way too much stress and anxiety. As a consequence, I only had to review my flagged questions in the third part of the exam.

In short, my advice? Understand the processes, know the differences for techniques, master agile principles, and do as many practice exams as you can. Don’t go to the exam scoring below 80% on any plataform.

Thank you very much for all your help in these last two months of study!!!