Just did Prince2 training for practitioner

[vegan4life]

Hi, just wanted to share that I sat the practitioner exam on Friday. Despite a colleague telling me it was a piece of p*ss, I found the experience quite challenging. I did a fair bit of pre-course study and worked around 3 hours each night and was still sweating about getting through the exam. Foundation is more of a memory test but you still need to do the work.

But must take my hat off to anyone who has no PM experience that can self study for the practitioner. There's definitely a knack to answering the questions and it does test your analytical abilities as much as your knowledge. Went right to the wire to answer all the questions.

FWIW - If you are thinking about doing Prince 2 - I would avoid Prince2 for Dummies (badly laid out and confusing) and the Pocket Guide by Bert Hedeman (font size way too small.. I know... it's a pocket guide). Just get a hold of the offcial OGC book.

BTW I trained with Carnegie Enterprises in Dunfermline. Facilities and instructor are first class.

Going back in June to do the APM for Prince2 practitioners... glutton for punishment me

[filthy1980]

Hi, just wanted to share that I sat the practitioner exam on Friday. Despite a colleague telling me it was a piece of p*ss, I found the experience quite challenging. I did a fair bit of pre-course study and worked around 3 hours each night and was still sweating about getting through the exam. Foundation is more of a memory test but you still need to do the work.

But must take my hat off to anyone who has no PM experience that can self study for the practitioner. There's definitely a knack to answering the questions and it does test your analytical abilities as much as your knowledge. Went right to the wire to answer all the questions.

FWIW - If you are thinking about doing Prince 2 - I would avoid Prince2 for Dummies (badly laid out and confusing) and the Pocket Guide by Bert Hedeman (font size way too small.. I know... it's a pocket guide). Just get a hold of the offcial OGC book.

BTW I trained with Carnegie Enterprises in Dunfermline. Facilities and instructor are first class.

Going back in June to do the APM for Prince2 practitioners... glutton for punishment me

good luck with it mate,

i actually found foundation slightly harder, found the scenario based questions easier to logically think through, might be just me though

i think the ones who says the practioner is a piece of piss are the old school guys who turn their noses up to it being multiple choice these days

[escapeUK]

Just get a hold of the offcial OGC book.

I have that book, it is dull and makes the whole thing seem impractical and useless, and Im someone who is used to sat reading Microsoft books on servers.

The fact this is the standard for government projects does not surprise me, is there any wonder all of them fail?

Well done on your pass though.

[norrahe]

the Prince2 course is like learning to drive, you are assimilating information to pass the exam. Like driving you will only use certain practical aspects in certain situations. It is a useful overall guide that you can cherry pick from depending on the size and state of your project. I agree it is a cumbersome manual but useful all the same.

Well done to the OP on passing the exam.

[istvan]

Hi, just wanted to share that I sat the practitioner exam on Friday. Despite a colleague telling me it was a piece of p*ss, I found the experience quite challenging. I did a fair bit of pre-course study and worked around 3 hours each night and was still sweating about getting through the exam. Foundation is more of a memory test but you still need to do the work.

But must take my hat off to anyone who has no PM experience that can self study for the practitioner. There's definitely a knack to answering the questions and it does test your analytical abilities as much as your knowledge. Went right to the wire to answer all the questions.

FWIW - If you are thinking about doing Prince 2 - I would avoid Prince2 for Dummies (badly laid out and confusing) and the Pocket Guide by Bert Hedeman (font size way too small.. I know... it's a pocket guide). Just get a hold of the offcial OGC book.

BTW I trained with Carnegie Enterprises in Dunfermline. Facilities and instructor are first class.

Going back in June to do the APM for Prince2 practitioners... glutton for punishment me

Hi and congratulations! I am going to London the week after next to a 5 day course that includes both the Foundations and the Practitioner exams. The training company sent me pre-class preparation material that I found very-very helpful. The OGC book is a must, but reading through it I was quite lost at first. It's not a light reading that is for sure. With the pre-class material finally it makes a whole lot more sense.

Do you think this certification is going to make a big difference in finding project management contracts? It should, but honestly what is your opinion?

[TykeMerc]

Do you think this certification is going to make a big difference in finding project management contracts? It should, but honestly what is your opinion?

Honest answer no it won't make a big difference.
An awful lot of wannabe PM's do the hothouse pass courses so Prince2 practitioners aren't particularly rare. In my experience of having the practitioner qualification for a bit over 5 years it's handy for ticking boxes on agents requirement sheets, what makes a difference is genuine project management experience.

[cojak]

On the basis that *very* few (make that almost none) projects even half follow Prince 2, it won't make much difference apart from maybe getting you an interview.

It's at this stage experience will beat qualifications. I wouldn't place an untested PM on a project if I was a permie responsible for it's success.

[istvan]

Hi cojak & TykeMerc,

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciatre it. I managed projects for years, but I thought perhaps having another trophy might be good. Anyway, it will at least prove that I visited London

[cojak]

Hi cojak & TykeMerc,

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciatre it. I managed projects for years, but I thought perhaps having another trophy might be good. Anyway, it will at least prove that I visited London

Oh, I'm all for trophies istvan, and if you're an experienced PM it will certainly do no harm.

[norrahe]

Hi and congratulations! I am going to London the week after next to a 5 day course that includes both the Foundations and the Practitioner exams. The training company sent me pre-class preparation material that I found very-very helpful. The OGC book is a must, but reading through it I was quite lost at first. It's not a light reading that is for sure. With the pre-class material finally it makes a whole lot more sense.

Do you think this certification is going to make a big difference in finding project management contracts? It should, but honestly what is your opinion?

It will help get your CV through the melee certainly but as Cojak says not all projects follow Prince2 these days, but it doesn't hurt to have the certification.