I took the Advanced Project Manager exam on May 28, 2022. It was the first software qualification exam I had truly prepared for with serious time and effort. Earlier in May, many provinces had already canceled their exams because of the pandemic, and I kept worrying that my area would do the same. I was afraid the months of studying would end up being wasted. Fortunately, the exam went ahead as scheduled.
It was raining early that morning. I left home at 7:30 and reached the exam area at 7:45, but security would not let anyone in yet, so a crowd gathered at the gate. I found shelter under the awning of a shop that had not opened and waited there until around 8:10, when we were finally allowed inside.
At the school entrance, they checked the admission ticket, ID card, and a negative nucleic acid test result from within 48 hours, which could be shown on WeChat. Even after entering the school, we still were not allowed upstairs or into the exam room. We had to wait again until 8:30 before entering the classroom.
Morning session: comprehensive knowledge (multiple choice), 9:00-11:30
The morning paper had 75 multiple-choice questions worth 75 points in total. As soon as I got the paper, I rushed into it because I was afraid I would run out of time. I answered quickly, marked the questions I was unsure about, and skipped ahead. By 10:00, I had already finished the whole paper once and was secretly pleased with myself because there was still an hour and a half left.
Then I went back to the questions I had circled. That was when the problem appeared: the ones I did not know before were still the ones I did not know, and rereading the questions took much more time than I expected. I had marked more than 30 questions, and going through them again used up almost 50 minutes. When I looked at the clock, it was nearly 11:00, so I hurried to fill in the answer sheet.
Only at the very end did I return to the remaining four operations research calculation questions. By then, time was tight and I could no longer stay calm enough to calculate carefully. I rushed through them, and when time was called, there were still two questions I had not solved.
My takeaway from the morning paper was clear: the time is actually enough, so there is no need to race through it. It is better to do as much as possible properly on the first pass. Going back later can waste more time than expected. Because I did not manage my time well, I made myself much more nervous than necessary.
If I were to plan the morning session better, I would do it like this: with 150 minutes total, reserve 15 minutes for the answer sheet. That leaves about 1.8 minutes per question, or roughly 20 questions every 30 minutes. A reasonable pace would be:
- 9:30: 20 questions done
- 10:00: 40 questions done
- 10:30: 60 questions done
- 11:00: finish the full paper and start filling in the answer sheet
- 11:15: review the uncertain ones, ideally no more than five questions
Afternoon session: case analysis, 1:30-3:00
The case analysis section had three questions: one calculation problem and two written-response questions. I left the calculation for last and started with the written questions. I drafted my answers on the test paper first and planned to transfer them later. By the time I finally started the calculation problem, I realized I was already short on time. It was close to 2:20, and once again I was in no state to calculate calmly.
The calculation question itself was not especially difficult this year, but the process was complicated. It involved more than a dozen addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division steps, along with decimals. A small slip anywhere could lead to a wrong answer, and under time pressure the chance of making mistakes rises sharply. I got it wrong at first, but luckily I caught the error in time. Otherwise, everything that followed would also have been wrong.
People often say that in the case analysis paper, if you do not secure the calculation question, passing becomes very difficult. Looking back, my mistake was leaving that question until the end and writing the short-answer content on the question paper instead of directly on the answer sheet.
The lesson here is straightforward:
- Start with the calculation problem while your mind is still steady and there is no time pressure. That gives you the best chance of securing those 25 points.
- Write the written responses directly on the answer sheet. Keep the handwriting smaller and include more points.
Afternoon session: essay, 3:20-5:00
As soon as the case analysis paper ended, I rushed to the restroom. When I came back, the essay exam was about to begin. The moment I received the paper, I was stunned. This year there was no choice between two topics. There was only one essay prompt, and it was on a topic I had barely prepared for.
During my preparation, I had written one essay for each of the ten knowledge areas and then started memorizing them. But I also tried to save effort. After looking through essay topics from previous years, I noticed stakeholder management had never been tested, so I assumed it would not appear. At most, I thought communication management might come up. I had reviewed stakeholder management once a long time ago and then never looked at it again. And this time, that was exactly what the essay tested.
While writing, I had some vague memories of the material, but not enough depth. Many parts felt difficult to develop, and I knew my essay was not strong.
What I learned from that section is that all ten knowledge areas need to be prepared, and they need to be memorized thoroughly. The descriptions, functions, and contents of the 47 processes all need to be remembered, along with the tools used in each process. And for every process, theory alone is not enough; you also need examples showing how problems were identified, analyzed, and resolved.
How I felt after the exam
When the exam ended, my emotions were mixed. I had spent more than four months preparing, but I did not feel I had performed well. I thought there was a good chance I would fail this round.
The morning multiple-choice section seemed acceptable and was probably passable. The two afternoon papers felt much less certain. I was not sure whether the calculation in the case analysis section was correct, and although I wrote enough words for the essay, I did not think it was deep enough.
Overall, this year’s paper felt fairly difficult. In the morning section, the first ten multiple-choice questions were about current affairs and new technologies, and I got almost all of them wrong. The English questions were relatively easy, and I missed one. In the afternoon case analysis, there was a double-code network diagram question even though I had heard drawing it was not required, so I had not prepared for that. There was also a question about the generation process of a dual certificate, which I simply did not know at all, and that alone cost me 8 points. The essay topic in the final session was also unexpected, and I had not prepared for it properly.
On the evening of the 28th, the answer key for the multiple-choice paper came out, and I estimated my score at 50. On the 30th, the case analysis answers were released too. To my surprise, I had actually gotten the calculation problem right, and my estimated score there was also around 50. There was no answer key for the essay, so I had no idea what score to expect on that part.
At that point, there was no use overthinking it. I could only wait until July for the official results. If I did not pass, then I would just have to take it again.