PMP: Project Management Professional Exam

I used this book as the basis for my PMP study and I felt it worked very well. Summaries of chapters and key questions / concepts helped highlite what was needed. This is not a regurgitation of the PMBOK but a good book to teach you to be a PMP.

I bought and borrowed many books to study for the PMP exam and this was the BEST book, both in the material it covered and the way in which the material was presented. It is one of the few that take your through the project management process as you would really experience it, from project inception to closeout. Most other books geared toward the PMP exam organize the material based on the PMI knowledge areas, which have so much overlap it becomes confusing. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. I passed the exam using this book and the quizes in Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep, which follows the knowlege areas.

While no one guide is perfect, this new version of Kim Heldman's PMP Study Guide is extremely good. I looked at many others in selecting her book and the one by Andy Crowe to complement the PMBOK, and I thought she did an excellent job in laying out the details of Project Management. In fact, none of the other books I looked at seemed to have the wealth of detail that I saw here (disregarding Kerzner, of course - the early versions of that book are really great for insomniacs, and it's very expensive). I'm going to be teaching some project management courses next year, and am considering using this book and/or her book called "Jump Start" as texts. Andy Crowe's book was a good high-level guide, and I thought it complemented the Heldman approach very well by showing a different perspective. With the help of these two guides, plus the barely readable PMBOK, I created some color coded drawings of the set of PM processes so that I could memorize each of the processes, and then try to tie in which inputs, tools/techniques, and outputs apply to which processes. Please bear in mind that the PMP is a very difficult exam, partly because the questions are so poorly worded, and many are very vague. I have over 20 years experience in managing projects, some quite large, and have taught project management workshops to corporate audiences for the last three years. I took every sample test available, many of them twice, and I particularly liked the CD of tests, quizzes, and flashcards that came with the Heldman book. In fact, the flashcards will download to your Palm so that you can look at them when you get a chance. My score on the exam was 174 out of 200. If I was to do this over , I would work through the Heldman book twice rather than just once. One minor criticism is that she does not provide a 200 question timed test. There's a lot to be said for forcing yourself to take a 200 question practice test as if it were under the real test's conditions. You'll find it easier when you have to go through the real one. Good luck! PMI is just now releasing the Third Edition of the PMBOK Guide, and a quick glance at the material looked like it was much improved over the 2000 version. There are a lot of changes, most seemingly for the better.

I used Kim Heldman's book, the Yahoo group and PMBOK as my prep material. This book is not perfect, but it is more than enough to pass the exam. The author covers about 90% of PMBOK and covers other material (that are not in the PMBOK, but we are tested for) as well. For example, Pert/CPM calculations, Code of Conduct Scenarios, Motivation theories etc..I studied this book, then the PMBOK once, this book again, PMBOK again. I took some free tests on the Internet, took the tests in this book and in the actual PMP exam. I averaged about 83% in those preparation tests and I got 164/200 (82%) in the actual PMP exam. I spent about 130-140 hours on the subject in total.The test questions in this book after every chapter and at the end of the book (and cd), are really good. The test exam(s) in the cd almost resembled the real exam. I wished there were more questions in the cd, like 200 questions per test or so. (There are 50 questions per exam now). This is particularly true because PMP exam is a 4 hour long 200 question exam. By about the 160th question, even simple sentences like 'Assume you are a project manager' became a little difficult for me to grasp. I guess I lacked the mental stamina to take the gruelling 4 hour one in one shot. May be this book could have prepared me for that.Otherwise, this book is great. There were areas this book that went above and beyond the PMBOK. And test questions from these areas were a little difficult for me during practice. And none of the free tests online had any questions on these subjects. To my surprise, I found PMP exam questions from these areas as well.I originally bought this book over Rita's book because the other one was about 200 dollars. I thought if I am persistent enough to finish this book, I will buy Rita's. However, when I finished this one, I realized that this book covered most of the subject. In essence, this book delivers it's promise. (I have heard from everybody that Rita's book is also 5 star material and is excellent)Finally, even if the certification is not immediately useful in your career, the PM knowledge you gain through preparing for this exam will be useful. So, if you are thinking of taking the exam, I would like to say, go for it! I wish you all aspiring PMPs good luck.Karthik

This book is just like the PMBOK, but readable. With its 500 pages it is a lot easier to understand and study it.The two sample tests included are a great preparation tool, best if taken after you consider yourself ready.An important note is that this book complements the PMBOK, but does not replace it. If you are going to present the PMP exam, you are going to need to have the PMBOK too, because it covers inputs, tools and techniques and outputs of some processes that are not detailed in the Guide. However, it will be easier by far to read the PMBOK after reading the Guide.I passed the test, and my only two preparation guides were the two books I mentioned here.Good luck!