This study guide is expressly designed for IT Project Managers planning to sit for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) examination. It is part of our 35-hour prep course, but can serve as a standalone review tool. None of the test topics should be a revelation to the experienced PM, but the test’s point-of-view can be. To better understand that perspective, we challenge you to a metaphorical trek with a learning horizon stretched over evenings, your commute and a couple of weekends leading up to the ‘big game’. Quiet study time and some practical memorization at a moderate, disciplined pace should do it - a reasonable estimate - five to six weeks.
Here’s the map:
Part 1 – We identify the necessary study gear for your ramble to the exam.
Part 2 - We survey all thirteen PMBOK chapters by section plus Annex A and Appendix X3 arranging its review in a more logical, learning order. Key points are emphasized in notes bracketing the sections with five sets of ‘campfire learning Koans’ at the end of each ‘trail’.
Part 3 - We suggest a study approach and Test day strategies and tactics.
Part 4 - We pepper you with 252, delightful tests of your reading comprehension with answers, cross-referenced to the relevant PMBOK sections, including page cites. Quizzes are also linked to each section.
Part 5 - We press on regardless with 249 more questions followed by suggestions for further reading to aid your quest.
No multiple guessing, droll test tips, trick plays, two-minute drills or incantations to assuage the test gods. Just a straight up review of the PMBOK with 501 Q&A pings to get your head together in the hours leading up to your date with destiny.
This book is the product of personal experience. It’s what we wished we had had in those queasy moments looking fixedly at six project schedules and the big, red ‘x’ over the test date, the one crowding all the other, real world obligations. The guide’s tone is collegial, because we have been in many a ‘cube fire’ too. We teach some, but we’re practioners first and we’ll leave the business when they pry our cold, dead hands off the keyboard.
Whether you are a three or thirteen-year veteran of the cubicle wars passing the test is a rewarding experience. As valuable as the PMP is, it’s only a reflection of your professional commitment. Your ethics, decision-making, managerial skill and technical expertise matter more, but credentials are indispensable.
We see our guide as a couple of compact, work packages built to give you a solid grasp of the PMBOK in a real world, ‘in others words’ style. A little coping, self-deception never hurt either so be your own doting, sponsor requiring but a single deliverable, one measly off-site ‘status report’ – The Test - which will no doubt be a lot shorter than some of the meetings you’ve endured.
You need the PMP as an affirmation of your professional standing, to better delineate your role and, to a degree, as a shield from the encroachment of other professionals out of their depth or behaving well, unprofessionally. ‘I need it for my job’ covers it nicely too, but it is much more valuable when taking in the arc of a career. Not to be ignored, certification is simply the sharper competitive edge when looking for that next project and the professional leverage to get the work done when you do.
You already know how to do the work, why not wear the ‘badge’, frame the certificate and learn the secret handshake? Settle down and pass the test. Make your mark, blaze a trail, take the point and lead.
You’ll be fine and no we don’t wish you luck; you’re plenty lucky already, you’re a Project Manager.
Here’s the map:
Part 1 – We identify the necessary study gear for your ramble to the exam.
Part 2 - We survey all thirteen PMBOK chapters by section plus Annex A and Appendix X3 arranging its review in a more logical, learning order. Key points are emphasized in notes bracketing the sections with five sets of ‘campfire learning Koans’ at the end of each ‘trail’.
Part 3 - We suggest a study approach and Test day strategies and tactics.
Part 4 - We pepper you with 252, delightful tests of your reading comprehension with answers, cross-referenced to the relevant PMBOK sections, including page cites. Quizzes are also linked to each section.
Part 5 - We press on regardless with 249 more questions followed by suggestions for further reading to aid your quest.
No multiple guessing, droll test tips, trick plays, two-minute drills or incantations to assuage the test gods. Just a straight up review of the PMBOK with 501 Q&A pings to get your head together in the hours leading up to your date with destiny.
This book is the product of personal experience. It’s what we wished we had had in those queasy moments looking fixedly at six project schedules and the big, red ‘x’ over the test date, the one crowding all the other, real world obligations. The guide’s tone is collegial, because we have been in many a ‘cube fire’ too. We teach some, but we’re practioners first and we’ll leave the business when they pry our cold, dead hands off the keyboard.
Whether you are a three or thirteen-year veteran of the cubicle wars passing the test is a rewarding experience. As valuable as the PMP is, it’s only a reflection of your professional commitment. Your ethics, decision-making, managerial skill and technical expertise matter more, but credentials are indispensable.
We see our guide as a couple of compact, work packages built to give you a solid grasp of the PMBOK in a real world, ‘in others words’ style. A little coping, self-deception never hurt either so be your own doting, sponsor requiring but a single deliverable, one measly off-site ‘status report’ – The Test - which will no doubt be a lot shorter than some of the meetings you’ve endured.
You need the PMP as an affirmation of your professional standing, to better delineate your role and, to a degree, as a shield from the encroachment of other professionals out of their depth or behaving well, unprofessionally. ‘I need it for my job’ covers it nicely too, but it is much more valuable when taking in the arc of a career. Not to be ignored, certification is simply the sharper competitive edge when looking for that next project and the professional leverage to get the work done when you do.
You already know how to do the work, why not wear the ‘badge’, frame the certificate and learn the secret handshake? Settle down and pass the test. Make your mark, blaze a trail, take the point and lead.
You’ll be fine and no we don’t wish you luck; you’re plenty lucky already, you’re a Project Manager.
