PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide

Very in-depth book of all the various PMP knowledge that goes much more into the details than is needed for the exam. After writing the chapter and practice exam questions from this book I was distraught with my 55-60% scores. I reviewed over and over and eventually increased these scores to 85-90%. Upon moving on to Andy Crowe's "The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, Sixth Edition" it was obvious the questions in Kim's book are a level or two above the average difficulty you will find on the exam. That being said, if you can master these, the exam should be a cakewalk as I was able to score 5/5 Above Target. Don't focus on the Input, T&T, Output questions as there are not many, if any, on the exam. Know how they relate to one another and the order to which they are traditionally performed. After that, it is just critical thinking that saves the day. Not much in the way of EV or Network Diagrams either, the few questions were very easy.

This book was the only resource I used to study for the PMP exam, and I passed it on my first attempt. I did the practice exams at the end of each chapter and was concerned that I wasn't doing well enough on them to indicated that I'd be able to pass the real exam. However, it turns out the book got me "over-prepared", and I felt that the real exam was relatively easy compared to the book's exams. Maybe it was just in the way some things were worded, or maybe the author truly meant to make the practice exams tough just to ensure the reader is ready. But either way, it worked.

I wanted to leave a review here for people who might be in the same boat I was in when I bought this- wondering if it does a good job preparing you for the 2018 PMP exam. My opinion- kind of. It does a good job reviewing the knowledge areas and processes that are in the PMBOK. It also organizes them in a way that is more logical and, I think, more conducive to mastering them. This last part is especially important given my experience with the actual test and its format. I did pass the test, and was 'highly proficient' at that, but I was sweating it during the actual exam.The review questions in this book (and in every other test prep book, audiobook, website and app I tried) are NOTHING like the questions on the actual PMP test. They never ask "gotcha" questions like "Which one of these inputs is NOT a part of Plan Quality Management?", or "Which one of these project document types is NOT an output of Plan Procurement Management?" on the actual test.On the other hand, the practice questions in this book are challenging and if you can master them you're doing pretty well. In my opinion the two ways you'll be able to pass the PMP test are:- Have a memorized, encyclopedic knowledge of the entire contents of the PMBOK; plus some practical real-world knowledge; or,- Have a pretty thorough knowledge of the PMBOK contents; plus a lot of practical, real-world, "this-is-the-way-projects-and-teams-really-work" knowledge.I had the latter. I am too old to have achieved the former.The entire PMP test had about 3 questions out of 200 that had me using the EV formulas. Exactly none of the questions required memorization of specific ITTOs tied to specific processes. In fact, if I recall correctly specific processes themselves were not mentioned often and not as "choose which process you're in" or even "choose the exact name of the process that is next". What there was on the test was a LOT of questions that went something like "The Project Manager was fired because they didn't do X, now you're hired, what's the first thing you'll do?". That's it. Seriously. So you can see that to answer that question correctly (as I was able to do, but as I said- I was expecting to fail during the exam) requires one of those two options I mentioned earlier.Anyway- this book is helpful because if you finish it you will have reviewed every concept you need, and in ways that are more approachable and related to business than I've seen in other forms, which will help you.Otherwise- good luck to all potential test-takers. My advice is don't kill yourself trying to memorize the formulas, get plenty of sleep and relax before the test. Also, on most all the questions two answers are plainly wrong and are noise, just think of it as a 50-50 on each, and you'll probably do alright. If you can't identify the two plainly-bad answers- you probably don't know that content that well, flag the question and come back later.

I have had such a hard time with other PMP prep books. They try and get too technical and dont focus on tying the information together and explaining it in a situational scenario. This book does that and doesn't get overly technical or use difficult examples to get the point across. I easily read and understood the first chapter the first time I opened the book. I will look to this author for more PMI related courses/certs in the future. Great job.

I bought and read cover to cover, FOUR different books. Rita, Andy Crowe, Head First, and this one. THIS IS THE BEST ONE!!!!!!!! Plus, Kim's book gives you access to an online test engine and flashcard generator. None of the other three do that. (Andy's gives you an insulting 6 days of free trial to about 5% of the content).

This book is full of details needed to become a project manager. I am reading it for a class. It is full of valuable information for a beginner such as myself. It will be good for others who work in the field of project management as well. Thank you!

I did study this book along with Rita Mulcahy’s PMP book and got the certificate at my first attempt back in 2013. Now I purchased this new edition to keep up with PMBOK 6 changes. I like how Kim gives very useful tips on managing projects. Very good book for real life project management.

I'll echo Bean, and highlight "D. Breezy" review. The book itself seems pretty good, organized a little differently than other, but its an acceptable approach. What is NOT cool is the questions. They are the ridiculous level gotcha style questions that require precise encyclopedic knowledge of terms that you've just learned (e.g. which ITTO is missing), or unclear situations where you don't which of the ambiguous phrases is going to be the determinant.Example question:A VP approaches you and requests that you change the logon screen to require usernames of a certain length. This is considered.A). Project InitiationB). Ongoing OperationsC). A projectD). Project Execution.You can throw out D) pretty easily, but which one is correct? C) seems overly generic. I've had A) happen to me, not these particular circumstances, but a VP request starting the project process. I chose A) - project initiation. Well according to the book ... - A logon screen isn't a unique product, so this is ongoing operations. WTF?