Last Updated: Jan 10, 2010
A simple Google search on "PMP Certification" returns more than half a million articles. To filter out the best resources from the vast ocean of information is a daunting task for anyone setting out to achieve PMP credentials. I've gone through this process the hard-way and I know that it takes several weeks or even months of rummaging through all the information, before one can actually start the exam preparation.
With this article, I aim to help PMP aspirants jump-start their exam preparation and provide them a starting point for all the resources required for the exam.
Note: I'm in the process of creating separate pages for each of the subsections on this page. Please bear with me while I overhaul this page.
Table of Contents
- Free Mock Exams, Sample Questions and Test Simulators
- Resources that qualify for *35 Contact Hours*
- All PMP Exam Prep Books
- Selected PMP Exam Prep Books with Reviews
- Exam Simulators
- More Exam Preparation Resources
- Official PMI Documents
- PMP Application Links & Documents
- PMP Exam Online Forums
- File Sharing Websites
- Good Study Notes & Tips
- Selected Lessons Learned
- PMP Video Tutorials
- Articles on Value of PMP Certification
- Other Free Resources
Free Mock Exams, Sample Questions and Test Simulators
Resources that qualify for *35 Contact Hours*
- Project Management PrepCast for PMBOK Fourth Edition (Video Podcast) - USD 99.97
The new PM PrepCast™ is the first and only 35 hour long PMP® Video Workshop. It comes with 100% Money-back guarantee. In my opinion, this is the best way to earn 35 Contact Hours, which you need to qualify for the PMP Exam. I have tried this personally and highly recommend it. Read my complete review here. - Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep Online: Read Review of Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep Online, 6th Edition Course for details.
- TenStep Academy: A Self-paced e-Learning PMP Exam Prep online course that is eligible for 35 Contact Hours. It includes lectures, practice exams and practical exercies. The good part is that it comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee, so you could try out the program and if don't like it, ask for a refund.
All PMP Exam Prep Books
Selected PMP Exam Prep Books with Reviews
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Fourth Edition (PMBOK Guide) - by Project Management Institute (PMI)
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a project management guide, and an internationally recognized standard, that provides the fundamentals of project management as they apply to a wide range of projects, including construction, software, engineering, automotive, etc. It is the "official" Project Management guide published by PMI. PMP Exam is currently based on the 3rd edition of this guide, but from June 30, 2009, the exam will be based on PMBOK Guide 4th edition. It is the 'bible' of Project Management and a must-have for all PMPs and PMP aspirants. No exam prep book can be a replacement for the PMBOK Guide. - PMP Exam Prep, Sixth Edition - by Rita Mulcahy (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
This is arguably the most popular book for PMP Exam preparation. I've personally used it and highly recommend it for all PMP aspirants. If you see the survey at the bottom of this page, more than 60% people recommend this book for PMP exam preparation. - The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try - by Andy Crowe (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
This is probably the 2nd most popular book for PMP Exam preparation after Rita's book. I've NOT read it but have heard some good reviews. It has also received excellent ratings on Amazon. People who took the exam said that the questions in this book were probably the closest to the real exam. - Head First PMP: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
If you want to learn the fun way, this book may be right for you. This book takes a radical approach of teaching and uses lots and lots of visual cues to present the material. I did not purchase this book for my preparation, but I read the Risk Management chapter, the Critical Path drill topic, and used the mock exam from this book, all of which are available online for free. I have used other Head First titles (for Sun Java certification) and rate them as the very best. I suggest that you download the free material first and evaluate it for yourself. - PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide, Includes Audio CD - by Kim Heldman (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
Prepare for the latest Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification exam with this new edition of the PMP Study Guide, which covers all essential procedures and concepts from PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition. The book also prepares you for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®) exam. Companion CD-ROM features a test engine of practice questions, electronic flashcards, and two hours of audio. The bonus material makes it a really good value for money. - PMP In Depth: Project Management Professional Study Guide for PMP and CAPM Exams - by Paul Sanghera (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
I have not read this book, but it's quite popular among PMP aspirants. The newer version of this book for PMBOK 4th Ed is available on Amazon now.
Exam Simulators
- PM FASTrack: PMP Exam Simulation Software, Version 6 (CD-ROM) - by Rita Mulcahy (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
Exam simulator from Rita Mulcahy. Contains a question bank of 1500 questions. Expensive compared to other resources but really worth the price. If you can afford it or can get it sponsored by your company, then go for it. The difficulty level and pattern of questions is very similar to the real exam. If you have this one tool, you don't need much else. It complements Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep book very well. I'll be posting a separate review for this very soon. This is the only exam simulator that I recommend. - Ready Set Pass Exam Simulator: A good online sample exam simulator; pool of 1000 questions
- PMP Exam Simulator: 6000 Questions for $49.95.
- Crosswind PMP Exam Simulator (CD-ROM): 3500 Questions for $99.95
More Exam Preparation Resources
- Q & As for the PMBOK Guide - by Frank T. (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
This book is entirely based on the contents of the PMBOK Guide. It has 200 questions. It's an invaluable tool to test your knowledge on the terms, concepts, process inputs, outputs, tools and techiques (ITTO) from the PMBOK. The previous edition of this book, which is based on PMBOK 3rd ed., is available for free on books24x7 with PMI membership. The latest edition should also be available on books24x7 soon. - PMP® Exam eFlashCards™ (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
1750 Flashcards for PMBOK® Guide 4th Edition. Includes 167 flashcards specifically for ITTOs. It's by-far the best value for money in any flashcards tools I've seen for the PMP Exam. I own a copy of this tool and recommend it. Read my complete review here. - PMP Formula Study Guide (for PMBOK 4th Ed)
PMP Formula Study Guide is a reasonably priced, unique product that addresses a very crucial aspect of PMP exam - the formulas. It includes 100+ formula-related sample questions. The real value comes from having all the accurate (formula related) information, from an authentic source, in a neat little package. It pretty much covers all the formulas that you need to know for the exam and can save you tens of hours of valuable time. Read my complete review here.
Official PMI Documents
- PMP Handbook
- PMP Sample Questions
- PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct
- PMBOK Fourth Edition FAQs
PMP Application Links & Documents
- PMI's Online Certification System (for online submission of PMP application)
- PMP Application form (for offline submission of PMP application)
- PMP Project Hours Worksheet (handy for PMP application preparation)
- PMP Application Audit FAQs (proactively prepare for the audit)
PMP Exam Online Forums
File Sharing Websites
Note: I strongly discourage sharing and downloading any copyright protected material or any other pirated content. If you do so, you are in direct violation of PMI's Code of Ethics and Professional conduct.
- http://www.docstoc.com
- http://www.scribd.com
- http://www.esnips.com
- http://www.4shared.com
- http://www.pdf-search-engine.com
Custom Search
Good Study Notes & Tips
- My Study Notes - live collection of articles on this blog
- PMP Exam Study Notes - by www.donkim.info (for PMBOK 3rd Ed)
- Benoit Aumar's Study Notes (for PMBOK 3rd Ed)
- JIMBOK: Jim Owens' PMP Exam Tips & Columns (need to register to download attachments)
- Sridhar Peddisetty's Study Notes on PMP: 298 points; based on PMBOK 3rd Ed
- Free Tips and Tricks from Rita Mulcahy
Selected Lessons Learned
PMP Video Tutorials
Articles on Value of PMP Certification
Other Free Resources
- PMP Certification Tips (more than 250 useful links)
- Google Book Search: Free preview for most of the PMP books (Recommended)
- Docstoc: Mine of PMP Exam Resources
- PMP Bloggers
- PMP: Wikipedia
- EasyPMP: PMP Crossword Puzzle
- Quizlet: PMP Flashcards and Study Tools
If you are familiar with other useful resources which are not listed here, please feel free to contribute. With your feedback and contribution, I hope to build a comprehensive knowledge base of PMP Exam resources for all PMP aspirants.
Thanks for reading.
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17 comments:
Link for PMP Exam study guide by Kim Heldman, Claudia.....
http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=5zErZjTcXzEC&printsec=frontcover#PPP1,M1
Hi
Can you please share Podcast Coupon of Cornelius Fichtner?
I hope this product will be good for PMP PMBoK 4th Edition.
Thanks
Hello 'Anonymous',
The new PM Prepcast (Podcast), based on PMBOK 4th Edition, is going to be released within a week or so and I'll surely have the coupon code then.
Just use the 'Contact Me' option in the left navigation bar on this blog and send me your email address. I'll notify you when I have the coupon code.
I already have an 'evaluation' copy and beta testing it. And this time, it's not just audio, but an 'audio-video' application. It has very useful Powerpoint-style presentations to go alongwith the audio. What I can tell you right now is that it's an awesome exam prep tool. Even though, I'm already a PMP, I'm still enjoying the lessons. The experience is almost like sitting in a classroom and attending a live session.
I'll also be posting a detailed review of the new PM Prepcast on this blog within the next 2 weeks.
All the best or your exam.
Hi Brain Washer
It is already released, I hope so. The price is 99.97 USD. Below is the link for it.
http://www.project-management-prepcast.com/
I like to thank you for eFlashcards code, which I already brought. I also like to have this product as it will fulfill 35 Contact Hour. If you can through some lights on this product and the way to get 35 Contact Hour. How long will it be valid to attend the online test of Podcast to get 35 contact hour. I will definitely contact you.
Thanks.
Hey Subash (Anonymous),
You are welcome.
Yes, you are right - the new Prepcast has just been launched "silently". I don't have a coupon code just yet. Even with eFlashcards, the coupon code was released about 2 weeks after the product launch. So, you might want to wait for a few days to get the discount price.
Regarding your question on getting the 35 PDUs, here's a quick answer:
1. You need to pass an online exam with 25 questions in order to get a 35 PDU certificate. This will be "soft" copy certificate that you can print if you want to.
2. Two weeks are you purchase the product, you'll get a new Podcast episode, which will basically be a PDF file. This PDF file will contain the detailed instructions to take the online exam.
As I said earlier, I'm going to post a comprehensive review very soon. As usual, do write back if you have more questions.
All the best.
Another update on the new Prepcast. Even though, it is available for purchase now, it is not a complete product yet. It's still missing 5-6 episodes, which are being recorded. It will be launched in about 2 weeks from now.
Thats gr8. Thanks for the info. I will keep my eye open on this blog.
Thanks
Hey Brain Washer
Thanks for the coupon. The podcast is really gr8. I am just finding some different way to learn PMP. It is having more depth knowledge.
Regards
Hi Brain Washer,
Considering to buy Rita Mulcahy book after reading your comments..
Any idea how long will it take to ship to Singapore if I buy from Amazon now?
From your previous posts I guess you are from Singapore, pls ignore my post and sorry for the trouble if you are not. Thanks
Hi Renren,
Thanks for writing in.
Yes, I'm from Singapore.
It's a good time to buy Rita's new book. The price has come down to $63 or so. If you order one book, it will cost you $9.98 for Standard delivery. So, total would be around $73 (or SGD 110). I don't think any shop in Singapore can match that price but the problem could be the wait time.
Amazon gives 17-31 delivery estimate for Singapore, but from my experience, I've received stuff within 2 weeks also. It all depends on how soon they dispatch it. Right now, it says "ships within 1-2 months". So, it might take a while for you to get this particular book.
If you don't want to wait, you might just grab it from a local store.
Good luck.
Here is another link to get 35 credit for PMP certification for $35.
http://www.proxalt.com/pmpprogram.asp
Though personally, I have purchase the PM prepcast, and I am really enjoying learnin and listening to it.
Thanks a ton, Brain Washer!
Hi Brainwasher,
Would you know where I can buy The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try (Andy Crowe) and PMP Exam Prep (Rita Mulcahy) locally? I am also based in SG but I couldn't find these book in local bookstores (ie. Popular, borders, mph). I even tried looking at the bookstores in Funan but no to avail. Tnx!
Hi Van,
My apologies for the late response. I was on vacation for the past 1 week.
For Rita Mulcahy's book, you can try KnowledgeMethod.com (a SG-based company). However, their price is SGD 160. If you can wait for 3-4 weeks, a better option is to order directly from Amazon.com. The discount they'll offer will cover the shipping cost from the US. Please refer to my comments above (posted on July 18) for details.
I'm not sure about the availability of Andy Crowe's book in SG. You've checked all the good bookstores in SG that I'm aware of.
Thanks.
Please review and add the following to the list of web learning course offering 35 hours as well as 30 free sample questions, sample lecture recordings. The course has been reviewed and approved as PMI Global REP. Over 1000 professionals have used this and we have over 400+ certified professionals so far
http://www.pmpexamprepplus.com/
In Singapore, we can get the asia's version of Andy Crowe's PMP Exam prep book at S$48.00 from Computer Book Centre at Funan.
Thanks for sharing. You rock. Bravo!
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