Customer Reviews

PMP Exam Prep, Sixth Edition: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam

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Just took and passed this exam yesterday. I studied this book exclusively for about 50 hours over the past month. I used no other training materials, no test simulations, no classes - not even the PMBOK! I am fairly experienced, so your hours may vary, but everything you need to pass this test is in this book.
First the book from an editorial view: I have taken literally dozens of IT certification exams and have used at least one book for every one. Most technical books, IMO, are written in a very sloppy fashion - typos, grammar seemingly from a language other than English, non-functioning code, etc. Not Rita's book. Rita's Exam Prep is easily the highest quality certification book I have ever read. I found only two errors in over 500 pages of real content! Ok, so now you know the book is well constructed, highly edited, and you can trust the content to be relatively error-free. Let me now explain about the actual content and how it matches to the test content (it's relevancy, if you will).
Rita obviously understands the PMP content and exam objectives exceedingly well. But just as importantly, she understands how to present the material in a way that allows to reader to concentrate and absorb the important points. I have taught before and there is a world of difference between someone who knows the material and one who can actually teach others the material. In my opinion, this book is as good as it gets for those on a self-study certification path. If you follow her study plan, there is no reason for you to fail this exam.

Out of the 200 questions on the exam, I would estimate that you should be able to successfully answer 180-190 of the questions with just Rita's book. You only need ~61% to pass, so you should have a high degree of confidence that you will pass this exam on the first try if you read and understand what Rita is presenting to you.

One final note: I read where some people thought this book was expensive. This is a high-end certification and has a high-end testing fee to go along with it. You don't want to spend ~$500 on an exam and then skimp out on test preparation! Many people spend thousands on a class and won't walk away with as much knowledge as what is in this book. For what you are getting, this book is a bargain!

This review is for the April 2009 6th edition of RMC's PMP Exam Prep. Also see my Amazon "Project Management Journeyman" Booklist (* NOTE: updated May 2010 -- both the Journeyman Booklist and this review per 8th value tip below *).

I'm writing this book review with 5 value-points for the reader in mind:

(1) List of 7+1 *VALUABLE* tips to get more horsepower out of the book faster
(2) I used the "harder" PMP book for passing the "easier" CAPM exam
(3) use of the RMC learning system with 2 other competitive offerings
(4) thoughts on other RMC offerings
(5) my experience with the PMBOK v4 PMI CAPM exam in light of the above


The PMI PMBOK version 4 was released in 2008, and the CAPM / PMP exams switched over from the now-superseded PMBOK version 3 as of July 2009. Seeking to certify under the latest standard, I looked at 3+ leaders in the field for self-paced PM training (RMC, Kerzner, Heldman) and chose the Rita/RMC book and system as the best overall value hands-down relative to my specific 2-POINT training goal: (a) to be *solid* in the PM basics *well* beyond your typical CAPM candidate -- but without having to read 8 to 12 different PM books over a period of months to get there; (b) do it for as close to the drive-out price of $1000 as possible versus the typical PM training program investment of $2500-5000 elsewhere.

I deliberately used the more difficult, much thicker RMC PMP book instead of RMC's CAPM book to prepare for the CAPM exam, and am pleased with the results. And going forward, I also bought Kerzner and Heldman's PMP books (again, see my PM booklist) and find their different approaches actually complement the RMC program for continued professional development quite well. Kerzner's strength is case studies and color commentary that comes from years of doing PM, teaching PM, and evolving his great book. Heldman's approach is the opposite of RMC: learn thoroughly by doing in the laboratory of the job. Heldman will push you to get good at comprehensive hands-on PM, but unfortunately it will take MUCH longer than RMC's approach for coming up to speed to pass the PMI exam sooner rather than later. *** RMC is about practical actionable knowledge NOW - and RMC delivers. *** I'm not saying anything bad about Heldman's approach; rather, I'm saying that the 3 systems (RMC, Kerzner, Heldman) have different approaches that work well together. My proposed reading order is to go through the RMC book 2x-3x and take the test. Next get through Kerzner -- an easy read to fill out one's worldview after paying the price to get through RMC. Finally, if you're a full-time PM, use Heldman's book to round things out.

On other RMC offerings, first I'll mention the CAPM online 23-hour course - you'll recall that (in addition to a 4-year degree) PMI requires 23 classroom contact hours in lieu of 1500 documented hours working on a project team for eligibility to take the exam. The online RMC CAPM course is pretty much taken straight from the book but interlaced with video vignettes featuring Rita teaching. A heads-up: don't look for fireworks with the online course. You've actually already experienced the show when you read the book; the online course complements with multi-media feedings for the CAPM candidate and thus satisfies the technicality of the PMI 23 hour classroom requirement. That's it. The price is right. Remember the gift-horse parable and your wallet will thank you.

The RMC system also offers an optional 1000+ exam questions database (FASTrack), and a flashcard drill system. If you're taking the harder PMP exam, then I would strongly recommend atleast the FASTrack as the RMC PMP book only offers 200+ questions; this is not enough for the PMP. However, for the easier CAPM exam, I found it enough to just memorize the complete Rita Process Chart and few other small patterns cited in the book. Interestingly, both the Rita chart in the RMC PMP book, AND the Process Group .vs. Knowledge Area matrix found in the PMBOK v4 book -- have the same page # -- page 43 !

My experience with the CAPM exam is that Rita was right: know the Rita Chart (and DO all the work in the book from cover to cover, no half-steppin' !) and you largely don't have to memorize Inputs / Outputs. However I'll throw in 2 warnings: (a) read the formal PMBOK book alongside the RMC book on a per-chapter basis for further subtle but important clarities around Inputs/Outputs anyway (but without memorization); (b) the PMP exam is full of experiential questions (qualitative) .vs. the CAPM exam questions are strictly quantitative. So I very much over-studied for the CAPM exam in using RMC's PMP book; but that's okay as my goal was EDUCATION (change one's mentality) and not just "training" (improve existing mentality).

Here are my 7+1 value-add observations and nuggets for getting more horsepower out of the RMC PMP 6th ed book:

(1) STUDY ORDER - SAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME: go to a copier and copy the "Difficulty Level" illustration on page 9, then the Knowledge Area bar chart near the bottom of page 99. These 2 drawings should make it clear how you'll want to tackle the book in a way that works uniquely for you. I was then able to alternate back and forth between a "hard" chapter and an "easy" chapter to help sustain my momentum; I also more readily invested more time in the harder chapters.

(2) PM PROCESSES & PM INTEGRATION CHAPTERS: PM Processes is the hardest chapter. Trust me when I say this - pay the price here to memorize the Rita Process Chart and the rest of the book becomes a breeze. Next, just skim the PM Integration chapter the first time and save the more in-depth effort for this chapter after completion of the book.

(3) RISK & QUALITY CHAPTERS: Read the Risk chapter early in your study sequence because it's the most pervasive of the 9 knowledge areas throughout the entire PM effort. Also read the Quality chapter early in the sequence else the Rita Chart can be ambiguous (e.g. Verify Scope .vs. Validate Scope, or what is QP .vs. QA .vs. QC ?).

(4) MY TRICK TO EASILY MEMORIZING THE WHOLE RITA PROCESS CHART AND NOT JUST THE PLANNING COLUMN: I oughta charge $$$ for what I'm about to share here. Rita only advises rote memorization of just the "Planning" group column (because the step-order within the other 4 PM process groups is not strictly fixed, but instead "generally" grouped and "approximately" sequenced). The good news is that "generally" and "approximately" is good enough ! So you can readily memorize all 5 columns for not much more work than memorizing the 1 column - and the results will show on the exam. So I made the following discovery after copying the flashcards pages in the PM Processes chapter (pages 47-57), then cutting them out with scissors and playing the game over several times for 2 hours. RMC does not point this trick out -- so I'm saving you a lot of time and increasing your score with this next secret ! Read carefully: the 5 original PMBOK process group columns (Initiate, Plan, Execute, M&C, Close), using the Rita Process Chart version rather than the PMBOK version, have a total of 10+24+20+17+8 = 79 steps distributed across the 5 columns. Working with the RMC PM Process Chapter flashcards revealed that, with no modifications, these 5 long columns will fragment out cleanly into 17 short columns that can each be thought of as "work-packages". These work-packages in turn can be thought of as self-contained pearls on a string that should be strung together in a self-evident logical order. I gave each of these pearls my own custom name for easy recall. The numbering sequence that emerges is: Initiate 55, Plan 5865, Execute 5573, M&C 5552, Close 332. It's easy to memorize these 5 numbers which together are the 17 digits that in turn are the 17 "pearls", and that collectively contain Rita's 79 steps. Visualize being a PM on the job through each pearl as you build the entire chart out over and over again on paper. You'll have the *entire* chart down cold in 1 to 2 hours:

>> INITIATE formerly 10 steps, now 5+5 steps = 5-step Big Picture, 5-step Make Commitments;
>> PLAN formerly 24 steps, now 5+8+6+5 steps = 5-step Project Scope + Equipment + Team, 8-step WBS + Dictionary, 6-step Other Plans, 5-step Finalize;
>> EXECUTE formerly 20 steps, now 5+5+7+3 = 5-step Product Scope + Request Change, 5-step Make the Donuts + Uphold QA standards, 7-step Manage Team, 3-step Information I/O;
>> MONITOR & CONTROL formerly 17 steps, now 5+5+5+2 = 5-step Measure + Influence, 5-step Change Control, 5-step V&V + Risk + Forecast/Report, 2-step Manage Reserves + Admin Procurements;
>> CLOSE formerly 8 steps, now 3+3+2 = 3-step External Closure, 3-step Internal Closure, 2-step Legal Closure.

(5) ONCE A DAY -- 5-MINUTE BRAIN-DUMP THE RITA CHART TO PAPER: whadya know, Proverbs in the morning, Psalms at night, and the RITA CHART while in the food-line during lunch !

(6) PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT CHAPTER: sorry guys, this chapter needs more clarity and elaboration. It's already the longest chapter in the book but that's okay. The solution is not to argue with the coke machine with 45 cents in the hand and try in vain to buy a 50 cent coke. The solution is to pay the 50 cents and get the coke. Thanks.

(7) THE LAST CHAPTER CALLED "REASONS YOU MIGHT FAIL THE EXAM": *do* the inputs / outputs exercise after the 2nd read-through (and you DID parallel-read the PMBOK book on a chapter by chapter basis, right ?!). The last chapter brings it all home for sure. Make this the partner chapter with your 2nd passage through the PM Integration chapter.

(8) ADDED MAY 2010 -- ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON TIME & STUDY APPROACH: Thank you for your kind posts in response to this review. To answer your questions, everybody learns at different rates. Those with lesser "verbal memory" will take longer to learn from books (.vs. multimedia) than others. Particularly for a CAPM but also for the PMP, on average, you'll want to carve out 4 to 6 weeks (evenings & weekends) and ONLY focus on project mgmt. The net time invested (with 23 hour online course included) will range from 80 to 150 hours. Regardless of the time that you will personally require, it's a mistake to either drag the effort out over multiple months or parallel-study other credentialing efforts. Why? Because with PM you are ALREADY learning multiple subjects at once! PM is an aggregate "discipline comprised of multiple disciplines". This makes it all that much harder to properly *contextualize* as it's learned. Contextualization is essential to true education over mere training. So take a month and do this "one thing" very well to the absolute exclusion of all others. Turn off the TV and iPhone; do drive-through or take-out; set clear mini-goals for the complete month; dont be discouraged if 4 weeks becomes 6. LAST TIP: near to your arrival time at #7 above, schedule the exam through Prometric 7 days out for CAPM, and 10-14 days out for PMP (factor in all those sample test questions first). Your momentum, commitment and focus will be unstoppable.

In short this book is a very good reference for Project Management (not only for PMP Certification).

I was impressed with the overwhelming amount of people praising Rita's book and decided to buy it. Lucky me. It is indeed a very good book.

Besides being a great asset when pursuing the PMP Certification, this book is a great introductory book on Project Management, covering most important subjects.

Do not expect to get as much info as you would reading Kerzner's book, but the balance is good.

Full of illustrative pictures it presents the Project Management processes, along with explanation and examples (a totally different approach than the one used in the PMBoK). I've enjoyed A LOT this approach.


Quick Chapters Overview:

Chapters 1 - 3 cover the introductory material and the PM Framework.

Chapters 4 - 12 cover each of the 9 Knowledge areas.

Chapter 13 covers Professional and Social Responsibility.


PROS:

It has been written as if Rita were talking to the reader. It is a very nice feature that makes the reading very easy. Also, while she does that, she makes you think what and how well have you been managing your projects. Very nice. (Tell me later about it).

Ok, but what makes this book different?

Some of the items are:

* Tricks of the trade
* Eligibility Checklist
* Study Tips (Rita calls it "critical time-saving tips")
* PMI-isms
* Games and exercises
* Common Errors and Pitfalls
* Cert Study Plan
* Quick Tests (at the beginning of each chapter)


CONS:

Very small letters, make it hard to read (Ok, I got the book at the same time I had to get my first glasses, so give Rita some credit).


To summ up:

I recommend it for both the beginner and the seasoned PM alike, since it will be a nice refresher.

If you're looking for a book full of examples and templates, I'd recommend not buying it.

Hope this helps!

I bought Rita Mulcahy's PMI EXAM PREP (Sixth Edition) in April of this year (2010) primarily based on the excellent reviews that I read on this site.

I took and PASSED the exam today. Here's what I will share in hopes you will be able to pass the exam as well.

1) If you follow Rita's instructions in the book you WILL pass the exam on your first attempt.
2) I read the book (cover to cover)(3) times, took all the exercises and end-of-chapter tests with each reading.
4) On my third reading I was able to achieve scores on the end-of-chapter tests in the 80% - 90% range.
5) Don't obsess about the formulas too much. Rita says in her book there will be 8 or so questions that require calculations and she was right on the money.
5) Ignore the negative reviews that have been posted on this site. It is true that Rita does some self-promotion in her book and that she reminds readers that they are probably not doing PM the "correct" way. I interpret this as coming from one who is confident in her PM expertise and is goal/success oriented.

And last, but not least, I discovered that Rita passed away earlier this year. For some strange reason I felt a personal sense of loss and I never met or talked to her. May she rest in peace.

Give me $100 to buy books to study for the PMP, and I'll buy this book and pocket $37. Rita's book takes the arcane wisdom of the PMBOK and translates it into real english to help practitioners pass the test. I'm now a certified PMP, and I give 80% of the credit to this book, and 20% of the credit to the RMC online course that cost my employer almost $1000. This book alone should be enough for most project managers to pass the exam and become certified.

The good:
- Quick explanations of difficult concepts
- Breaks down the PMI methodology into easy to follow steps
- Reinforces those topics really necessary to understand the PMI process
- Gives helpful hints on the type of material likely to be found in the test
- Exercises, exercises, exercises! Practice makes perfect. Most of the PMI methods are no-brainers, but you have to learn everything exactly the way they want you to. Best way to do so - use this book!
- Quick exams to capture your knowledge before the chapters. If you understand it, don't waste your time.

The bad:
- I didn't buy it before signing up for her online course. Definitely grab this book.
- It's not recommended by PMI over the PMBOK. I bought both and was depressed whenever I had to open the PMBOK.

This book was suggested by our instructor as one of the best aids to focus on passing this exam. Forget the flash cards! read this book, take the practice exams as she suggests,
use an exam simulator - and you'll pass. Best bang for he buck!

I passed the PMP exam in May 2011 (first attempt) and got Proficient in all areas.
My experience is that you can get a very good foundation by reading Rita's book and most importantly, doing the exercises in there and then using the free sample exams floating around the net to identify gaps and then going back to the PMBOK book and reading up on the gaps. All in all, I spent about 1 month learning for the exam.

The sample exam that I think was nearest to the real exam was the free one one from Head First (google: Head First PMP practice exam), so if you ace that one you're prepared to take the real exam.

Before I read Rita's book, I learned her Rita's Process Chart by heart, which lists in more detail the PMBOK processes from p. 43 of the PMBOK and which was very useful in understanding the rest of the book and it also made me sure about answering some questions in the exam :-)

Very important was learning - by heart - all the Tools&Techniques (T&T) and all their sub-components of all processes and dumping them on paper at the start of the exam (you get 15 minutes at the start before the time starts running in which you get a tutorial on how the exam works). The problem is, you also have to understand what exactly they are and how they work, so for the ones you don't know look them up in Wikipedia and get to understand them.
I used a flow chart by Konstantin Trunin (to get it, google: Konstantin Trunin PMP) showing all of them on one huge page and to get the overview and then invented mnemonics to remember them, e.g. for the T&T "Information gathering techniques" in "Identify risks", I used BIRD (Brainstorming, Interviewing, Root-cause analysis, Delphi), or in "Develop Team", BIT GReCo = Team-Building, Interpersonal skills, Training, Ground rules, Recognition and rewards, Co-location.
Repeated the mnemonics to myself each night before going to sleep, better than counting sheep :-)

The idea is that that there will be enough questions with uncertain answers (i.e. open to interpretation) in the exam so that it's best to gather points wherever you can from sure answers and by learning these off by heart you will get some "sure" points in the exam.

Learning material I used:
- Rita's book: I read her book twice, once attentively and did all her exercises and the questiosn after each chapter, and then I skimmed it again 2 days before the exam. Rita's "Tricks of the trade" are scattered all over the book and her tips for the exam on p. 17-19 and her "Putting it all together" on p. 505-519.
- PMBOK: I only read the PMBOK after I had read Rita's book and read parts that weren't described that well in Rita's book so that I understood them. I skimmed it again the day before the exam, especially looking at all the general pictures.
Also very useful from the PMBOK was p. 350-351 showing the difference between Project Documents and the Project Management Plan and what exactly is contained in a charter or a Scope statement (those things appeared in Rita's book, but it was nice to have them all together again on one page).
The day before the exam I also went through the glossary in the PMBOK (p. 426 - 453) to check that I had understood all the terms correctly.
- Trunin's flow chart with the whole PMBOK on 1 page. Printed it out and scribbled my mnemonics on it.
- PMI code of Ethics (from the PMI web site). There were several questions in my exam from that only on the word-to-word content (plus several others on your general sense of ethics), so I would read that one very carefully.

After having read both Rita's book and the PMBOK once, I started doing sample exams to identify any gaps I had.

Sample exams I did (best listed first):
- Head First's 200 question free sample exam. Did it the day before the exam and scored 83% on it. Was most like the real exam both in content and in the fact that the real exam didn't have long wordy scenarios. All questions were 4 lines or less.
- Cornelius Fichtner's free 3 x 30 questions (only a 3_day trial, so do them after you sign up!) in his exam simulator: [...]
He also sells 90-day access to the PMP exam simulator with 1,800 questions for 89.99$ (would have bought it but I discovered him just 2 days before the exam and I wouldn't have had time anyway to for them): [...]
Fichtner also has a nice blog about the PMP exam:[...] and sells for 99.97$ his video pod casts (90-day money back guarantee): [...]
- Did not use because I found it too late (but has good reviews): Edwel's free 200 question sample exam: [...]

In summary, the best things to do for the exam:
- take one week off before the exam and do nothing else but PMP
- learn Tools&Techniques, Rita's chart by heart
- do as many sample exams as you can lay your hands on and have time for
- do not take the real exam until you score over 80% on Head First's sample exam
- while some of the questions need you to be very exact when reading the scenario, others are written by people who apparently don't know what's written in the PMBOK now. So sometimes you have to very exact and sometimes you have to accept that their questions aren't that exact and shake your head at PMI's editing practices. The type of questions varies and you see that many authors (of varying expertise!) contributed exam questions.
- in the exam questions sometimes they show network diagrams starting at 0 days (like in Rita's book), sometimes ones following the other method with starting at day 1. So don't get disconcerted by that.
- get a good night's sleep before the exam so that you are fresh when you take it (some questions are tricky and misleading!)

This book has great excercises and covers a wealth of material quickly. If you've had previous training, then I would recommend this book, if you haven't, maybe you'd want to look for a book that goes into more detail about the knowledge areas.

The author drains any pleasure or appreciation you can have for her. You'll quickly learn that she is great and all other Project Managers are incompetent. However, this is the only book I used immediately before taking the exam aside from the PMBOK.

I did take the 200 question exam at the end of the Crowe book and found his questions to be incredibly easy in comparison to Rita's. Rita's is more representative of the actual exam. I didn't read the Crowe book so I don't have any comments on his material.

This is an excellent product. I passed PMP exam (on first try) just by studying from PMBOK and Rita's PMP Exam Prep last May. This edition is slightly more advanced and revised to fit PMBOK 4th edition.

PMP EXAM Prep by Rita Mulcahy is an excellent book for preparing for the PMP exam. You only need to study this book along with the PMBOK guide to pass the exam. All the chapters are very well written with lots of thought provoking exercises.

Here's my review of the book.
1. Its structure is similar to the PMBOK guide 4th edition. So its easy to goback to PMBOK and relate the topics
that you have read in this book.

2. Numerous exercises which help you to think through the project management knowledge areas and their
application. These exercises are very useful to understand the concepts, as this knowledge helps in answering
the tricky situational questions. Always remember that situational questions are aimed at testing the
application of your knowledge and not just the facts that you have memorized.

3. Tons & Tons of tips and suggestions, which are very helpful.

4. Rita's process chart. This is a more detailed explanation of the 42 project management processes mentioned in
the PMBOK guide (page 43). Memorizing this chart will help you get lots and lots of questions correct,
especially the ones related to inputs & outputs.

5. Excellent explanation of the Risk management. This is the topic which I liked the most in this book. Rita
explains the concept of risk management and its implications on all the knowledge areas. Risk management
doesn't get the needed attention in the real world of project management and this book explains the reason why
it should get more attention and how it could save time and money on the projects.

6. The only complaint from this book, which we all should ignore for the excellent content, is that Rita keeps on
reminding you of the reasons 'Why you would fail the exam'. However, it has served me as a warning to take the
exam more seriously.

Here's a summary of my preparation.

1. Total preparation time of 2 months including weekends. Spent 3-4 hours on a weekday and 5-6 hours on each day
of the weekend.

2. Read PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy 2 times (page to page) and worked through all the exercises. Scanned the
book 2 more times with stress on the topics in which I was not confident.

3. Read PMBOK 4th edition once (page to page). Scanned the guide for 2 more times.

4. Memorized the following.
a) Rita's process chart end to end.
b) Formulas for solving the numerical problems from this book.
c) Project management process groups & knowledge areas mapping (Page 43 - PMBOK guide)

5. Took 2 mock exams from pmstudy.com. First exam after one round of reading and second after 2 rounds of reading.
Scored 69% on the first exam and 79% on the second exam.

6. Passed the PMP exam with proficient on 4 process groups & moderately proficient on 2 process groups.