PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide [Hardcover]

Kim Heldman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0782141064 | ISBN-13: 978-0782141061 | Publication Date: April 22, 2002

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification supports the international community of project management professionals and is designed to objectively assess and measure professional knowledge in the field of project management. The sponsoring organization is the Project Management Institute (PMI), which is the leading nonprofit professional association in this field. Prerequisites for the PMP exam are rigorous--candidates must hold a baccalaureate or equivalent university degree and have a minimum of 4,500 hours of project management experience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Here's the book you need to prepare for the PMP exam sponsored by the Project Management Institute. This Sybex Study Guide provides:

Full coverage of every exam objective Clear explanations and practical insights from an expert project manager Hundreds of challenging review questions, in the book and on the CD Leading-edge exam preparation software, including a testing engine and electronic flashcards

Authoritative coverage of all the exam's project management process groups including: Project Initiation Project Planning Project Execution Project Control Project Closing Professional Responsibility

Featured on the CD The enclosed CD is packed with vital preparation tools and materials, beginning with the Sybex EdgeTest testing engine for the Project Management Professional exam. Loaded with hundreds of practice questions, it lets you test yourself chapter by chapter or according to process groups. You'll also find electronic flashcards for your PC and Palm handhelds and two practice exams that will help you prepare for the test. A fully searchable electronic copy of the book is also included.

About the Author

Kim Heldman, PMP, has over ten years of project management experience, with a recent emphasis on IT. She is the Applications Development Manager for the Department of Revenue, State of Colorado, and is a 2001 PMI Colorado state chapter delegate.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Sybex Inc (April 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782141064
• ISBN-13: 978-0782141061
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can use as a companion to the PMBOK Guide for the PMP., April 6, 2003

By 

Harinath Thummalapalli (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide (Hardcover)

The PMBOK Guide (by PMI) is essential in preparing for the PMP, but follows the 9 Knowledge Areas approach. The approach necessary to pass the test is the 5 Process Groups (plus Professional Responsibility) approach. This Study Guide takes the 5 Process Groups approach and hence clears the confusion one may experience in reading the PMBOK Guide. They also go into more depth than the PMBOK Guide as can be seen by the fact that the book has more than twice as many pages.

This Study Guide also has a CD-ROM with hundreds of practice questions (you can take 2 practice exams). The entire book is on the CD-ROM too. I have not tried their electronic flashcards for PCs and Palm Handhelds.

Considering everything that the book offers, it is a great buy at [this price]. Other CD-ROM software programs that offer practice tests are over $300. The only other book that will prove very useful on top of this book is Rita Mulcahy's 'PMP Exam Prep'. It is a bit more expensive but is of much higher quality in preparing for the PMP exam. This Study Guide is wonderful as a secondary preparation material to Rita's book. Read my reviews of her book to get more info on preparing for the PMP. I always use multiple study guides to get multiple perspectives when preparing for an exam. So, if you can afford it, I would recommend both books for your PMP preparation. But if you want to invest in only one study guide, I would say get Rita's PMP Exam Prep.

Good luck on the PMP!

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good book but not great, May 22, 2002

By 

Mark A. Parrish (Oakdale, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide (Hardcover)

This is a good resource for studying for the PMP. I have taken a few courses to prepare for the PMP as well as read PMBOK and Rita Mulchahey's book (her's is the best one available)./ The reason why I picked this book is that it is written in stages of the lifecycle: planning, executing, closure, etc.. while the PMBOK is based on function: HR, Quality etc...

This book is another way to reinforce that you can apply the knowledge in the lifecycle and not just memorize PMBOK. The palm flashcards are cool and help a lot as well as the computer test. The test is the most important since that is what you will go through on the PMP. Also the practice tests give you the answer and the rationale for the answer, a great help.

The only reason it is not five stars is that the book says on the back cover that there is a complete project plan enclosed and it is not there, the publisher said that it was an error. Also the flashcards do not tell you what questions you missed.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I passed my exam with this book., November 20, 2003

By 

Karthikeyan Kumaraguru "kumarakn" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide (Hardcover)

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