Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam [Paperback]

Michael W. Newell PMP ENP (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2001

Project management is a booming field, with the number of certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) soaring from 100 to 10,000 in the past decade. This is the first comprehensive review guide and test-preparation book for the PMP exam. Organized to thoroughly cover each competency area tested on the exam, it further explains how test questions are structured and offers numerous case studies and additional resources for study.

This dual-purpose guide is also highly useful as an on-the-job reference for working project managers. It reviews project management in the context of human resources, finance, and statistics, paying special attention to scheduling and cost control. Readers will learn proven methods for:

Defining the scope of a project -- Estimating costs -- Managing complex projects using Work Breakdown Structure techniques -- Addressing risk management and quality control issues -- Bidding out contracts -- Communicating effectively with the project team, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

"In order to get through the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam with flying colors, you need a truly superior test preparation tool. Completely updated to reflect the most recent version of the test, the new third edition of Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam leaves no stone unturned in getting you ready for every competency area covered on the exam.

Long respected as a “project manager’s lifesaver,” the book is an essential desk reference as well as a superior guide to taking the exam. The book reveals how best to answer exam questions on defining, budgeting, assigning, and executing projects of all types and scopes, and includes sample questions in situational format, numerous case studies, and other valuable practice tools.

In addition, you'll find new material on subjects including:

* program management * portfolio management * project environment * organizational environment * project management offices * process groups * and more

With all the latest changes in project management, the PMP® exam is tougher than ever. Hard work and careful preparation can make the critical difference between achieving certification…and having to start over. Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certification Exam, now completely updated and revised, contains the latest and most complete test-preparation material available anywhere. It is still the ultimate go-to guide for anyone studying for the exam."

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Michael W. Newell, PMP, ENP (Slidell, LA), vice president of PSM Consulting, has 30 years of experience as a project manager. He teaches project management at colleges, corporations, and for the American Management Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (May 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814470882
• ISBN-13: 978-0814470886
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,904,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Full of wrong information, and no credit to source materials, July 11, 2001

By 

Tobi V. Andrews (Greenwich, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam (Paperback)

I bought this book specifically as a tertiary resource of practice questions for my PMP exam preparation. What a waste. First of all, the questions are taken, in some cases verbatim, in other cases rewritten inaccurately, from another source: "PMBOK Q&A. A Pocket Guide of Questions and Answers to Learn More About the Project Management Body of Knowledge" published by PMI. Nowhere in this book does it credit the PMI source material. Secondly, in at least 7 questions(pg 215 - #7, pg 217 - #19, pg 219 - #2, pg 233 - #12, pg 233 - #13, pg 235 - #20, pg 300 - #13) that I was able to document, the answers given are just plain wrong as verified by cross-checking both the PMBOK itself, and the "Pocket Guide" listed above. Thirdly, unlike the "Pocket Guide", this book doesn't give references to the sources of correct answers (which prabably explains why the answers are wrong) so that you can look up and study missed questions. Although I didn't read any of the preparatory materials in the front of this book, I would be very leery of them, based on the inaccuracies I found in the test questions. I would suggest to anyone who wants accurate and useful preparation materials, to use PMI published sources, take practice tests with the ESI materials, and take a good review course from your local PMI chapter.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better insight than the PMBOK, October 3, 2001

By 

Brent (New Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam (Paperback)

Thank you, Mike Newell, for getting me through the PMP exam! I passed on the first try, scoring more than 80%.

I used this book plus the '96 PMBOK to study for the exam. Neither book is adequate preparation alone. Newell seems to have taken a strategy of complementing the PMBOK rather than replacing it. After some experimenting, my study approach was:
1. Read a chapter of Newell to understand the topic
2. Read the corresponding chapter in the PMBOK for the data in sparse form
3. Do Newell's practice questions for the chapter

I bought the book for the practice questions (he provides two sets), and that turned out to be an important part of my study. To me, it was a bonus that I could understand Newell's discussions better than the overly terse PMBOK. Make no mistake, the PMBOK is about laying out a systematic organization in 37 "knowledge areas," 5 "process groups," etc. It is neat and highly structured, but not intuitive. I needed the insights I got from this book.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars There are better study guides, August 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Exam (Paperback)

The sample questions in this book are very badly written and not representative of what is actually on the exam. Rita Mulcahy's book is much, much better. Rita's sample questions are closer to the actual exam questions and her book is easier to read. Buy Rita Mulcahy's book and skip this one!