PMP Certification Preparations

A month seems like a long time until you have an exam to prepare for.  I've been putting lots of hours of studying,, and as a little break I thought I would blog about my exam preparation and the cost of it.

I signed up for a Project Management Institute (PMI) membership, and it has saved me quite a bit of money and time in preparing for the exam.

First off, there is a different cost for the exam for members than non-members of PMI.  So I already made my PMI membership dues back in terms of discount for the exam.

Secondly, with the PMI membership I get a digital copy of the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge).  This saves me $40-$70 depending on where you buy the book from.  The great thing about it is that I can load it onto my iPad and read whenever I have a free moment.  And I can search/look up any topic quickly.

Thirdly, with the PMI membership I have access I have access to the E-reads and Reference section of the website, where there are great books I can use for free.  While I have lots of books marked for reading later, the ones most useful to me are the Exam Prep and Sample questions.

Something that I did 'splurge' on is Rita Mulcahy's PMP exam Prep book (~$100) and her FastTrack Program ($300).  But I have heard great things about it, and so far I find reading this book a lot easier than the PMBOK.  The PMBOK is more of the facts, where as this book is more of an explanation of why.  The FastTrack is just lots of exam questions, which I can take in a simulated exam format and then review each answer with explanations.

All in all preparation is not cheap, but it will be worth it in the end.  I'm going to save all the receipts and ask my accountant if there is anything I can write off for taxes.  I think the membership dues yes, but not sure about the others.  But it's good to save them now, rather than having to search for them next year.