Hello ,

Until Next Time,
Cornelius Fichtner, PMP
President, OSP International LLC

is now open. Sign up today and let Kevin Reilly, PMP be your coach and guide you in your studies towards PMP Exam success.

• 11 Weekly Coaching Calls including access to a class forum to ask questions "offline" as you are studying
• The PM StudyCoach: Recorded coaching sessions and weekly class assignments
• The PM PrepCast: 50 hours of video training
• The PMP Exam Formula Study Guide: All the formulas you need for the exam. Includes formula brain dump sheet
• The PM Exam Simulator: Practice your PMP Exam with 1,800 sample questions (120 days access)

• Tier 1: First 5 students to register: $599.00
  
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• ...you want to prepare for the PMP Exam using self-study
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Until Next Time,
Kevin Reilly, PMP Head Coach	Cornelius Fichtner, PMP President, OSP International LLC

The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, 4th Edition by Andy Crowe

We recommend this book because it contains a wealth of information that a project manager needs to know to pass the PMP Exam -- the first time!

If this is your first attempt to pass the PMP exam, Andy's The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, 4th Edition (Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate) is an essential part of your study materials. Based on the PMBOK Guide, 4th Edition, it provides 44 processes, 592 inputs, tools and outputs that will thoroughly prepare you for the exam.

It also contains insider secrets, test tricks and tips, hundreds of sample questions and intelligently created exercises to reinforce your proficiency of key concepts that will guide you to achieve a successful result.

Some highlights of this book include:

• Project Management Processes  and Knowledge Areas - A detailed breakdown of all Processes and KAs with clear explanations and no extraneous information to confuse you.
• Tools, Tips and Tricks - Tools such as formulas and various project management process tables are well organized and explained and will strengthen your comprehension and retention. Insiders' tips are presented In an easy to understand style to give you an edge.
• Sample Exam Questions - Quizzes at the end of each chapter and a final exam give you a better feel of the exam. The book keeps pace with the ever-evolving PMP test and helps you understand and navigate the complex exam questions. You'll learn how to correctly answer questions on the first try.

Our warmest congratulations go to the following students of ours who have recently passed their PMP Exam:

• Sudarsan Rao NV Vempati,PMP
• Edward Pletsch,PMP (image shown here)

Have passed your exam as well? Then let us know by simply sending us a quick email to examtips@pm-prepcast.com

There's no better catalyst for self realization than taking the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. I'm kidding you, of course, but there is some truth in that the PMP exam day will illuminate that "you don't know what you don't know."

The PMP Exam is a 'closed' book exam. That means the only reference material you are allowed to carry into the testing facility has to be contained in your brain. But during your exam, your brain is going to be very busy interpreting the exam questions and trying to apply all of the knowledge, skills and principles you've accumulated in your studies and work experience.

If you haven't already, you should go for a visit to the local testing facility where you'll take your exam and confirm what to expect. Most likely, on your exam day, the exam monitor will check you into the testing facility, hand you six or so sheets of scratch paper and two pencils, then show you to your seat and confirm that your PC is working. Then you'll have about 15 minutes to go through a tutorial that really only takes about 5 minutes to do. Then you begin your exam.

During the test, recalling what you do know can be daunting. Quite frankly, some of your ability to access that knowledge is going to seem misplaced amongst your grey cells. So how do you create the best opportunities to pass the PMP Exam that day? You can use the 10 minutes you don't need from the tutorial time to do a Brain Dump!

What is a Brain Dump?
A Brain Dump is a technique used by many students on closed book exams to create their personal mini reference table. Brain dumps are abbreviations of components and concepts, which you have committed to memory and are then spilled out on to sheets of paper prior to the exam for reference.

Brain dumps contain just enough key concepts, theories, formulas and content, which will jog your memory. By having the information on your Brain Dump, your mind can focus on the question at hand instead of trying to remember the formula needed to answer the question. It helps you to be in the the right frame of mind specific to each question.

What goes into a Brain Dump?
Brain Dumps are only as good as the quality and quantity of information that you can spill out on the piece(s) of paper just before you begin your PMP Exam. They contain the formulas, theory, concepts and PMP-isms that you might otherwise forget for a moment at the very moment when you need it most.

Here is what you can generally find as part of a PMP Exam Brain Dump:

• Table 3-1 of the PMBOK Guide 4th Edition
• Formulas, such as earned value, PERT, communication channels, procurement, probability, project selection and depreciation
• Values, such as 1, 2 and 3 sigma and estimate ranges
• Acronyms, such as BAC or TCPI
• Powers of a project manager
• Conflict resolution (best to worst)
• Sources of conflict (order of priority)
• Herzberg's motivators
• Project closing check list

"Decomposition" and "work breakdown" are probably not the first words you want to hear with respect to the project you're managing. However, Decomposition is perhaps the most important technique to understand when it comes to the Scope Management section of the PMP exam. Decomposition involves breaking down the overall project workload into smaller, more manageable tasks. These tasks can subsequently be broken down into smaller tasks until each piece of work can be prioritized, assigned to resources, and tracked in the form of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The idea is to move from large, general deliverables to the specific work packages and tasks that make up each deliverable. In essence, you're carving up the individual puzzle pieces that make up the puzzle as a whole.

PMI places great importance on Decomposition--you'll need to know the technique and understand how it is applied to projects. So, what better way to learn about Decomposition than by jumping feet first into the fire (surely there's joke there...decomposition - fire...but, I digress)!  Anyway, why not give it a try on one of your current projects? Apply what you're studying in real life! Here's how to get started:

• Determine your main project deliverables
• Create a high-level Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) by 'chunking' work into smaller tasks
• Continue to break down high-level tasks into smaller tasks
• Create a system for tracking each task
• Verify that the resulting tasks are manageable