Today is my 6-year anniversary with OSP International LLC, which means that I have been "my own boss", independent business owner and most importantly a professional PMP trainer for longer than I was employed at most of my previous jobs. It's been quite a ride for me!

In 2005 my wife gave me an iPod as a birthday present. 10 months later I launched The PM Podcast with the intention of helping project managers improve their skills. Another year later I combined my love for teaching PMP exam prep with my podcasting expertise and launched the first podcast for PMP exam preparation...

The Agile PrepCast costs just $179.99 but for the whole month of April, you can get it for just $161.99. That's 10% savings for you!

The Agile PrepCast is a podcast / videocast with in-depth video lessons for your PMI-ACP exam prep.

Simply use the discount coupon code Apr14 when you check out!

The Project Management Institute has developed a set of criteria and credentials for recognizing project management professionals who use Agile methodologies in their project, the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification. The credentialing process is fairly rigorous, including: 2,000 hours or twelve months of general project management work experience, 1,500 hours or eight months of Agile specific project experience, and 21 hours of training in Agile specific practices...

This PMP exam sample question is taken from Free PMP Exam Simulator. Go ahead and answer this question. Do you think you will get it right?

You have just been assigned as a new project manager for a hotel construction project. You and your company have completed numerous similar projects in the past and all the information regarding these projects is available in your Organizational Process Assets. You have all the per unit prices for the raw materials and resources that will be required to complete the project. You also have a team of very talented project team members who can help you develop an accurate bottom-up cost estimate for the project. If you have to provide your project sponsor with a very quick project cost estimate, which of the following techniques should you use?

A. Bottom-Up Estimate    
B. Parametric Estimate    
C. Analogous Estimate    
D. Three-point Estimate

Hint: Which of the techniques requires the least time to develop an estimate?

This week's featured lessons learned comes to us courtesy of Michael DeCicco, PMP. Michael took the exam last February 2014 and successfully made it and is now a certified PMP. Here are some of his recipe's for success and recommendations:

"First, be confident. The path to success starts with your own determination that this goal is for yourself, not for your boss, your organization, your friends. Certainly the benefits of certification may be shared on all these parties...

Remember that even though the PMP Exam is largely based on the PMI's PMBOK Guide you should not only know all of the concepts from here, but you must be able to analyze and answer the situational exam questions with a combination of practical project management knowledge and with what the PMBOK Guide says. Generally speaking, going against PMI principles is never a good option. At least not during the PMP Exam. It is also better to choose the ethical option even though they may seem to be the tougher choice...

In this free episode we give you an overview of the Project Integration Management Knowledge Area. We review what the knowledge area contains, what the general concepts of its processes are, we discuss project interactions, the charter, the PM Plan, historical files and many other concepts. The PM PrepCast contains one episode like this for all 10 knowledge areas in the PMBOK Guide 5th edition. We want you to be well prepared.

Head First PMP: A Learner's Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam by Jennifer Greene PSE

The Head First PMP: A Learners Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam (Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate) offers a fresh perspective on preparing for the PMP Exam certification. Not the typical, dry PMP preparation book, this one explains the current principles and certification objectives in The PMBOK Guide, 5th Edition in a clever and entertaining way...