INTRODUCTION

This book is divided into two major parts. Part I, which consists of Chapters 1, 2, and 3, discusses the broad overview of project management and how it pertains to the PMP examination. Part II contains Chapters 4 through 14, which detail each of the ten knowledge areas and the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

If you are just beginning your PMP quest, you should read Part I immediately, because it’ll help you build a strong foundation for the PMP exam. If you find, however, that you already have a strong foundation in project management and need specific information on the knowledge areas, move on to Part II. PMP candidates who have years of project management experience can move on to Part II.

The book is designed so that you can read the chapters in any order you’d like. However, if you examine A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, you’ll notice that the order of information presented there is the same as the order of information presented in this book. In other words, you can read a chapter of the PMBOK Guide and then read a more detailed explanation in this book. This book is a guide to the guide. In addition, practically every question in this book stems directly from the PMBOK Guide—so it’s a good idea to have the PMBOK Guide handy as you read.

The following Exam Readiness Checklist includes all of the exam domains and tasks a project manager will do in each domain. This information is current as of this book’s print date. However, it’s always a good idea to visit www.pmi.org to see if PMI has made any changes to these exam objectives. Chances are, if history is any indicator, PMI will reorder these topics.