book review: pmp exam prep by rita mulcahy
Book Title PMP Exam Prep
Author Rita Mulcahy, PMP, et al.
Latest Edition 10th Edition
Based On PMBOK Guide 6th Edition & Agile Practice Guide
Price Click here to check price on Amazon
Amazon’s Best Seller? Yes
Kindle Edition? Available
Free Downloadable pdf? Not Available
Publisher RMC Publications
Publishing Year 2021
Rating 4.2 out of 5 stars (4.2 / 5)

Rita Mulcahy 10th Edition Book Review

The book is written in a conversational manner. As you read the book, you feel that Ms. Mulcahy is talking to you. The language of the book is easy to understand and lucid. The writing style & language would appeal to most readers.

The book is completely focused on the PMP Exam. It does not talk about any extraneous details. It keeps your feet firmly on the ground by constantly reminding you about the PMP Exam. It gives you all the right ingredients for the success in the PMP Exam.

The book starts with a chapter on tricks and tips for the PMP Exam. I think this chapter is the best part of the book. You will find all the tricks that are needed to solve PMP Exam questions in this chapter. This chapter is very well written and many PMPs vouch for it. Without belittling the value of the rest of the book, I think you can buy the book only for this chapter.

The Chapter 3 is another important chapter of the book. It contains famous “Rita’s Process Chart”. Some trainers and aspirants swear by this Process Chart because it is easy to understand. But, I find it very disconcerting. The Process Chart is very different from the PMBOK Guide’s processes. This was the only reason why I focused more on the PMBOK Guide during my Exam preparation. In fact, I have noticed that many other students also get confused by Rita’s Process Chart. If you find it confusing, you can ignore this chapter and read the rest of the book. Otherwise, it could be detrimental for the Exam. You can refer to the PMBOK Guide or some other source for the processes.

The rest of the book follows the sequence of the PMBOK Guide chapters. Every chapter starts with a small background and introduction. The author(s) gives relationship of the current chapter with other chapters. This relationship prepares a solid foundation for the exam.

All chapters have probing questions and exercises. This helps in learning the topics completely. In addition, there are PMP sample questions at the end of each chapter. These questions are very good and must be done by every PMP aspirant.

My First Brush With Rita Mulcahy’s PMP Book

I completed my PMP certification in the year 2005. In those days, there were very few Exam preparation books. We didn’t have too many choices. My main source of study was the PMBOK Guide. I also referred to PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy for the exam preparation. I found the book to be balanced but I was more comfortable with the content of PMBOK Guide.

I used Rita’s book for doing chapter end exercises. I also did mock tests from Rita Mulcahy’s PM FasTrack CD. I must mention that the Rita’s exercises were quite helpful for the exam preparation.

Let us come to the current day. Rita Mulcahy’s book has been around for a while. It has remained a very popular book over the years. It is an international best seller on Amazon.

Unfortunately, the primary Author (Ms. Rita Mulcahy) of the book is no more living. She expired a few years ago. But, even after her demise, RMC Publications has maintained the standard of the book. They have been updating and releasing new editions of the book to conform to the PMI changes.

As with any other product, the book has its pluses and minuses. Let me share my opinion with you.

USP

Chapter 1 “Tricks of the Trade” – Tips and tricks for passing the Exam

Pros

  • The book provides complete details about PMI way of doing Project Management. It calls them PMI-isms. These are very important for solving Exam questions.
  • The book probes you with mid-chapter questions and exercises. These are very good for learning purposes.
  • The end of chapter exercises are extremely good. They prepare you well for the exam.
  • The book keeps your feet firmly on the ground. It constantly reminds you of the difficulty level of the PMP Exam.
  • The book follows a conversational style of writing, which is easy to follow.
  • Overall the book is completely focused on the Exam.

Cons

  • The book follows its own process chart which is somewhat different from PMBOK Guide processes. This may be confusing for some learners.
  • At many places, the language and tone of the book is somewhat harsh, which may not appeal to everyone.
  • There are very few diagrams and explanatory pictures. This may create a problem for the visual learners.
  • The book is very expensive as compared to other competing books in the market.

PM-by-PM Rating

Ease of Study:4 out of 5 stars (4.0 / 5)
Coverage of Topics:4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)
Questions & Exercises:4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)
Conformance to PMBOK® Guide:3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
Exam Focus:5 out of 5 stars (5.0 / 5)
Price:3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5)
Average:4.2 out of 5 stars (4.2 / 5)

Who Should Buy This Book?

PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy is a very good book for PMP Exam preparation. The book assumes that the reader has experience of managing a few projects. If you have managed a few projects, then you should click here and buy Rita Mulcahy’s book.

You should treat this book as a companion book for the PMBOK Guide. You will need to refer to the Guide as the process and ITTO described in this book are somewhat different from the Guide. You should also keep an ITTO process chart handy for ready reference while studying this book.

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Disclosure: I have not received any compensation (in cash or kind) from the Authors or the Publishers or anyone else associated with the book for writing this article. But this article contains affiliate links – it means that, if you click & buy from these links then, I will receive a small commission. This commission helps me in maintaining this blog for free. However, you don’t pay anything extra. I do not actively use any of these books since I am already certified. But, I recommend only those products that I believe will definitely help the certification aspirants.

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