Rita Mulcahy’s Capm Exam Prep

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Latanya Hariri

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:59:46 PM8/3/24

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Hi Harwinder,

Having gone through both the books for my PMP exam (which is due in a week's time), I completely agree with all the points mentioned by you. I had even skipped reading the chapter "Reasons You might fail the exam" from Rita's book just to keep myself positive.

The quality of exam questions though is a little poor in Head first PMP as I could easily score more than 85% any time.

And my personal favorite is HeadFirstPMP for its simple structure and straight into the brain concepts.

Despite being a PM and someone used to self-studying for technical certifications, I found Rita's book very hard going. I then switched to Head First and breezed through it. Its so easy to read and understand, I can't recommend it highly enough.

The only downside for me is that I think the sample questions are too easy, so if you are going to use it, you will need to supplement it with questions such as those from Rita's book.

Having read Head First, I then went back to Rita's book (for the questions) and also the PMBOK guide and they both made much more sense, everything just seemed to "click".

Rita's book is very highly respected and recommended amongst PMs, but I'm afraid there was just something about her writing style & tone which I just didn't like.

Hello,
I am just beginning the process of building a business case to my employer to become PMP certified. I have all the qualifications and am excited at the opportunity.
That being said, I want to attend an instructor led class. I have done hours of research and I think I have settled on Cheetah Learning. Do you know anything about them, or can you recommend an instructor led company. I am in the Columbus, OH area.

Thank you in advance.
Chris

Hello Chris,

I do not have much feedback on Cheetah Learning. But they are quite renowned. You should be able to get some feedback by posting your question in some PMP exam prep forums.

Thanks.

Rita book is example of marketing your stuff.Although it has good material.But I failed in EXAM following only Rita's book .I felt ditched by believing about Rita's book, so now Head First is my hope .Ofcourse i shall go through rita after head first.

Nice article. I'm just starting to prepare for PMP and looking for the right study guide.

How is Kim Heldman's PMP study guide compared to these two books?

Which sequence should I follow if I want to read all three books?

Hello Mayur,

I prefer the above 2 books over Kim Heldman's, which I find a bit bland and more textual in nature. But if I have all 3 books, I'll start with HF, then move on to RMC. I'll use Heldman's book only for reference on specific topics along the way.

Hope that helps.

Just passed the exam this morning. I read both HeadFirst and Rita's books, along with the PMBOK. I'd say the most important is the PMBOK. I found it easier to read than Rita but not as interesting as HeadFirst. You're not reading a novel though, you're studying for an exam.

I'd recommend neither as the PMBOK is all you really need. If you feel you need more, there are plenty of free resources a Google search away. Just make sure you are looking at current information.

I'm just a new arrival to the PMP world so i bought both Rita's book and Head first along with my PMBOK...starting with rita for its popularity I found informative but a little scary "old school style" so I switched to HF and it was just streaming...then back to rita which then made sense...

I started my preparation from Rita and PMBOK and later on attempted Headfirst Free Exam. I found the exam really informative and it made many concepts clearer to me. As per my understanding it totally depends on your own schedule and the way you plan and study. Whether you read Rita or Headfirst it depends on your commitment and attitude to clear and pass the exam.

Really helpful comparison!
I already have Rita's book, but I found reading it and the PMBOK, a daunting task. I have recently gone through the free content of Head First available online and it seems a more user-friendly guide. And now, thanks to your in-depth review here, I'll go ahead and order it.

I only read Rita's Exam Prep book and luckily, the questions that came out of the exam were as if I am just answering the chapter tests of Rita's book. However, I think the exam might go really easy if you encounter each scenario in your real world. Working in a corporate project management department made me correlate each questions with what we are really doing. I don't recommend memorizing Rita's process chart since it is written differently from PMBOK in the wording/context point of view. I suggest sticking to PMBOK process chart and go through with Rita's book while relating its content to your real-world experience. Cheers to all PMP aspirants! PS. I Never went through the PMBOK even once. I just referred to it for the process chart.

Thanks for sharing your experience. You may have been lucky because usually the questions on the exam are quite different from those in any book or online resource. I agree that having real life experience makes passing the exam easier.