Reddit mentions: The best project management books

Nothing wrong with prepcast, but why not prepare with some additional material second time around? You might have hurried into the test with just 2 weeks after completing your course (most people on an average prepare atleast a couple of months).

Since you have already prepared using PrepCast and use it again to practice questions, then you may already know answers to the questions you have encountered subconsciously and this might not give you a true understanding of how thorough you are with the PMP content.

If you get a fresh set of different questions to practice, that variety might help cover gaps in your knowledge too. If you don't want to spend too much money, try some good quality PMP prep tests on Udemy (try these: Udemy Practice Tests #1 (3 full length tests with 600 questions by a registered PMI Rep), Udemy Practice Test #2 (500 questions of which 300 are on specific topics and 200 are featured in one full-length Test, by a popular PMP author) - you can get 1000 questions to practice with in about $20 since these are right now on promos. There are many more PMP prep test you can find on Udemy at discounted rates.

Alternately, if you are ok spending a little extra, you can purchase Andy Crowe's All-in-One Exam Prep Kit (it's currently on significant discount at $117 - It contains the book The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try; a flash card App and a laminated quick reference guide plus a trial version subscription to the PMP course in InSite (the top PMP e-learning site and downloadable audio CDs and hundreds of practice questions ).


Either way before you give your next attempt make sure you:

1. Give yourself least 30 days to 45 days ( dedicate 2 - 2.5 hours a day for your prep on weekdays and 5-6 hours on weekends) - this should give you about 100 prep hours in a month.
   
2. Create a daily plan to cover all the exam topics all over again over the first 2 weeks and then spend the remaining time practicing prep tests.
   
3. Book your exam date after the first two weeks once you have the necessary confidence instead of putting a date that will put too much pressure on you (but don't slack off just because you didn't book a date).
   
   If you are consistently scoring around the 75% mark across the tests from 3 different prep test providers, it shows you have a good understanding of the topics and that you're most likely ready for the exam. The reason I mention 3 providers is to remove any inherent bias a given content provider might have towards certain types of questions or to eliminate the possibility that the tests by any given provider is too easy (or too hard) that in turn may create a false impression of your readiness.
   
   Also make sure you take the pre-test in an environment exactly similar to the exam (that means no pausing and you have to take the exam in one go) - this way you'll get really comfortable with sitting for 4 hours and taking the test.
   
   On your final exam day, you should be in a position to simply walk in and give the test confidently just like any of the other 7-8 full length prep tests you gave in the weeks you were preparing (easier said that done, but practicing really helps here).
   
   
   All the best for clearing the PMP in your next attempt!

Just a little nod of support from the UK, it's a tough nut to crack everywhere. I've gone from nothing to running an agency (with a good technical guy) which employs 7 people. It took over 10 years though.

Firstly, the advice of contacting agencies direct is good. Recruitment firms charge large sums which put off small agencies, the last guy I employed contacted me with his portfolio, it was good enough that in the end I employed him even though we weren't looking.

Secondly, even if you don't learn to 'code' as such, you've got to understand the principles to be able to design with it in mind.

Thirdly, look into UX Design, if you can explain the thought process behind interactive design, you'll impress the boss and clients, cut down on amends / time and get a better result. This was a great entry point for me (there may be better ones out there now) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Guide-Design-Experience-Designers/dp/0321607376 I'm old enough that there were no courses when I started, this may all be standard practice and I may be teaching you how to suck eggs, but that was great for me.

Also, this is good, the reports are brilliant but expensive, the blog and newsletter are free though http://econsultancy.com/

Finally, look to account management with 'skills on the side' it's pretty much what I do now and is far more rewarding than I ever thought. It does depend on you as a person though and age breeds confidence.

Personally I'd say stick with it, but more than that... Enjoy sticking with it, there's a possibility you may not make a shit ton of money in the creative sector (putting it mildly) you have to love doing it or it's not worth it.

And work your tits off.

Best of luck

I apologize in advance for the long post: Thanks so much for all the help and feedback everyone! I will definitely try to utilize everyone's advice as best I can. Here is my game plan for the next few months. I would love more feedback if everyone is willing to help refine my process.


1- After talking to my aunt/mentor in the field, she recommends that I should not go for the CSM *until* I have a working understanding of the field I will be getting into. She recommends that I apply/learn as much as I can about Project Management Essentials like the one she took in UChicago. Unfortunately, the next class that is offered is Jan 16th, and I personally want to leave the hell that is my job as soon as possible.

To get over this, I have decided to learn as much as I can on my own from books like A, B, C, D, E (please take a look at recommend if there are others I should look into or if I should drop any). She recommends that I do not focus on just Agile but also Waterfall (a basic understanding). I will also be utilizing the podcasts and links graciously provided by u/recycledcoder:

"So... podcasts. There are many, but these are my faves:

• Agile for humans
  
• Scrum Master Toolbox
  
• Agile uprising
  
  And finally, my own preferred twist on it all: Modern Agile"
  
  
  2- Once I have done as much research on the fundamentals as I can before October 13 (not a lot of time, I know), I will be attempting the CSM boot-camp course. I want to do this because I have no prior experience in field, and while I know a certification may not mean much, I hope it reflects my desire to start applying for roles for project coordinator positions. I will have to tweak my resume to show my desire, and I think the certification is the first step to do this. I'm favoring the CSM over the PSM and PSPO per u/nizzerp and my aunt's advice as these courses need more experience to apply for.
  
  ​
  
  

3. I know several technical recruiters and I think the best step for now would be for me to reach out to them (thanks u/zappafield) and see what temporary/contract positions I can build up in the meantime. I think that with enough short term positions in different environments I will be able to best get a full scope of the field I am getting into.
   
   ​
   
   
4. While I am still stuck in the hell of trying to get a company to let me on a/any project, I will be going on meetup.com (thanks u/Curtis_75706 and u/zappafield for the idea) to better immerse myself in what I am hoping to get into. Also will be trying to bolster my credentials with MOOCs (per u/kmolch) with any recommendations you wonderful people may have. I am definitely interested in the Business Analysis route they had mentioned.
   
   ​
   
   I know there are a lot of links and stuff, but I would really appreciate it if I could get as much feedback as I can to start committing to this plan, especially feedback on books and resources in my step 1.

Can't say I agree with most of the replies here I'm afraid - I found the insights from books such as Who Moved My Cheese, How to win friends..., Sun Tzu, Jim Collins to be highly limited.

If you need to pick up business basics there simply isn't a better book than The Personal MBA - read it cover to cover and as you come across concepts that are interesting/relevant to what you're doing, research them further. Personal MBA won't give you the depth but gives you great breadth.

You asked specifically about Project Management - I found that an appreciation of the PRINCE2 methodology really helps when planning and managing projects. http://www.prince2.com/what-is-prince2

The official textbooks on Prince2 are overpriced and not as good as others available such as:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prince2-Study-Guide-David-Hinde/dp/1119970784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407186842&sr=8-1&keywords=prince2+study+guide

You asked specifically about marketing - but not sure exactly what marketing you're looking at. Personal MBA will give you a great grounding - I particularly like the concept of Permission Marketing explored by Seth Godin. Research how analytics is used in marketing to gain insights about and target customers (the whole growth hacking movement borrows a lot from this) and research the psychology behind marketing (I really liked Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahneman although it isn't specifically about this). This will give you a great grounding in the 'hard' and 'soft' sides of marketing.

Apologies for rambling response - how it was helpful!

Articles from reputable sources are a decent source of knowledge, but some quality business books will get you an infinitely better understanding of concepts. Here is my personal business book list if you want to get a "universal generalist" understanding of business:

• Business Creation - The Lean Start-up
  
• Value Creation - How to Make Millions With Your Ideas
  
• Marketing - Getting Everything You Can Out Of Everything You Got / All Marketers Are Liars
  
• Sales - Pitch Anything
  
• Value Delivery - Indispensable
  
• Accounting/Finances - Financial Intelligence / Accounting Made Simple
  
• Understanding the Human Mind - Making Sense of Behavior
  
• Productivity - Getting Things Done
  
• Problem Solving - The 80/20 Principle
  
• Decision Making - Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions
  
• Negotiation - 3-D Negotiation
  
• Management - Growing Great Employees
  
• Project Management - Making Things Happen
  
• Statistics - Marketing Metrics
  
• Corporate Knowledge - The Effective Executive
  
• Corporate Strategy - Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies
  
• Creativity - The Creative Habit
  
• Personal Finance - Your Money or Your Life
  
  I am graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce Honors degree in May and I can easily say that one of these books (average price ~25$) has significantly more content than most individual classes I have taken (~600$). However, keep in mind that business knowledge and business acumen are two entirely different things. Knowledge is easily obtainable through books like these, and acumen is the result of applied experience with decision making. In short, it is one thing to be book smart, but it is another to get out there and actually apply it. No one can give you that in the form of an article or book - you have to do that yourself.
  
  edit: added links to amazon

Hi skunk,

Since everyone is remaining quiet I might as well give this a shot. I'm from a technical background but currently studying PM in my spare time in the hope that I can progress in this direction within my industry.

PMP

It seems like the global standard is the PMP with PMI which requires:

> A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree, or the global equivalent) with at least five years of project management experience, with 7,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education.

> OR

> A four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent) and at least three years of project management experience, with 4,500 hours leading and directing projects and 35 hours of project management education.

I'm currently studying towards this. I've taken recommendations from this subreddit (and /r/pmp) and bought:

• Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition
  
  and
  
  
• PMI's PMBOK, Fifth Edition
  
  In order to obtain the required 35 contact hours, I bought one of several cheap Groupons for $99. I'm not going to link the course because I don't necessarily recommend it - it should be easy enough to find and people have linked to these in previous posts. It doesn't really matter anyway because it's just so I can "tick that box", as I've learnt everything I need to know from the books.
  
  The exam however will have to be sat in person. I have yet to do this so can't give you any pointers.
  
  CAPM
  
  If you don't match the above criteria, you can always opt for the lower qualification of CAPM (also with PMI) and work your way up.
  For this I reccommend CAPM/PMP Project Management Certification, Third Edition and the previously mentioned online course.
  
  Please note that you can potentially pitch anything as a project in the right light, even washing the dishes. Aim high and try to get the hours for PMP if possible.
  
  PRINCE2 & SIX SIGMA
  
  What else? Well, if I'm successful with the PMP and still enjoy PM after the blood, sweat and tears, I'm looking at these two qualifications.
  
  I've already added a few books to my Amazon wishlist but have yet to seriously look into these with enough detail to commit.
  
  
• Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2
  
• PRINCE2 Study Guide
  
• PRINCE2 For Dummies
  
  I know that the exam for the PRINCE2 foundation level (and possibly practitioner level?) can be sat online with a webcam.
  
  
• Six Sigma for Dummies
  
• Six Sigma Workbook for Dummies
  
  Six Sigma I know very little about except that several colleagues have mentioned it and my industry takes it seriously. However, I don't believe you can do these Six Sigma "belts" online.
  
  Sorry for the serious wall of text but I just thought I'd share everything I know about PM accreditation. This isn't a comprehensive list but I'm planning on doing 90% online so I'm in a similar situation to yourself.
  
  I would be grateful for any feedback myself from experienced PMs on my plans going forward.

What's worked for me really well was learning about the different roles that a UX oriented person can do. There are a lot of various hats you can wear under the UX umbrella like Interaction Designer, Information Architecture, User Research, and a few more from there.

I'd suggest doing your research, learning as much as you can whether that be reading the latest posts on blogs, reading books or even jumping on twitter and contacting some really great ux'ers out there right now.

I'm a designer that's slowly making the transition too, and this is what worked out really well for me, not saying it's going to be your answer but hopefully some of it helps!

I use www.uxmag.com to just read some articles and keep up to date on what people think within the field.

The best learning that I've had so far though would be from books that I've had suggested to me from various UX designers within the industry right now:

Emotional Design


Project Guide To UX Design

If you want to keep chatting about it feel free to PM me and I'll help out as much as I can! :)

Stata is awesome, but /r/statistics is probably your friend. I'd search first, they've probably had the question before. Personally, I learned SAS & Stata in school, R through online tutorials, and I used books for all of them ("R in a Nutshell", Stata Workflow, and "Little SAS Book").

If you know the statistics underlying the methods, Stata is quite easy. A lot is point and click, and learn how to write a do file. If you just need some practice doing stuff, the Stata help is quite good and has some built in data sets and examples. Stata also has a great resources guide and the UCLA page (top link on resources) is a terrific reference to look stuff up.

1. I'm assuming if you are an English teacher you already have some kind of degree - this is enough for a lot of places as long as you can code. If you have a degree in anything and can code you have a chance of being hired.
   
   
2. Some non-coding skills you should worry about:
   
   

• Become familiar with basic agile principles - capturing requirements, planning, estimation.
  
• Some familiarity with basic UI design - the grid system, responsive design.
  
• Communication skills - being able to distill a problem to the fundementals and explain it in a way that non-coders can understand is valuable.
  
  

3. Depends on the company and the kind of position you go for. You will probably be asked general HR type stuff like "What are your 3 biggest strengths", but they will also ask technical questions - they may focus on day to day things like - "In framework X, how would I do Y?", or they may be more comp-sci based like "If I have data in structure X, how fast can I search/add/remove elements?".
   
   
4. If you focused on just front end as people here are saying you would probably be creating front ends from designs.
   
   Other advice I'd give:
   
   

• If you can't already code, start with HTML and CSS. Once you have this down, add JavaScript and go from there.
  
  
• Start with learning how to code - but once you have that part down read a book or 2 that focus more on delivering software in general rather than just how to code. Something like: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Head-First-Software-Development-Pilone/dp/0596527357/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1478693937&sr=8-21&keywords=head+first+programming would teach you about managing code using version control, how to capture requirements and prioritise requirements, etc...
  
  
• Probably a wise choice to concentrate in the beginning on front end only like others have said. Once you have been hired as a front end developer you can start broadening your skillset.

I studied interaction design in Sweden and it is not easy to talk about it in general. I talked students from other universities and every single one had a quite individual approach on it. Mine was rather technical, some are more artsy, some include stuff like service design and so on.

The stuff that is generally true is that it is a lot about understanding your user, collecting requirements, working on ideas in a team, building prototypes as well as testing your prototypes and products with users. This will give you a collection of tools to develop interactive products that will work for users and help them to achieve their goals.

At first it should be noted that this is not so much about art and visual design as you might expect. It is related and it is great if you can acquire skills in this area but it is not a hard requirement. I went in without any art education at all. I am still not great in that area but I learned a lot. Although it was more about what I learned while executing projects than having courses about it. But from what I have seen so far from design studies this one seems very universal: You get what you make of it.

If you want to start a portfolio, it is not about showing some flashy Photoshop mockups but about having a few projects that you can use to show your process. So if you want to prepare really well you could skim a book about user experience like A Project Guide to UX Design and design 2-3 things using the methods in there. So you could e.g. design a simple webshop with checkout or website for your local cinema: write down requirements, user stories, draw wireframes (a few alternatives), make a prototype (paper or click), test it on friends and write about how it performed and what you improved.

Yea, rather complex topic. Not sure if this was what you were looking for. Feel free to ask for more.

Oh with 11 years experience I don't think you would get much out of CAPM. It is very much a 'get-you-in-the-door' type certificate.

Rita's is a text book, https://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Prep-Eighth-Updated/dp/1932735658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509553496&sr=8-1&keywords=rita which I found very helpful. The end of chapter tests are quite good, the only downside is they do relate to the material you just learned which is quite leading. I am not sure if there is going to be an updated version coming out soon with the updates to the test format and the PMBOK.

Another paid resource I found useful was PMTraining. It was a pretty reasonable cost for a 3 month subscription and I found the questions similar in format to the actual test exam.

For free resources, I found that the Oliver Lehmann questions were pretty solid. The HeadFirst mock exam was maybe a bit on the easy side, but was a good exercise in taking a 200 question multiple choice test.

The Rita Process game found @ http://pmp.aamirafridi.com/_rpg/index-3.html was really helpful to me as well. Being able to map out the processes, and figure out exactly what process group you are is very valuable IMO.

Say no more, fam.

You don't need a degree to run a business. Having your own business allows you to experiment with these books first hand instead of taking some professor's word for it. Professor's usually just read what the book says. If they were actually good at running a business they'd probably be doing that.

• Business Creation - The Lean Start-up
  
  
  
• Value Creation - How to Make Millions With Your Ideas
  
  
  
• Marketing - Getting Everything You Can Out Of Everything You Got / All Marketers Are Liars
  
  
  
• Sales - Pitch Anything
  
  
  
• Value Delivery - Indispensable
  
  
  
• Accounting/Finances - Financial Intelligence / Accounting Made Simple
  
• Understanding the Human Mind - Making Sense of Behavior
  
  
  
• Productivity - Getting Things Done
  
  
  
• Problem Solving - The 80/20 Principle
  
  
  
• Decision Making - Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions
  
  
  
• Negotiation - 3-D Negotiation
  
  
  
• Management - Growing Great Employees
  
  
  
• Project Management - Making Things Happen
  
  
  
• Statistics - Marketing Metrics
  
  
  
• Corporate Knowledge - The Effective Executive
  
  
  
• Corporate Strategy - Purpose: The Starting Point of Great Companies
  
  
  
• Creativity - The Creative Habit
  
  
  
• Personal Finance - Your Money or Your Life

Maybe go on Indeed.com and type in the salary you are ok with, and the location. I.e. if you want $100,000 in Denver, Colorado, then type in "$100,000": https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%24100%2C000&l=denver%2C+co . Be realistic about the job you think you'll get. Then find a profession that you think you'd like based off the descriptions and look at what the requirements are. Maybe you want to be a "junior ux designer". Look at the requirements, and get a book on the subject, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Project-Guide-Design-experience-designers/dp/0321815386/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1486050395&sr=8-4&keywords=ux+design. Now you can become a UX designer after reading the book. The thing I learned in college is that the professors just regurgitate what's in the book, so you're better off reading the book rather than listening to a lecture on some crappy interpretation. Good luck.

Also a good job and money don't mean anything. I have a 6 figure job and look at me... I'm back to the drawing board here. Trying to figure out how to minimize expenses and get that low paying artist job (with no artistic skills) that I've always wanted. I guess the solution is to do what you love in your free time and then eventually create your own business?

> By the way: scrum does not assume deadlines. They refined their wording from commitment to forecast in 2011 to make it clear that the sprint output is not based on a fixed scope.

Scrum can be done with or without deadlines. The scrum framework does not say that there should or should not be deadlines. The fact that we are forecasting does not mean that we are unable to do deadlines. It just means that we should not be accountable for getting the work done in the time we predict it will be done by because we know that work can take longer than predicted. This is why Essential Scrum proposes fixed date releases with negotiable scope.

>At the end of the sprint, it is important to have a potentially shippable solution. It is ignorant to assume that your sprints content will be done completely. If we would apply math, we would realize that missing the sprint forecast should be the normal state.

I did not say sprint contents should always be done completely. In fact, I agree that it should not always be done completely. Mike Cohn, author of Agile Estimation and Planning, recommends to complete everything that was pulled into the sprint 80% of the time. I don't see what this has to do with deadlines.

>Estimation has the same issue: we are not interested into having a number like "it takes 12h". We are interested into knowing what needs to be done and want the ability to roughly predict the future. As such maybe terms like sizing or task breakdown are better wording.

Isn't sizing some form of estimating? If one user story is a 2 and another user story is a 4, we are estimating that one of the user stories is twice as complex as the other. We don't know that it will actually be twice as complex until we get down to working on it.

I signed up for the PM Prepcast, which I think is the cheapest approved preparation ($199) and also did a bootcamp ($1,800). The Prepcast is a bunch of podcasts that I just occasionally put on in the car while driving.

I was dragging my feet and the bootcamp at least got me into the mode of "I gotta finish this" but the best preparation for me was the Headfirst PMP book...designed for visual learners, it kind of made everything gel for me. Just flipped through it casually and passed on first try. Hardest part was the application.

I guess what I'm saying (if you're like me) is maybe get a book you like and prepare and if you think that's enough, it's an option just to go with an inexpensive course to get the certified hours. In the end, do what you know will work for you.

Good luck!

You may consider some more formal training and/or certifications by organizations such as Project Management Institure. They present a structured approach to all aspects of managing projects (which many people consider to be just maintaining a schedule). The PMI body of knowledge defines 42 different project processes in 9 different knowledge areas. It's a lot of detail, and a lot of jargon, but also covers a lot of important stuff. I managed projects for years before beginning to learn a more formal methodology, and wish that I had started that earlier in my career.'

A book that I found VERY useful was Head first PMP. It presents a lot of the concepts around project management (and stuff you need to memorize for a PMP exam) in a comprehensible (at least for me) format. Even if you don't go for a certification there's a lot of good knowlege here.

Let me recommend Essential Scrum as IMO one of the best books on the topic.

Also just research Lean, Agile and Scrum yourself.

There are tons of free stuff you can read! My handbook is also out there for free.

I found this great resource for nailing every EVM question: (free if you have Kindle Unlimited):

​

https://www.amazon.com/every-Earned-Value-question-right-ebook-dp-B00M4QD776/dp/B00M4QD776/

​

Just set aside an hour and blow through all the practice questions and you'll be golden.

Here she is, laying it all out in a clear and concise manner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpMTv3LVKyw

​

And if you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read PMP Master Prep by Scott Payne (this) that I'm reading in combination with the Rita Mulcahy book, and I think they are a perfect combo. Rita is wordy and is chock full of insider PMI strategy, and Scott is cut and dried to the point ITTOs.

​

Best of luck! You got this!

Who is it that you are delegating to? What kind of work is it that you do? If you work on large-scale collaborative data projects, J. Scott Long has good suggestions about documentation practices that improve efficiency and make it easier to collaborate with other people. His book is called The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata. His principles are useful even if you don’t use Stata.

You can download chapter one from his website.

He periodically offers workshops in the ICPSR summer program .

So... it depends. I've been a PM for 13 years, and PMP for 9.

I took a Project management course in my undergrad during my Bcomm at u of c so I didn't need the education contact hours, but being the keener I am took the PMP prep course at MRC.

That was a waste of time. It was taught by volunteers from PMISAC, and they don't have education as their background...

What was of benefit though was the course forced me to sit and read the PMBOK chapters to be prepped for the lectures.

Alongside the course, I picked up Rita's Guide to the PMP. Link This book is one of the two best resources for passing the PMP. It teaches you to think in the language of the exam.

The next best resource was pmstudy.com. I bought the four pack of exams. I scheduled the cert exam for a Friday, and did one test per night Monday-Thursday. On Friday, when I sat the exam, I finished in 1.5 hours as I had seen over 100 of the questions before. It was a breeze and I passed with only a few wrong.

So... if you need education contact hours, go somewhere that's cheap. Check out places like Global Knowledge or Cheetah as well. If you want to pass the exam, get Rita's book and the 4 pack of exams from pmstudy.com.

And don't forget, you don't need to maintain your PMI membership to maintain you PMP credential.

Michael Jang's books albeit hard to understand and read at times... are great for prepping for the RHCSA. I have my RHCSA, haven't started on my RHCE yet.

http://www.amazon.com/RHCSA-Linux-Certification-Study-Edition/dp/0071765654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397241140&sr=8-1&keywords=RHCE

http://www.amazon.com/RHCSA-Certification-Practice-Virtual-Machines/dp/007180160X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397241140&sr=8-2&keywords=RHCE

Asghar Ghori released his updated book to his RHCT classic that I loved
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1467549401/ref=oh_details_o01_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My friend says this one helped him out a lot.

As for the command line, there's a ton of online crash coarse resources you can find with a Google search. Also, there's the lower 100 courses Red Hat has and I'm pretty sure they deal with command line if you have the bucks, or company funding for it.

I recommend picking up Michael Jang's RHCSA/RHCE study guide. It has a lot of good exercises, and is generally really noob-friendly. If you do all the exercises and seriously stop and do your homework online when you encounter terms or ideas you don't fully understand, it's a great framework for things you're likely to encounter in a corporate OSS implementation.

Use that with a home installation of Fedora, and use any old/expendable computers for CentOS servers. With diligence and earnest effort, you should be ready for admin work within a few months if you're already used to the Windows Admin side.

My resource has been the book "Essential SCRUM". Here's the book on Amazon.ca, feel free to find it in your region.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0137043295/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_yqqkDb1RWTQP8

The beauty of it, in a sense, is that although it's pretty expensive, the first 2-3 chapters should give you everything you need to know. The rest of the book will push you further if you want to be a Scrum Master.

Might I also suggest Making Things Happen

There is very little earth-shattering in the book, but it's a breezy read and great reference. It's true utility is in having all of the 101 stuff in one place.

You might try the Head First PMP book, as it is very visual and almost like a workbook. Like miles different than the PMBOK/Rita.. I test in a few days and it has been a great way to solidify my understanding of concepts without making me feel like I was reading a dictionary.

https://www.amazon.com/Head-First-PMP-Management-Professional/dp/1449364918/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521577281&sr=8-1&keywords=head+first+pmp

I have a few clients on retainer that share the same traits as your boss, and oddible is giving some salient points.

An organization I work with now had no process or standard operating procedures in place for anything tech or branding related. What brought the focus away from how the front-end looks like and on track with what and why, was asking foundational questions and getting stakeholders to think through why we're putting content there and the goals we're trying to achieve. Doing so brought everyone into the same boat and the reasoning for design decisions were recognized by the group; they needed to have insight and own the design decisions I already figured out. They were then open to the process of problem solving and being open to my recommendations for moving forward with achieving goals because they were right there with me during each step of the design process (whatever that is) and realized that my experience enables them to worry about the what and why and lets me figure out the how (including better design practices that get users to accomplish what your client wants them to, while addressing their business goals). I've written up documentation on how we handle branding, standard operating procedure for website related stuff, and helped a few other staff members re-write their job responsibilities within their contracts since I've gotten there.

For your boss, maybe you can stress the time inefficiency and cost he's incurring with the current method of edit requests. Even though you can make instant updates, doing so bit by bit is not as effective or timely as batch updates and it's probably sucking up your time's bandwidth with other tasks.

Sketches, even MSPaint, are mediums of information. Your boss sounds like he is communicating to you what he wants done, and you have to do it. Steering them towards problem solving and answering "what are we trying to accomplish here, on this page?" and proposing your recommendations may help change the type of feedback you're getting. If your boss is actively reducing the effectiveness and value of the experience of pages, you should communicate that to them and offer what you think should be done based on your experience and web standards and most importantly your reasoning behind why you recommend those options and the expected result from them.

Ultimately, if your boss keeps overriding you than you have to do what they tell you to do. You can try and put some process in place, but if you've already demonstrated that you can make an instant edit to someone who doesn't understand ux/webdev than you've opened a can of worms to someone who thinks you're a wizard that can do anything (regardless of the complexity) as fast as you've done other edits.

oddible's comment in regards to mockups "iterate, list assumptions they make, formulate hypotheses to validate, do research, compile and present data" seems to be addressing the process you're using and where mockups are within that process. Usually, a process (whatever that is) takes into account clients having dozens of minor edits by listing out the goals of the request, establishing the user groups who will interact with the experience, and the desired result; then creating a mockup of sorts to get feedback, then confirming before executing. If the client is requesting edits after the mockup is confirmed repeatedly, there's something wrong with your process; either the client isn't thinking through all the requirements of the request, you're not, or both of you are not.

As for raging anonymously on the internet: /s how dare someone point out possible useful criticism based on the information you provided. This shit is common to come across with clients, and shutting someone down who shows experience within their direct feedback to you is a selfish dick move; especially this "disrespect" nonsense. Get over it, don't take stuff personally because it's not an assault on you, web design is about the client's goals and needs not about you and how you feel about their design. Respect is earned with the amount of money your work/portfolio earns you and if you're hating your role now you'll despise working at a larger company with a senior webdev or ux role because it's filled with people like your boss everywhere, but processes are in place to avoid wasted time and micromanaging. The most successful IT professionals are likable, charismatic, and know how to get desired outcomes from social interactions; tech skill sets are secondary.

How to tell your boss to stop?
Here's a great book with strategies, tactics, methods, and tools for UX design that show you multiple processes to get from request to execution: https://www.amazon.com/Project-Guide-Design-experience-designers/dp/0321815386 maybe some processes in that book could help add a structure that prevents the current situation you're in now, and figure out how to iterate requests before you've already executed stuff.

How to tell your boss to stop directly? Give him this book and tell him that he needs to read it so he's speaking the same language you are: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515

Best 4$ spent on my pmp journey so far:
https://www.amazon.com/every-Earned-Value-question-right-ebook/dp/B00M4QD776/
Her video on YouTube is awesome too!

Head First Software Development
Start with this book. I think it explains the basics pretty well. It’s not about creating flow charts though that can be part of it. Your goal is to create attainable goals in order to reach your solutions in an efficient manner. Like breaking large problems into smaller ones and taking them on one at a time. You should learn different design patterns and how to apply them. Programming isn’t writing code. It’s developing solutions to problems that a program will solve. Writing code is just the medium used.

Wow. It's like he took the two-stage, semi-modular design from The Rocket Company and scaled it up to go to Mars.

I'm skeptical though. It smells like a lifting-body design, which to me seems like more complexity than I would have expected from SpaceX. And I'm waiting to hear about a space cargo version that Musk can sell to cover NASA's tepid LEO/BEO plans. At $0.5B/flight, I don't think Musk wants to fund this himself.

I'd also like to recommend the Andy Crowe book; this helped me and my co-workers pass the exam, I'm convinced of it!

As far as PMP vs CAPM, I've had a few co-workers ask which one they should work towards and I always ask them: how much project management will you actually be doing? The CAPM does not require any PDUs to retain your certification; you simply retake the test when your certification expires. However, a PMP credential holder will need to earn 60 PDUs within 3 years.

I'd recommend reading [Project Management Lite by Juana Clark Craig] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Management-Lite-Enough-Nothing-ebook/dp/B00AJ3S76M/ref=sr_1_98?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1405101844&sr=1-98&keywords=project+management). Concise, easy to read and covering all the basics, it'll give you an easy start to managing your first project without unnecessary jargon and acronyms.

My favorite book on Scrum is great.
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Scrum-Practical-Addison-Wesley-Signature/dp/0137043295

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun is great.

I read an earlier edition when it had a better title "The Art of Project Management"

I am in the same situation and I am going to take the new test in Feb. I am using the Rita Book and they released this update for the book. http://shop.rmcls.com/multisite_includes/pdfs/misc/PMP_8th_Ed_8th_printing_Updates_English.pdf

If you read around it is not that big of a change as the new test is still based off the 5th edition of the PMBOK

Good Luck and if you need the updated Rita book here is the link on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932735658/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687582&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1935589679&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0W27D2FBPX0M5XDQHZHW

PMBOK- https://www.amazon.com/Project-Management-Knowledge-PMBOK%C2%AE-Sixth/dp/1628251840

Rita's Book-https://store.rmcproject.com/pmp-exam-prep-ninth-edition

Vargas video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC7pN8Mjot8

Prepcast exam simulator-https://www.project-management-prepcast.com/pmp-exam/the-pmp-exam-simulator

Good luck!

I really like Making Things Happen. Casual tone, emphasis on heuristics, and enjoyable to read.

This book was recommended by John_Carmack and other rocket scientists

https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Company-Patrick-Stiennon-ebook/dp/B00BWEEWOI
The Rocket Company is a fictional account of the development of a commercial two stage to orbit (TSTO) reusable launch vehicle (RLV). Included is a description of the business model devised by a group of seven fictional investors committed to creating an economic engine that will cause the cost of space transportation to spiral rapidly downward as the market for launch services expands. In this context, the marketing, regulatory, and technical problems facing any serious attempt to reduce the cost of space transportation are explored. Although a work of fiction, the book follows in the vein of non-fictional accounts of the development of successful technological products and businesses, such as The Soul of a New Machine, and American Steel.

MORE PRODUCT-ORIENTED BOOKS

"Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love" (Marty Cagan) - 2008

https://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Create-Products-Customers-Love/dp/0981690408

"Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers" (Geoffrey A. Moore) - 1991/1999/2014

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC119W/

Don't Make me Think (Steve Krug)

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515

Strategize: Product Strategy and Product Roadmap Practices for the Digital Age (Roman Pichler) - 2016

https://www.amazon.com/Strategize-Product-Strategy-Roadmap-Practices/dp/0993499201

I used the following approach to pass the PMP exam--

1. Read Rita Mulcahy's Examp Prep Book:
   http://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Prep-Eighth-Edition/dp/1932735658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393947324&sr=8-1&keywords=PMP
   
   
2. Take a bunch of practice tests
   
3. Read Head First PMP:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-PMP-Jennifer-Greene-ebook/dp/B00HETLZIQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1393947324&sr=8-5&keywords=PMP
   
   
4. Repeat (2) until you feel ready
   
   I passed with all "Proficient". The exam wasn't nearly as hard as the practice tests I took.
   
   Edit: This is also very helpful in your preparation. A consolidated list of 100 "Lessons Learned" for the PMP exam http://www.testprepsupport.com/blog/100-pmp-exam-lessons-learned-posts-all-in-one/

Sure :)
EDIT: Added links to Amazon just in case anyone wants to see reviews.


[$1 Or More Tier]
Head First Ruby
Head First C
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
Head First SQL
Head First Statistics


[$8 Or More Tier]
Head First Javascript Programming
Head First PMP
Head First HMTL and CSS
Head First C#
Head First Agile


[$15 Or More Tier]
Head First Design Patterns
Head First Java
Head First Python
Head First Learn to Code
Head First Android Development

Just order a solid test prep book. Don't waste money on classes unless someone else is paying for it.

I used this book with success.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/098276085X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1419405443&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

If i were you i would look at the PMBOK book first then. A lot of what i have read so far is about organization, documentation, genaric/broad direction that you can tailor to industry specific standards and goals, and assignment and delegation.

I think, since you will be running a team in the future, its really helpful to know how to organize everything and make things much more streamlined. You will be able to set expectations of your editors as a group, and as individuals. It can help define rolls and responsibilities and cut down on a lot of confusion in processes and procedures.

​

Check out this book on Amazon to help you get started.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628251840/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_1miVDbJV2W54M

​

Since your company is willing to pay, and if you are planning on staying with the company long enough, Id say go for it!

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

Headfirst PMP

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

You gonna get a PMP? I used only this book when I got mine and it was great.
Head First PMP: A Learner's Companion to Passing the Project Management Professional Exam

Oh interesting, I was going to wait until this book is out. It was recommended by Mike Cohn
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1449314333/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

I'll take a look at the book you mentioned

Strategize - I’m reading it at the moment. It’s great - no fluff just straight to the point

Recently read Project Management Lite. It was solid through-out, and kept the focus on what was important. You can get bogged down in project management by a lot of unnecessary work. And PMs have an unhealthy need to create processes and lists where none is needed. Project Management Lite helps with perspective, and focuses on what's important.

If you enjoyed the Head First experience, you should proceed to Head First Software Development which does cover this topic.

Strictly in order.

Head First Programming
Head First Java
Effective Java
Head First Design Patterns
Head First Software Development
<http://developer.android.com/training/index.html>

You are welcome!

Sure do!

This is the book - https://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Master-Prep-Faster/dp/0996340653/ref=sr_1_1/ref/18/?crid=2IT66WE4U1CX3&keywords=pmp+master+prep+scott+payne&qid=1563925170&s=gateway&sprefix=pmp+master%2Caps%2C231&sr=8-1

​

This is the eCourse - https://pmmasterprep.com/courses/pmp-success-masterclass/ref/18/

​

This is the Simulator - https://pmmasterprep.com/courses/pmp-exam-simulator/ref/18/

Michael Jang's study guide and the companion practice exams with VMs.
http://www.amazon.com/RHCSA-Linux-Certification-Study-Edition/dp/0071765654
http://www.amazon.com/RHCSA-Certification-Practice-Virtual-Machines/dp/007180160X

The second book has some nice practice tests once you've covered everything.

how does the book exactly helpful?

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Things-Happen-Mastering-Management/dp/0596517718

Are you aware of the numerous uncanny similarities?

http://amzn.com/B00BWEEWOI

Eschewed carbon fiber for aluminum.

Friction stir welding.

Funded by dot.com billionaire.

TSTO.

Pop-up trajectory 1st stage.

Gas generator cycle.

Favor rugged & simple over complex & bleeding edge.

PMTraining is what I used for PMP last year, got an average of 80 and passed.

For both PMP and ACP the last few days were 'what if I missed something' but I did well. Review the weak areas, understand why you're weak on them and go from there. For me, formulas are always the hardest to memorize, and I found Aileen Ellis's books very helpful.

If your getting to the point where you feel 'If I don't know it now, I won't by the test', take a break. Go for a walk, read a book, watch a movie. Don't stress out.

Good luck!

Thanks! The boot camp is conducted by my company, but the instructor stuck very close to the source material which was based on Andy Crowe's book. The closest thing to what I took that I can find online is described here: https://chattanoogapmi.org/prep-classes/pmp-exam-preparation-class I doubt I would have been willing to shell out the $1k. You could buy the book on Amazon, which comes with the 7 day trial of the e-learning, then buy the PM Prepcast exam simulator for a combined ~$200. You'd be missing out on the slides and the workbook from the class, but I think you could compensate with the e-learning and maybe the courses from Udemy that are well received on this subreddit. I'm a serial procrastinator so the boot camp's most important value add for me was forcing me to sit down and tackle this stuff and allowing me the time to do so.

Title/Company: Rita Mulcahy's PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition

Type of Material: Book

Cost: $64.95 - $87.21

Learning Style:

Review: I've seen this mentioned several times in conversation, but I've not read it - can someone provide a review? It is rated 4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon.

Well if you are looking for study material here are some links to books I suggest.

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Project-Management-Body-Knowledge/dp/1935589679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405382005&sr=8-1&keywords=pmbok


http://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Prep-Eighth-Edition/dp/1932735658/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

http://pmhigherlearning.com/project-management-exam-guide/

You don't necessarily need to study from the PMBOK. I think you really need an exam prep book.

https://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Prep-Eighth-Edition/dp/1932735658

Formulas are important to memorize but I had less than 10 questions that required formula calculation. In order to pass, you really need to understand the knowledge and process areas. You need to be able to put yourself in a project manager's shoes from PMI's perspective. Most of the questions are situational, e.g. "What should the project manager do?"

I believe there is an audio version. But this hardcopy is what you want.

PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition - Updated https://www.amazon.com/dp/1932735658/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_.cbyzbC83DVFN

Which certification? I'll assume RHCSA for now, but really the suggestions I'm making are for both.

Check out the RHCSA exam objectives (a similar list exists for the RHCE.)

I don't advise just checking these off if you think you know them. Work through exercises and actually do them.

The Jang book and its companion with practice exams seem to be the go-to books. Do the practice exams.

I used these books when I took the course in college:

http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Software-Development-Pilone/dp/0596527357

http://www.amazon.com/Software-Engineering-9th-Edition-Sommerville/dp/0137035152

Try:
A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making

I guess you mean this one. Problem is that it is from 2012 so it covers RHEL6 and quite a few things changed in RHEL7.

The largest an agile team should be is usually around 9 people. Daily standup should be time boxed to 15 minutes and if an extra discussion is needed about a particular feature, blocker etc, those who are involved should stay for a discussion afterwards or schedule a separate meeting for it. Everyone answers 3 questions : What did you do yesterday? What are you working on today? Do you have any impediments or blockers?
Stick to answering these three questions and avoid having the daily standup become an unfocused and dragged out meeting.

My workplace had our whole engineering and product team read this book and it was helpful to grasp agile methodologies for both engineers and product managers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0137043295/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Rocket Company had an interesting idea to allow orbital launches from inland locations, in there they built the first stage to fly vertical to lob the upper stage out of the atmosphere and then the first stage would shuttlecock its way back to the launchpad area while the upper stage had to do all of the sideways boosting instead of using the first stage to pick up a couple kilometers per second sideways like, say, a Falcon.

It'd require a built-up second stage and have efficiency losses, but the argument was that the real savings would come from having lots more launch locations, much lower recycling costs between launches, and so on. First stage failures have your wreckage confined to your launch complex and upper stage failures can have a huge flexibility in where the spacecraft comes down or, if it's something like the vehicle coming apart, the hypersonic re-entry tears it apart and it's essentially no different from a small aircraft accident by the time stuff hits the ground.

I'm not suggesting that's the plan here, but... just as a thought experiment, if the Starship is borderline SSTO on its own, then one that's lobbed vertically out of the atmosphere should be able to comfortably orbit with payload and then land like normal, just less payload than a standard downrange first stage course would provide. The first stage lands back at the launch complex for the next flight and...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Again, not saying that's the plan here, but what an announcement THAT'D be at the 9/28 event....