Last week, I started teaching PMP classes again.  I really enjoy teaching this class!  My students are awesome, and our new courseware is GREAT.  The course walks project managers chronologically through a project, and we use templates for each of the documents throughout a project's life cycle (Things I REALLY wish I had when I first started out as a project manager).  It not only gives practical context to PMBOK concepts, but the templates are incredibly useful in real life!  

Why is a PMP prep course important, you ask?

Well, here's my two cents on the matter.  I have found the PMBOK Guide to be a very "user un-friendly" book (lots of good information, but at the same time, a great book for insomniacs).  Thus, trying to study it alone before taking the PMP exam is an extremely daunting task.  The PMBOK Guide covers topics by subject or knowledge area, and this isn't always a great way to really understand how things happen sequentially.   Further, the PMBOK Guide is a descriptive text, which means that it tells you generally "what" to do, but not "how" to do things during the life of a project.  

A really good PMP prep course helps demystify the PMBOK Guide and puts all of the terminology you have to learn for the exam into context, which means less cramming and memorization of unfamiliar terms.  A great PMP exam class also introduces you to lots of other Project Managers - their experiences and challenges, exam study tips and tricks, and much more.  I tremendously enjoy talking about my experiences as a project manager during class, as well as learning from the experiences of others (how to apply concepts within the PMBOK Guide to real life, what works and what doesn't in a business environment, the differences and challenges of managing projects in different industries, etc.)  Here is a link to the PMP exam prep course I teach (http://www.beyond20.com/pmp.php). 

With today's economy, the best thing you can do for yourself is to take the time to get certified (whatever your profession).  A little planning today can take away some of the worry of an uncertain tomorrow.  Plus, you may even have find that you have FUN and meet some really cool people.  I know I have.