Is it worth getting PMP-certified?

I have been working as a project manager for quite some time, when I decided to enroll in the PMP certification prep. There were rumors that the exam was very difficult and there were preparation groups running for many months at IBM, where guys who already passed an exam were teaching aspiring PMP-to-be’s.

To prepare for the PMP exam, one needs to read either a PMBoK (book of knowledge) (589 pages!) or the much easier to comprehend so called Rita’s book (624 pages!). But it’s better to read both, because the exam questions are from PMBoK (almost word-to-word), but the language of it is so difficult and it’s explained so poorly that you need the Rita’s book to understand the PMBoK’s meaning.

PMP preparation took me around half a year, similar to the other guys I knew. The last month I was reading books for several hours in the morning daily, taking 4-hours-long free training exams. As a result, I think I read the PMBoK once and Rita’s book 3 times from the beginning to the end.

To take an exam, you’d need to find the upcoming exam date held at a specific organization approved by PMI in your location and register for it in advance. Usually all spots are being booked pretty quickly, so you have to register one month before the event.