CISSP - passed!

LionelHutz32LionelHutz32 Member Posts: 11 ■■■□□□□□□□
I passed my CISSP yesterday, it took me 4 hours ...3 hours first pass, 5 minute break then roughly an hour to go back over my flagged questions. I was mentally exhausted after the first pass and was very tempted just to finish it there and then ...but glad I didn't as I changed a few answers on my second pass.

This forum has been a wealth of information for me and can't praise it enough, I have really appreciated it when people have posted their exam experiences, so thought I would just offer my own opinions/tips for those thinking of doing the CISSP exam ...


- I have browsed through this forum on an almost daily basis for the last few months and I would advise you to keep checking in on it, you will learn from people's successes and failures, the regular contributors know their stuff and it really helps you focus in on what is important for passing the exam.

- Two posts that I found particularly helpful over the last few weeks were bigdummy's "CISSP - passed on first attempt – July 2, 2014" and eazypeezy's "So you want to be a CISSP…???" ...read these as they are spot on, very helpful tips.

- I didn't sleep too well before the exam and I must of flagged nearly all of my first 25 questions just through nerves ...I was second-guessing myself too much and then worrying about the time. Try to keep your head together for the first 30mins and you will start to relax and get into the swing of things. Be prepared for how high-level and abstract some of the questions will be ...I can't remember a pure technical question in my first batch of 25.

- You need multiple sources of study material so I used the Shon Harris AIO book, Eric Conrad's 11th hour and a book that is rarely mentioned on these forums ...CISSP Training Kit by David R.Miller. There is way too much info in the AIO, yet I would still advise you to try and go through it once, highlight the important parts and just revise the highlighted sections.
The CISSP training kit was only published in Dec 2013 which might explain why you won't see too much mentioned about it on here yet, but I found it an excellent book. It gives you a bit more than Eric Conrad's main book but is much shorter than Shon's AIO, a perfect happy medium. It includes a 60 minute review pdf that you can use in the days before the exam that highlights everything in bullet points.

- In terms of practice exams, I used the questions in the AIO books, questions from the CISSP training kit, the McGraw-Hill online questions and the end of chapter questions in the Official ISC2 book.

Finally, the exam is tough, no doubt about it but if you put in the study time and try to learn the style of how to take this exam (very important), then you will have a good chance of succeeding.

Comments

  • jonwinterburnjonwinterburn Member Posts: 161 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats! Thanks for mentioning the book by Davis Harris, I'm going to take a look at that now. I really like Eric Conrad's style, but it is a little thin at times, whereas the OG and the AIO are overly verbose. Finding that middle ground isn't easy, so it'll be interesting to see what this book is like.
  • zxbanezxbane Member Posts: 740 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats and hopefully the endorsement process is quick!
  • cyberguyprcyberguypr Mod Posts: 6,928 Mod
    Congrats! We'll show you the secret handshake later today icon_smile.gif
  • j.petrovj.petrov Member Posts: 282
    Congrats on the pass! Very true about the mental exhaustion that kicks in. Its one of the most difficult aspects of the exam. Took me 5.25 hours to finish, I was completely burned out at the end.
  • impelseimpelse Member Posts: 1,237 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats
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  • jvrlopezjvrlopez Member Posts: 913 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Good job! Glad to see it worked out for you. be sure to keep us informed as to your endorsement ;)
    And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high. ~Ayrton Senna
  • teancum144teancum144 Member Posts: 229 ■■■□□□□□□□
    You need multiple sources of study material so I used the Shon Harris AIO book, Eric Conrad's 11th hour and a book that is rarely mentioned on these forums ...CISSP Training Kit by Davis Harris. There is way too much info in the AIO, yet I would still advise you to try and go through it once, highlight the important parts and just revise the highlighted sections.
    The CISSP training kit was only published in Dec 2013 which might explain why you won't see too much mentioned about it on here yet, but I found it an excellent book. It gives you a bit more than Eric Conrad's main book but is much shorter than Shon's AIO, a perfect happy medium. It includes a 60 minute review pdf that you can use in the days before the exam that highlights everything in bullet points.
    I assume you meant David R. Miller? I couldn't find a "Davis Harris".
    If you like my comments or questions, you can show appreciation by clicking on the reputation badge/star icon near the lower left of my post. :D
  • EasyPeezyEasyPeezy Member Posts: 111 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Well done bro.... congratulations...!!!
  • Spin LockSpin Lock Member Posts: 142
    Congrats on passing and thanks for mentioning the posts you found helpful.
  • LionelHutz32LionelHutz32 Member Posts: 11 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • CISSPGOALCISSPGOAL Member Posts: 27 ■□□□□□□□□□
  • fullcrowmoonfullcrowmoon Member Posts: 172
    Congratulations, and thank you for the study book suggestions. I have a couple to add to my arsenal!
    "It's so stimulating being your hat!"
    "... but everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked."
  • CERTS4LADYCERTS4LADY Member Posts: 37 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Job well done and CONGRATS!!!
  • Plan2succeedPlan2succeed Member Posts: 12 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congratulations!
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