CISA Study Materials

Jonnyg

I am considering taking the CISA exam. I plan on using the All-in-One guide. Based on your experience with the CISA exam, would a thorough and complete understanding of the AIO be enough to pass the CISA or should I shell out the extra money for the ISACA 2014 review manual and question database? I do not need the questions simply in order to understand how to do these kinds of tests, as I am familiar. However, if there are other additional benefits from these questions, such as material that isn't covered in these two books, then I would consider purchasing the database.

For reference, I have about five years of experience in information security and already have auditing experience. I have not yet made the commitment to attempt this exam, but, may do so depending on the feedback received here. All thoughts are welcome.

zxbane

Jonnyg,

I haven't attempted the CISA yet (plan to in December) but I just passed the CISM in June and from my reading in the ISACA sub-forum the most recommended study materials for all their exams is the official review manual and practice questions DB. From my experience the practice questions provided much more value than the review manual. The review manual was extremely dry and I only read through it once, where with the practice questions I was able to connect terms and concepts with answers and utilize the answer descriptions provided to back the answers with the logic.

Just my opinion though, I am sure others will weigh in. Best of luck to you if you attempt to test. I will be going for it in December myself.

Jonnyg

Thanks for the information, zxbane. It sounds like the question database is a powerful asset and it also sounds like the official review manual may not help me, so long as I use some reputable book to get the foundation down and then study the concepts covered in the database. Would you say that the questions in the database cover all, or at least the vast majority, of the topics necessary for the exam?

Congrats on passing the CISM! That must be a huge weight off your back.

zxbane

Yeah it is definitely a huge relief after waiting 5 weeks to find out.

As far as the study materials go I highly recommend the CD-ROM Question DB over the hard copy. I used both but I found the CD-ROM more useful for the simple fact you can randomize and track scores etc. Also with the hard copy you had to use your hand or a paper to cover up the answers as you go along.

I think the study materials lead to my success for sure, but the actual exam involved a lot of ambiguous questioning which I am sure you will be well prepared for after doing your CISSP/ISSEP exams. But if you have a solid understanding of the concepts and thought process I think you will be just fine!

Jonnyg

Thanks a lot for the information!

appezatto

Jonnyg, I will also start studying for CISA now that I passed CISM. Likewise, I'm trying to move away from the official guides from ISACA since it is a very hard and dry read. I looked in to this AIO, however, it is dated 2011 in Amazon. Have you taken this into consideration? Just wondering how "outdated" could this release be...

Jonnyg

It does seem to be a bit dated. I have briefly looked through the book and it looks to have a lot of good information in it. My educated guess is that much of the material is still relevant, but, would not include any recent changes and updates made to the exam. It seems like the best bet may still be to go through the official material since it is updated. I would still like to hear if anyone has any first-hand experience with both this book and the exam.