Thanks God! Passed CISSP in first attempt
Hi folks,
This is my complete review based on my experience in pursuing passing the cissp exam
Preparation:
It took me 1,5 years to prepare the CISSP exam, with a very slow pace at the beginning. Used to keep in touch with Cisco exams, from CCNA to CCIE, which are very technical, and then switched to CISSP exam, which is conceptual, made me a little bored, sleepy and lack of motivation. But later, the motivation grew stronger and stronger
I use this materials to study:
1. Shon Harris AIO 6th edition -> Read it only for 2 domains. I thought that it was too overwhelmed and made the critical points are hard to get. And made me very sleepy too
2. Eric Conrad Study Guide 2nd Edition -> once found it, immediately switched to this book. It is likely a summary of Shon Harris AIO book, only critical points are discussed. Make learning CISSP fun and interesting.
3. Eric Conrad 11hour summary -> Read it after finishing reading Eric Conrad study guide, as a recap
4. CCCure (paid version) -> spent the last 6 months practicing from this quiz engine. Not a good reference though. (will explain it below)
5. Review personal CISSP notes -> gather info from various sources
6. Sunflower CISSP summary -> use only to find a quick source for CISSP theory when practising with CCCure
7. Mcgraw Hill quiz engine -> just found it 4 days before exam (from this forum), and it really a good source for practising. Some topics are appeared in the exam . Just have time to work on 2 domain quizzes, which are my weakest domains
8. Shon Harris PRactice Exam 2nd edition - use it only a little bit
Exam experience:
Finished it with the remaining 20 seconds left! Take break 3x, after question no 100, no 150, and after 200, to go to the toilet, washed face, and drank 2 glasses of water. this is important to maintain your concentration.
i felt that the exam was really hard. i have never heard almost 70% of the question topic. And for 30% of the rest, although i knew the topic, still it was very difficult to answer the questions. I was really angry at that time, why would i've spent much time of my life for practising cccure, which turned to not helpful at all. It was really like in another exam, and it really disturbed my concentration during the exam. No wonder some members of this forum said cccure as a waste of money.
With carefully analyzing every answers, understanding the questions, picking up the most make-sense answer, and praying to God, finally i passed the exam
And during the exam, i did not find the questions that are poorly written, or questions that are in the form of negative questions, such as "which one is NOT a disadvantage of ..." or "which one is less likely NOT a weakness of...". There was no stupid questions like that (this kind of questions frequently shown in cccure). All the questions were straightforward.
I also found many scenario-based questions are appeared, and only 3-4 diagram/picture questions.
Tips:
1. i strongly suggest to learn from Shon Harris AIO, as many of this forum members recommend. During the exam, i noted some of the topics that appear quite a lot in the exam, which i've never heard before, and apparently after a quick checking in Shon Harris practice exam again, the topics are there.
Some of them are:
- Security frameworks, models, standards, and best practices- Security enterprise architecture
- Information classification and protection
- Security awareness training
2. Use McGraw Hill quiz engine and Total Tester to practice, as they are from Shon Harris too.
McGraw Hill: McGraw-Hill Education | CISSP Practice Exams
Total Tester: https://www.totalsem.com/cissp-all-in-one-exam-guide-sixth-edition/
[REMOVED -- TMI]
5. As many of the others have said, we often find a question that has the correct answers of more than 1, sometimes more than 2. you have to choose the most correct one.
Example: You have to eat this nutritious food in order to be healthy. which one is from the following?
A. burger
B. pizza
C. banana
D. fruits
i would choose D. fruits
6. As many of the others have said too, usually the correct answer is the one that has "management" word. But be careful, not to be trapped into the answer. check the question carefully.
7. take regular break, to drink or wash face, to keep concentration.
8.pray to God
I am sorry if this review is too long.. And I wish you all good luck in your CISSP endeavor.
This is my complete review based on my experience in pursuing passing the cissp exam
Preparation:
It took me 1,5 years to prepare the CISSP exam, with a very slow pace at the beginning. Used to keep in touch with Cisco exams, from CCNA to CCIE, which are very technical, and then switched to CISSP exam, which is conceptual, made me a little bored, sleepy and lack of motivation. But later, the motivation grew stronger and stronger
I use this materials to study:
1. Shon Harris AIO 6th edition -> Read it only for 2 domains. I thought that it was too overwhelmed and made the critical points are hard to get. And made me very sleepy too
2. Eric Conrad Study Guide 2nd Edition -> once found it, immediately switched to this book. It is likely a summary of Shon Harris AIO book, only critical points are discussed. Make learning CISSP fun and interesting.
3. Eric Conrad 11hour summary -> Read it after finishing reading Eric Conrad study guide, as a recap
4. CCCure (paid version) -> spent the last 6 months practicing from this quiz engine. Not a good reference though. (will explain it below)
5. Review personal CISSP notes -> gather info from various sources
6. Sunflower CISSP summary -> use only to find a quick source for CISSP theory when practising with CCCure
7. Mcgraw Hill quiz engine -> just found it 4 days before exam (from this forum), and it really a good source for practising. Some topics are appeared in the exam . Just have time to work on 2 domain quizzes, which are my weakest domains
8. Shon Harris PRactice Exam 2nd edition - use it only a little bit
Exam experience:
Finished it with the remaining 20 seconds left! Take break 3x, after question no 100, no 150, and after 200, to go to the toilet, washed face, and drank 2 glasses of water. this is important to maintain your concentration.
i felt that the exam was really hard. i have never heard almost 70% of the question topic. And for 30% of the rest, although i knew the topic, still it was very difficult to answer the questions. I was really angry at that time, why would i've spent much time of my life for practising cccure, which turned to not helpful at all
. It was really like in another exam, and it really disturbed my concentration during the exam. No wonder some members of this forum said cccure as a waste of money.With carefully analyzing every answers, understanding the questions, picking up the most make-sense answer, and praying to God, finally i passed the exam
And during the exam, i did not find the questions that are poorly written, or questions that are in the form of negative questions, such as "which one is NOT a disadvantage of ..." or "which one is less likely NOT a weakness of...". There was no stupid questions like that (this kind of questions frequently shown in cccure). All the questions were straightforward.
I also found many scenario-based questions are appeared, and only 3-4 diagram/picture questions.
Tips:
1. i strongly suggest to learn from Shon Harris AIO, as many of this forum members recommend. During the exam, i noted some of the topics that appear quite a lot in the exam, which i've never heard before, and apparently after a quick checking in Shon Harris practice exam again, the topics are there.
Some of them are:
- Security frameworks, models, standards, and best practices- Security enterprise architecture
- Information classification and protection
- Security awareness training
2. Use McGraw Hill quiz engine and Total Tester to practice, as they are from Shon Harris too.
McGraw Hill: McGraw-Hill Education | CISSP Practice Exams
Total Tester: https://www.totalsem.com/cissp-all-in-one-exam-guide-sixth-edition/
[REMOVED -- TMI]
5. As many of the others have said, we often find a question that has the correct answers of more than 1, sometimes more than 2. you have to choose the most correct one.
Example: You have to eat this nutritious food in order to be healthy. which one is from the following?
A. burger
B. pizza
C. banana
D. fruits
i would choose D. fruits
6. As many of the others have said too, usually the correct answer is the one that has "management" word. But be careful, not to be trapped into the answer. check the question carefully.
7. take regular break, to drink or wash face, to keep concentration.
8.pray to God
I am sorry if this review is too long.. And I wish you all good luck in your CISSP endeavor.
Comments
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jonwinterburn
Member Posts: 161 ■■■■□□□□□□
Thank you for the review, it's really helpful! I'm currently buried in CISSP studies in every spare moment, and it's encouraging to hear your experiences of the exam. One point to consider: some of those newer attacks and topics you've never heard of - bear in mind that 25 of the questions are apparently "research" questions which are not scored. Perhaps some of those questions you saw are in that section?
Out of interest, what's your experience, and did any of that help you in the exam? -
dustervoice
Member Posts: 877 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats.....Very good write-up even though my experience was a little bit different. As i saw many "technical" questions on my exam form so applying the "think as a manager" didn't really help it was either i knew the answer or i didn't. I have to agree with you again and as i mentioned in my other post you cannot go wrong with Shon Harris material. -
Sscp1986
Member Posts: 27 ■□□□□□□□□□
Congratz! and praise Him indeed.
Very encouring to hear.
I will have my SSCP examen This Friday!2015: CISSP[Working on it] -
kawak_zx7
Member Posts: 9 ■□□□□□□□□□
jonwinterburn wrote: »Thank you for the review, it's really helpful! I'm currently buried in CISSP studies in every spare moment, and it's encouraging to hear your experiences of the exam. One point to consider: some of those newer attacks and topics you've never heard of - bear in mind that 25 of the questions are apparently "research" questions which are not scored. Perhaps some of those questions you saw are in that section?
Out of interest, what's your experience, and did any of that help you in the exam?
Hi Jon,
my experience is in network engineering. it helps me a lot in covering technical questions, especially from telecommunication & network security chapter. -
dinhtq
Member Posts: 24 ■■■□□□□□□□
I agree with you :CCCure (paid version) -> spent the last 6 months practicing from this quiz engine. Not a good reference though. (will explain it below) It not very good , question isnot update , very easy when compare to exam.Hi folks,This is my complete review based on my experience in pursuing passing the cissp examPreparation:It took me 1,5 years to prepare the CISSP exam, with a very slow pace at the beginning. Used to keep in touch with Cisco exams, from CCNA to CCIE, which are very technical, and then switched to CISSP exam, which is conceptual, made me a little bored, sleepy and lack of motivation. But later, the motivation grew stronger and stronger :DI use this materials to study:1. Shon Harris AIO 6th edition -> Read it only for 2 domains. I thought that it was too overwhelmed and made the critical points are hard to get. And made me very sleepy too2. Eric Conrad Study Guide 2nd Edition -> once found it, immediately switched to this book. It is likely a summary of Shon Harris AIO book, only critical points are discussed. Make learning CISSP fun and interesting.3. Eric Conrad 11hour summary -> Read it after finishing reading Eric Conrad study guide, as a recap4. CCCure (paid version) -> spent the last 6 months practicing from this quiz engine. Not a good reference though. (will explain it below) 5. Review personal CISSP notes -> gather info from various sources6. Sunflower CISSP summary -> use only to find a quick source for CISSP theory when practising with CCCure7. Mcgraw Hill quiz engine -> just found it 4 days before exam (from this forum), and it really a good source for practising. Some topics are appeared in the exam . Just have time to work on 2 domain quizzes, which are my weakest domains 8. Shon Harris PRactice Exam 2nd edition - use it only a little bitExam experience:Finished it with the remaining 20 seconds left! Take break 3x, after question no 100, no 150, and after 200, to go to the toilet, washed face, and drank 2 glasses of water. this is important to maintain your concentration.i felt that the exam was really hard. i have never heard almost 70% of the question topic. And for 30% of the rest, although i knew the topic, still it was very difficult to answer the questions. I was really angry at that time, why would i've spent much time of my life for practising cccure, which turned to not helpful at all . It was really like in another exam, and it really disturbed my concentration during the exam. No wonder some members of this forum said cccure as a waste of money. With carefully analyzing every answers, understanding the questions, picking up the most make-sense answer, and praying to God, finally i passed the examAnd during the exam, i did not find the questions that are poorly written, or questions that are in the form of negative questions, such as "which one is NOT a disadvantage of ..." or "which one is less likely NOT a weakness of...". There was no stupid questions like that (this kind of questions frequently shown in cccure). All the questions were straightforward.I also found many scenario-based questions are appeared, and only 3-4 diagram/picture questions.Tips:1. i strongly suggest to learn from Shon Harris AIO, as many of this forum members recommend. During the exam, i noted some of the topics that appear quite a lot in the exam, which i've never heard before, and apparently after a quick checking in Shon Harris practice exam again, the topics are there. Some of them are:- Security frameworks, models, standards, and best practices- Security enterprise architecture- Information classification and protection- Security awareness training2. Use McGraw Hill quiz engine and Total Tester to practice, as they are from Shon Harris too.McGraw Hill: McGraw-Hill Education | CISSP Practice ExamsTotal Tester: https://www.totalsem.com/cissp-all-in-one-exam-guide-sixth-edition/ [REMOVED -- TMI]5. As many of the others have said, we often find a question that has the correct answers of more than 1, sometimes more than 2. you have to choose the most correct one. Example: You have to eat this nutritious food in order to be healthy. which one is from the following?A. burgerB. pizzaC. bananaD. fruitsi would choose D. fruits6. As many of the others have said too, usually the correct answer is the one that has "management" word. But be careful, not to be trapped into the answer. check the question carefully.7. take regular break, to drink or wash face, to keep concentration.8.pray to GodI am sorry if this review is too long.. And I wish you all good luck in your CISSP endeavor.