Passed - CISSP

TankerT

Long time lurker. Thought I would share my thoughts.

Passed on my first attempt. Took just under 3 hours. Test was challenging, no doubt.

My thoughts on study materials:

Bought the Shon Harris AIO. Read 1/2 a chapter. Put it aside. Very clear from the outset that it was a bit much on the depth of how it dealt with topics. I don't understand why everyone is so hot on this book. It makes you think you need a graduate degree in each area for the exam, which you do not. Great reference book though.

Eric Conrad's book. I had it. Read 3 or 4 sections that I was weak on... mostly. I skipped some parts of the chapters. Thought it was spot on to the depth that you needed for the exam.

Eric Conrad's 11th hour. Used this to read for an hour a night the week before the exam. Very helpful.

In the end, I probably spent about 30-40 hours reading these books on my own.

I ended up going to a Boot Camp to prepare, and took the exam within days after the course. I made lots of note cards during the course to study on breaks and at dinner. I think the course was extremely helpful in preparing and pulling stuff together. But, the caveat being that if you don't have a decent base understanding of the materials, you probably won't get the full benefit. My situation being that I have about 20 years in the industry, and have worked in all 10 of the domains helped me be in a solid place going into the course and exam.

My thoughts on keys to passing the exam:

Obviously, knowing the subject matter. Whatever your method is, know the domains.

Also, read each question twice, and read each answer twice. Don't jump to conclusions and just pick an answer. But, don't go back and change your answers. (Lots of studies tell you that changing answer is a bad move.)

Get a good night sleep the night before, and the night before that.

Eat a light, healthy meal before going to the test.

Next up... application phase with ISC2.

Good luck!

cyberguypr

Congrats on the pass!