CISSP Exam Difficultly Question

k3rberos

Hey All,

I been studying using the following:

• CISSP Study Guide, Second Edition - Eric Conrad
• 11th Hour CISSP, Second Edition - Eric Conrad
• Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Third Edition - Steven Hernandez
• CBT Nuggets CISSP - Keith Barker

So, I'm able to take the practice test from the back of the book and able to pass with high scores. Then I take a look at this site McGraw-Hill Education | CISSP Practice Exams take a few practice test and end up not doing so well. I feel like the site goes way too technical in some of the questions. Not even the Official guide has questions that difficult. Is the test really as difficult as the quizzes on that site??

Thanks in advanced!

dustervoice

As i mentioned in another post, you will struggle with the MH website if your not reading the Shon Harris 6th edition book. If you can score well in all the books you mentioned and understand the high level concepts you will do well on the test. No practice test is similar to the real thing. You should only use practice test as a confirmation of your knowledge.

beads

I've said this too many times over the years: Its an experience exam, not a management exam. People who whine and complain about the test being so difficult are always the those without much in the way of real applicable experience. Just the way it is and will continue to be.

Much of how well your really going to do on the exam is going to be based on your comfort level with taking exams in the first place. Yeah, everyone has had tough exams but commercial exams feel very different from High School. The environment can be noisy or quiet. The seat may or may not be desirable. You may be crammed together like sardines with a proctor (similar in feel to a proctologist) hovering over you every time you look up from your screen. How about some curiosity seeking worker from the exam site asking a ton of questions of you on your break? This and many other possible horror stories may or may not await you at your testing center. Some centers are really professional and forthright, others have made me feel like a convict just for showing up for an exam.

Point being no matter how many quizzes, practice tests, flash cards or brain **** you do; you, yourself must feel comfortable and ready to take the exam. Fail and take a couple of days off, review your weaknesses and retake the exam. Either way. Many have. Many do. Many pass. Many fail. Doesn't matter. Nothing will completely prepare you for the real thing. There is no magic bullet to these exams other than perhaps over preparation.

Good luck and be well prepared. The exam isn't that difficult if you have the experience and the patience to sit through it all.

- beads

jonwinterburn

@beads is bang on the money. Thankfully my testing centre in London was highly professional, although it did feel like a prison. But the people were friendly, helpful and left me alone during both my SSCP & CISSP. They provided ear plugs, but I didn't need them - and I struggle with background noise (I live with my headphones on!).

Personally, I found studying intensely for 6 months in every spare minute (literally) and reading over and over again, researching topics I didn't fully understand, made all the difference.

Having booked the exam after 4 months study, for 2 months in advance helped - you need a hard goal. The way I looked at it was this: if I don't feel at least 80% ready by the week prior to the exam, I can always reschedule for a relatively small fee. It wasn't until that last week that I knew I was ready. Some concepts like state machine models & IPSec I didn't really understand until that week. Prior to that, I told myself I got it. But when my wife asked me to explain these concepts to her, I realised I had no clue. YouTube and Eric Conrad's 11th Hour came to the rescue in those final days.

My exam experience made me realise that only lots of study, fully understanding all the concepts AND real life experience will get you through it. Sure, there were many questions I managed to answer based purely on study. But on several occasions, the decision I had to make depended on my experience.

One final note: make sure when you are studying that you aren't just reading the content. It's too easy to hammer through the domains and think "I got that". Make sure you understand the concepts. Explain the concepts you find hardest to someone who doesn't know anything about them. If you can make them understand it, then you know you really get it. To me, that's worth more than any practice exam.

Good luck!

Archon

Some good information for exam prep.