Passed CISSP Today! (1st try,i would not have retook it) Extremely Tough Exam!

mdragon

I am so excited that I passed today! I spent 6 months studying for it and it was very challenging. At the end, i thought I had failed. I knew if I had failed that I was not going to retake it. I would of been done with it. It took too much out of me. I spent a lot of time preparing for it.

I can see someone spending the appropriate time preparing for it and still failing because of how confusing the questions are. I am sure that I barely passed.

I have PMP, CCNP, ITIL and CCSA ( and former MCSE) certs and this was the toughest exam for me.

I used Shon Harris Book, MS CISSP guide, 11th hour (Eric Conrad), McGraw 300 practice exam book (the 3rd edition updated one), Total Tester and Transcender.

No practice exam was at all similar to the exam but I will say the transcenders did help my mind prepare to think the way that ISC wants you to think so i will give that material a thumbs up. Remember to at least do 1500 to 2000 practice exam questions before you take it. That is very important in preparing your mind for the exams. But again remember they are not similar to the exam but do help your train of thought.

Also, I suggest reading the shon harris book cover to cover. Just my opinion because they can throw anything at you on this exam.

Also, the key is to really fully understand the concepts!!

It took me 5 hours and 45 minutes to complete it!!!

The Eric Conrad 11th hour book was really good and I read that 1 week before the exam. The Shon Harris book is good also. The Microsoft Cissp book was not good to me. Did not really prepare me for it.

I though McGaw hill questions were ok.

Also, I got hit hard on cryptography and telecom questions.

Now I have more time to spend with the kids!!!

Thanks papadoc and CBmiller18 for your advice!! I really appreciate it!!

Spin Lock

Congrats on passing! Well done. And thanks for sharing your exam experiences.

mjsinhsv

Congratulations Dragon !

I had also made up my mind if I didn't pass, i wasn't going to do it again.
Was going to write it off as something I couldn't achieve.
It does take a lot out of you.
My GF actually broke up with me while I was preparing because she couldn't stand me ignoring her.
The witch called me a hermit for studying so much and computer security was stupid.. lol.

Codyy

mjsinhsv wrote: »

My GF actually broke up with me while I was preparing because she couldn't stand me ignoring her.
The witch called me a hermit for studying so much and computer security was stupid.. lol.

She did you a favor man, anyone who gets that upset at someone for dedicating the necessary time to better their career/education isn't worth it.

Congrats on the pass, I take the exam on the 14th and will take it again in a few months if I do not pass. Major career change coming up and I already have so much time invested, I can't imagine not passing eventually at this point.

Veei

Congrats, mdragon!!!! It's a great feeling isn't it? Your experience was very similar to mine. I didn't think practice exams prep you enough for the difficulty of the exam questions. Whew. I'm so glad I didn't have to retake either!!!!

rickberr

congrats on the pass!! I am noticing a trend with the girlfriend/wife stories. My wife "told me" that I couldn't retake it if I failed it...I think she was more nervous than I was to be honest.

papadoc

Congrats! You're welcome! Good to see another pass from someone deserving of it. Transcender is a good testing resource to help get prepared. Maybe I'll contact them for a discount code for the forums or something. We should have someone like that here, pretty sure we drive business to them.

impelse

Congrats

twodogs62

Congrats!!!!

melvinfz

Congratulations !!

mstd0n

1st off Congrats!!!

papadoc wrote: »

Congrats! You're welcome! Good to see another pass from someone deserving of it. Transcender is a good testing resource to help get prepared. Maybe I'll contact them for a discount code for the forums or something. We should have someone like that here, pretty sure we drive business to them.

Please let us know if you hear from transcender, I'm starting my studies for an August test date.

E Double U

Congrats!

I passed on March 28th and since January my wife had missed out on a lot of QT with me, but she understood why.

justjen

Congrats, and glad to hear your hard work paid off in the end.

It does go both ways, with the significant other/spouse thing. My husband thinks he's married to a zombie, with no QT either. Looking forward to having our RL back after the 14th.

papadoc

mjsinhsv wrote: »

Congratulations Dragon !

I had also made up my mind if I didn't pass, i wasn't going to do it again.
Was going to write it off as something I couldn't achieve.
It does take a lot out of you.
My GF actually broke up with me while I was preparing because she couldn't stand me ignoring her.
The witch called me a hermit for studying so much and computer security was stupid.. lol.

Better off by yourself.

My wife was very supportive. I did end up missing some family activities with relatives etc, but I still spent time with my kids. I stretched out my studying timeline. I started prepping back in September and in December, I booked my test date and moved it out once so it wouldn't intersect with my son's birthday party event etc. It's all about balance. Study your ass off but make sure you bring home dinner once in a while for your SO, watch a movie together and on some days just say screw it and do something with the family. Those days help more than anything you can think of to help re-calibrate and boost your relationship for another few weeks.

successrealm

Congrats!

I have mine scheduled for June 19th, and primary book is Eric Conrad, and Eric Conrad 11th hour. (Along with CBT, Sunflower, McGraw, Transcender, et cetera).

Go relax, and spend time with the kids!

Chuzpah

papadoc wrote: »

Better off by yourself.

My wife was very supportive. I did end up missing some family activities with relatives etc, but I still spent time with my kids. I stretched out my studying timeline. I started prepping back in September and in December, I booked my test date and moved it out once so it wouldn't intersect with my son's birthday party event etc. It's all about balance. Study your ass off but make sure you bring home dinner once in a while for your SO, watch a movie together and on some days just say screw it and do something with the family. Those days help more than anything you can think of to help re-calibrate and boost your relationship for another few weeks.

I could not agree more. My wife of 16 years is also very supportive, she has put up with me through a Bachelor degree, Masters degree, and countless certification tests. She realizes that all of this puts bread on the table. I also try to do my part and be there for the family as much as I can. I'm fortunate enough to be able to work from home 70 to 80% of the time which helps but on the flip side I travel the other 20 to 30% of the time. On the weekends I make breakfast and a killer Bar-B-Q so it all works out!