Failed - 669

Was not astonished as I couldn't figure out whilst exam duration whether I'd make it OR not ..probably this is due to type of questions I went through. Moreover, I took nearly 5 hours 20 mins in the first go, again because some questions made me think a lot to comprehend.

Weak domains highlighted - Identity & Access Management , Information Security & Risk Management, Security Operations.

I had a trouble understanding Identity & Access Management questions as I think I never ever saw like them earlier.

I was mostly comfortable with questions format for other domains as I could relate them with my experience / study.

I used CBK4th Edition Official guide (7 Domains) , Shon Harris ( 4 Domains and rest used as a reference) , Eric Conrad 11th hour, CISSP Combined notes (has quite a few errors though), Cybrary Videos ( 2 times).

Any suggestions folks when should I try next and how to improve on these 3 domains ...

Cheers
Sam

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Sam_aqua

Forgot to mention that I did practice questions from CCCure, transcender, total tester, TMH and another official resource at my office portal. However nothing was comparable to actual exam questions .. I used to score nearly 80 % in most of the domains, sometimes like 87-88 % at the end (nearing the exam).

rfra

Sorry to hear you didn't make it on the first try. You now have first-hand knowledge of what to expect and can use that to prepare and pass on the second try, go get it done.

g33k3r

Hang in there! Looks like you have some decent study materials. I am currently halfway through the new Sybex book which has been challenging due to its wordiness. I much prefer Eric Conrad's Study Guide which has an updated version coming out in November. I have avoided the practice questions so I can focus on learning the material vs. learning the answers to questions if that make senses. I will hit the questions (Transcenders) once I am done with the Sybex book.

cfirsten

Oh man, you're scaring me!!! I'm supposed to take it on Oct 30th and I've been using pretty much the same resources. Actually I would be happy to be in your shoes, as weird as that sounds, but I'm afraid I'll fail with under 500 or something catastrophic like that. I mean you've been there, it should be way easier for you a second time than it's for the rest of us who haven't taken it at all.
For me it's only money, I'll pound on it until I pass it. I don't mind taking it even 3-4 times. We'll see.
Thanks for sharing your pain

Sam_aqua

Thanks folks.. I'd also look forward to Eric's new edition as I liked his way of putting the stuff in a concise way. I wish all the good luck to upcoming exam takers.

g33k3r

I would of waited for Eric's new edition but I am schedule to take the exam at the end of November which isn't enough time for me to read it do practice questions given I work FT and have a family.

CLICK

Sorry to hear that sam_aqua, as with my experience, there were questions that were really challenging so i can concur with what you've come across. Hang in there, take a break, relax and refocus, and then prep. Look forward to your pass post soon. All the best.

newinew54

sorry to hear...just keep in there and keep trying until you pass and move on:)

cbkihong

Sorry to hear sam_aqua ... I read some previous posts of you and genuinely thought your understanding of the subject was alright, no idea why you didn't make it this time. Maybe just a bit unlucky this time. You mentioned you spent 5:20 on the first pass, which did not sound very assuring. My strategy was check myself against the stopwatch on the screen regularly and made sure I did not deviate from the 1 min / question threshold, and marked for review those I could not decide within that 1 minute time, then when you are done you know you still have around 2 hours to review. For me I marked like 50-60 along the way but was pretty sure that the rest was correct. How many questions did you find particularly unsure after the first pass?

Also, was it possible that you might have wrongly selected some of the answers due to clicking mistakes (or even accidentally deselected some by mistake but had no time to go back for a full scan)?

I was also pretty amazed to find that IAM appeared that heavily in my exam given it was not a large domain, and it was also a weak part of mine.

I think you will make it next time.

Sam_aqua

cbkihong wrote: »

Sorry to hear sam_aqua ... I read some previous posts of you and genuinely thought your understanding of the subject was alright, no idea why you didn't make it this time. Maybe just a bit unlucky this time. You mentioned you spent 5:20 on the first pass, which did not sound very assuring. My strategy was check myself against the stopwatch on the screen regularly and made sure I did not deviate from the 1 min / question threshold, and marked for review those I could not decide within that 1 minute time, then when you are done you know you still have around 2 hours to review. For me I marked like 50-60 along the way but was pretty sure that the rest was correct. How many questions did you find particularly unsure after the first pass?

Also, was it possible that you might have wrongly selected some of the answers due to clicking mistakes (or even accidentally deselected some by mistake but had no time to go back for a full scan)?

I was also pretty amazed to find that IAM appeared that heavily in my exam given it was not a large domain, and it was also a weak part of mine.

I think you will make it next time.

Thanks cbkihong for the detailed insight and appreciate the comments from other folks. I tried to follow 1 min/question strategy and was on it until initial 3 hours passed as I kept looking at the top right side of the screen. However later on, seems I deviated because of those unfamiliar questions and rather than moving on, I tried hard to make some sense out of them which eventually didn't work out. I did flag around 70 questions and with the remaining time, I could not even do through them completely considering 1 min/question again. However, I was able to correct 3-4 questions during that pass and I was astounded to see why I marked those as an incorrect earlier.

When I did couple of practice questions earlier before taking the actual exam, I was able to finish the first pass within 4 hours for all of 'em but that's the difference when one sits in the actual exam.

I agree with you about "Also, was it possible that you might have wrongly selected some of the answers due to clicking mistakes (or even accidentally deselected some by mistake but had no time to go back for a full scan)?" as when I did take those mock tests earlier then I found out similar mistakes which I was able to correct in the second pass.

I will focus on these areas for the next attempt, don't know when as I too have a full time job with family/kids.

Cheers
Sam