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Passed CISSP 12-9-15

threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
in SSCP
After 8 months of on and off studying, I just left the testing center with a congratulations letter in my hand!

I found the test to be actually easier than the practice questions I had been utilizing through McGraw-Hill and Sybex. The application of concepts was easier for me than the technical memorization. The exam took me 3 hours of the scheduled 6 to complete. I marked about 15 questions for review, though I only changed the answers on 2 of them.

Rather than looking for the correct answer, I first eliminated the incorrect answers. If you can do that for every question, you change from 1000 possible answers to 500 possible answers over 250 questions. That leaves you 50/50 to get the remaining answers correct. So from 50%, that takes you to 75%. Granted, this is rough to apply and not scientifically accurate 100%, but it worked for me! The resources I used are as follows:

Shon Harris AIO - I read probably 50% of the book but had trouble retaining.
Conrad's 11th Hour - invaluable resource to refresh
Cybrary CISSP Videos - Kelly Hanrahan is spot on. Best study method for me!
Sunflower Notes
McGraw-Hill practice exams
Sybex - Practice Exams
I didn't use CCCure or Transcender at all.

I studied HARD for about 1.5 months leading up to the exam, focusing on the Cybrary videos, practice questions and using the 11th hour to review.

FYI, I found more questions on Software Development than I would have cared to. That is one domain I didn't spend a whole lot of time. Got unlucky in the test bank questions I guess.

Now I have to move on to the endorsement phase. If only I knew a current CISSP well enough to use them. Guess I have to use ISC2 endorsement.

Feel free to ask any other questions that wouldn't violate the NDA.
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    danny069danny069 Member Posts: 1,025 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats! Which were the top two materials you found most helpful? And what's next for you?
    I am a Jack of all trades, Master of None
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    threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
    The cybrary videos and the 11th hour were the most beneficial to me. I forgot to mention, but I have about 15 years of overall IT experience, with about 10 across different security domains. The area that came easiest for me was Risk Management. I worried most about Crypto, networking and system security.

    For me, I would like to take my CISM next I think. I really am not sure though. I need to think about exactly what I want to focus on. Open to recommendations. I currently focus most of my time on client security audits, risk management, etc. CRISC or CISM? Open to suggestions!
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    threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Sorry, I am excited...forgot another tidbit. This was my FIRST EVER certification exam. I had never taken any before.
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    danny069danny069 Member Posts: 1,025 ■■■■□□□□□□
    That is a great first cert! CISM is surely the next logical step. I assume you don't want to take the CISA since you already do audits?
    I am a Jack of all trades, Master of None
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    threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
    The security audits are done against us. I provide the info, insight and documentation from an infrastructure and security perspective. Auditing is not something I want to do. Risk Assessments and more managerial tasks will be my focus.
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    gespensterngespenstern Member Posts: 1,243 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Congrats! What's next?
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    threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
    The CISM, I believe.
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    gespensterngespenstern Member Posts: 1,243 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Good luck on that!
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    g33k3rg33k3r Member Posts: 249 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congrats on your pass!!
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    mj1982mj1982 Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congrats for the pass.. time to relax and party icon_cheers.gif:):)
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    cledford3cledford3 Member Posts: 66 ■■■□□□□□□□
    threatguru wrote: »
    FYI, I found more questions on Software Development than I would have cared to. That is one domain I didn't spend a whole lot of time. Got unlucky in the test bank questions I guess.

    I keep hearing this over and over again, including from 3-4 guys who were retakes in my Training Camp class back in October. Out of my Training Camp class, the one person who passed, who I would have put money down wouldn't have (no disrespect to them - just no prior prep and virtually zero exposure to other aspects of IT other than software development) passed - go figure.
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    eawemueawemu Member Posts: 5 ■□□□□□□□□□
    ThreatGuru CONGRATULATIONS!! I sat for CISSP for the first time on Nov 18th and got 617. I was so confident that I will pass. I consumed all six hours and went through my questions again. I was very disappointed but my wife is encouraging me to retake the exams. I will retake it early 2016 and hopefully pass it then.
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    threatguruthreatguru Member Posts: 11 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Eawemu, stick with it! You will get it next time. I really recommend the Cybrary videos if you haven't watched them!
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