Passed CISSP!! - Today December 20 - First Attempt
So I will not lie , I have been looking forward to this day when I could post this.
I feel really happy to have passed on the first attempt.It's not an easy exam by any means.Even though it's not technical some of the questions (and the given choices) really want to make you pull your hair out.
In my opinion , no matter how many times you read the AIO or any other of the popular guides mentioned in this forum, you REALLY have to understand the concepts because that's what the test is all about.And in this regard, I think some practical experience in IS or the CISSP domains really does help.Honestly , it did help me for a quite a few of the questions.
Coming to experience , have a total of 8.5 years of working experience in IT , 3.5 years of which is in an IS consultant role , so I have experience in security assessment , pen-testing , ISMS implementation and audits, RA etc and prior to that worked in networking (switching , firewalls , VPN etc) and also some (just a little) experience in physical security and SW development.
So yeah experience did help me in understanding the concepts to some extent.But not a master in any way, I have many many more years to go for that.
On to preparation , was originally scheduled to take the test in September 2015 but had to reschedule twice because I got busy with work commitments and so I wasn't prepared enough.Studying was mostly an on and off kind of thing from September , but if I would combine it all together it would be about 4-5 weeks and about 3 hours a day.
I also want to add that I would really to thank the the members of this forum and their passed threads for figuring what material to use for studying.The posts here really helped alot , I REALLY mean it.
The materials I used:
1.Cybrary CISSP videos and PPT slides by Kelly ( a VERY good resource , and it's free)
2.Eric Conrad (both guide and 11th hour)
3.CBK (but only for reference)
4.AIO test engine & the online tests
5.Eric Conrad online tests
6.CCCure online test engine
7.Sunflower PDF
I did start by reading a few chapters of the Eric Conrad , but found myself losing interest in the reading aspect of it.Prefer videos to books.So switched over to Cybrary and watched all the videos and making notes along as I went.
Finished the videos and hit the tests straight away , did the CCCUre tests at Pro level was getting around 78 to 80%, around the same for AIO test engine.
One thing I did find useful was reviewing the tests after and reading the explanations , very helpful in understanding the concepts.
During my study , focused more on the imp (or bigger) domains which had more concepts and later on the others.
Last few days before the test I went through my notes , Sunflower and 11th hour.
Exam day , arrived on time , started off slow as some of the questions were a little tough because always more than one choice seemed right.So would read the question 2-3 times to make sure I was selecting what I thought was right.
Flagged a few for review , but eventually ended up taking the full 6 hours , even though I would finish the test engines in about 4-5 hours at home.
So there you go , just wanted to share with you my experience.
Now on to certification.I haven't yet received any email from ISC2 , it has been a few hour since I passed.Does that usually take time?
I feel really happy to have passed on the first attempt.It's not an easy exam by any means.Even though it's not technical some of the questions (and the given choices) really want to make you pull your hair out.
In my opinion , no matter how many times you read the AIO or any other of the popular guides mentioned in this forum, you REALLY have to understand the concepts because that's what the test is all about.And in this regard, I think some practical experience in IS or the CISSP domains really does help.Honestly , it did help me for a quite a few of the questions.
Coming to experience , have a total of 8.5 years of working experience in IT , 3.5 years of which is in an IS consultant role , so I have experience in security assessment , pen-testing , ISMS implementation and audits, RA etc and prior to that worked in networking (switching , firewalls , VPN etc) and also some (just a little) experience in physical security and SW development.
So yeah experience did help me in understanding the concepts to some extent.But not a master in any way, I have many many more years to go for that.
On to preparation , was originally scheduled to take the test in September 2015 but had to reschedule twice because I got busy with work commitments and so I wasn't prepared enough.Studying was mostly an on and off kind of thing from September , but if I would combine it all together it would be about 4-5 weeks and about 3 hours a day.
I also want to add that I would really to thank the the members of this forum and their passed threads for figuring what material to use for studying.The posts here really helped alot , I REALLY mean it.
The materials I used:
1.Cybrary CISSP videos and PPT slides by Kelly ( a VERY good resource , and it's free)
2.Eric Conrad (both guide and 11th hour)
3.CBK (but only for reference)
4.AIO test engine & the online tests
5.Eric Conrad online tests
6.CCCure online test engine
7.Sunflower PDF
I did start by reading a few chapters of the Eric Conrad , but found myself losing interest in the reading aspect of it.Prefer videos to books.So switched over to Cybrary and watched all the videos and making notes along as I went.
Finished the videos and hit the tests straight away , did the CCCUre tests at Pro level was getting around 78 to 80%, around the same for AIO test engine.
One thing I did find useful was reviewing the tests after and reading the explanations , very helpful in understanding the concepts.
During my study , focused more on the imp (or bigger) domains which had more concepts and later on the others.
Last few days before the test I went through my notes , Sunflower and 11th hour.
Exam day , arrived on time , started off slow as some of the questions were a little tough because always more than one choice seemed right.So would read the question 2-3 times to make sure I was selecting what I thought was right.
Flagged a few for review , but eventually ended up taking the full 6 hours , even though I would finish the test engines in about 4-5 hours at home.
So there you go , just wanted to share with you my experience.
Now on to certification.I haven't yet received any email from ISC2 , it has been a few hour since I passed.Does that usually take time?
Comments
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rajpoot296
Member Posts: 27 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congrats!
I am not sure how long the email will take but I guess due to the weekend, it may be taking longer? But, you passed and that is what matters. You will get the email and the endorsement as well.
Thanks for sharing the experience -
Mike7
Member Posts: 1,112 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats! You are right. Understanding the concepts and having experience are key to passing the exam.
Thanks for sharing your insights with everyone. -
Sohaib_a
Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
Thanks guys.
Still waiting for the email from ISC2 to start the certification process.How long does it take usually?
How do I start the certification process?
Didn't have to wait so long for CISA cert.
