SANS MGT414 Mentor Class

xxxkaliboyxxx

hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has experience with any SANS mentoring course and/or MGT414 CISSP (GISP) prep? What are you thoughts on the mentoring classes? Are they worth it? Is MGT414 worth it with someone who does not have much devoted time to self study. Would you recommend them?

Class is 7 weeks, meet up once a week for 3 hours. class is a few thousand lower than the week long boot camp and time is another factor for me. Schedule wise seems right for me and money I will be paying out of pocket.

background: 9 years IT with about half DoD infosec governance and compliance roles. I been studying for the C|EH the last few months, but just waiting to get my Boson exam scores up (scoring 70%). I would be coming in cold to CISSP book study, but plan to start after my C|EH exam (anyday now). Did I mention my time constraints? I have been averaging about 1 hour a day to studying.

Thanks for reading.

xXxKrisxXx

Hey Kali Boy,

I've taken the MGT414 course and earned the GISP, but didn't go and sit for the CISSP. I was apart of the work study program and got picked a couple years ago for the MGT414 course. The course content is very solid and there's a high percentage of people who take the content and go for the CISSP exam shortly after and pass. SANS was saying they have a really high pass rate of people who take MGT414 and those who sit for the CISSP exam. What I enjoyed about the course is after each domain you sit down with a quiz on the domain and they look exactly what you'd expect exam questions to look like. The instructors teaching this course hold the CISSP and they know ISC2 very well. You go through each question and they teach you how to reason through the question and use the process of elimination before answering the question. You're basically told you have to drink the, 'ISC2 Kool Aid', and answer the question from a more managerial perspective, less from an incredibly technical background. Not only does the course cover the CISSP Domains/Objectives but you're given a lot of good tips on what to highlight and know even though the questions are randomized. You're pretty much taught how to pass the exam in the course. I regret not going and sitting for the CISSP after taking class. Your instructor actually recommends going and taking the CISSP exam shortly after taking the course (in-person) while the material is still fresh. Depending on the instructor you get, you may get an exam pool of similar questions you may see on the CISSP exam.

In regards to the GISP certification, employers will look at it if it's on your resume and if you're called in for an interview, you can pretty much guarantee on being asked, 'why don't you have your CISSP if you have the GISP cert?'. This of course all depends on if the person interviewing you knows what the GISP exam is all about. The GISP exam does cover the CISSP domains and you're allotted the same amount of time as you are on the CISSP exam. The difference between both are with the GISP, you're allowed to bring your books. Not only this, but all of your questions count toward your final score vs in regards to the CISSP, I think there are 25 questions in there that won't hinder your final score (regardless if you get them correct or incorrect). In addition, if you're wondering how the CISSP exam stacks up against the GISP exam, the GISP is a little bit more technical, while the CISSP has questions that are less technical, more being answered from a higher/less technical point of view.

Having taken the class in person, it's a lot of information to cram into a 5 day period. At the time I took the course, there were still 10 domains to the exam. We were hitting 2 domains/books per day. Some days were heavier than others. All around it's a really good class. I highly recommend it. Don't be like me and take the material and not go in and sit for the CISSP. If you're looking to break it up over a longer period (7 weeks) through SANS mentoring (plus save some money), go for it. I recommend hitting it hard and doing it in person though. You have a solid background. My background before sitting in the class was literally on the development side of things. Had some pentesting knowledge too, but also have never had a formal role in InfoSec. I walked out of the course feeling like I could take the CISSP.

xxxkaliboyxxx

Thank you for the insight. I'm going to schedule the class. Tim Boyles is the instructor, I don'the know much about him, but it's based off the Doc's class in SANS.