Pay it forward - Which resource for which domain

Sirkassad

One thing I have noticed from the posts about those who have passed and those who have not is the shear magnitude of books, videos, 3rd party documents that are being used to prepare for the test.

What I have realized, annoyingly, is that some books present the material much differently than others; and the problem gets compounded when you hear one person say, "Just use Sybex", or "If you read and understand everything in Shon you'll be fine", or how good the cybrary videos are.

I have the latest edition of Shon's AIO, the 7th edition of Sybex, Eric Conrad's CISSP study guide and 11th hour, and then all the free stuff out there like cybrary, sunflower, CISSP combined notes, etc. The problem isn't that I have too much to study, the problem is I don't know which source is most reflective of what ISC2 is going to test on.

My example is the steps to performing a BIA. I was looking at CISSP Exam Prep LiveLessons by Sari Greene and she was running through some questions and she came to a question that required knowing the steps to perform a BIA. This sounded quite testable to me so I started digging through it using Shon, then Conrad, then Sybex. None of these books outline the steps in the order that she did when she walked through the answer. You would think something as important as a BIA would have an agreed upon process, but no.

I'm not sure if anyone else is experiencing what I am currently experiencing, but I am going in several directions at the same time, I'm bouncing between Shon and Sybex and Conrad simply because I've heard great things about all three, and all three provide the material differently. So I would read something in one the books, and then read it in another book and be left wondering which is correct (my best example is the BCP/BIA material but I'm sure there are plenty of other topics that have deviation).

Instead of just listing what you used for studying the entire test, what would be even more valuable is for some folks who have taken and passed the test recently (within the past 6 months), and who felt they did very well, to provide a list of 'best resources' for each domain.

Which book, or video is best for studying domain 1, domain 2, etc.

t93cobra

I think everyone learns and studies differently. There is only one correct way to study, the way which works best for you. That is why you have so many different opinions here regarding study methods.

I only read the CBK and Conrad's study guide and passed on my first attempt. However, I made sure I quizzed over the material from every resource I could find until I understood the material. I answered over 6,000 quiz questions from Shon Harris, Eric Conrad, CCCure, and (ISC)2. Of these quizzes, the CCCure helped me the most because they gave detailed descriptions of each answer, even the incorrect choices.

Sirkassad

t93cobra wrote: »

I think everyone learns and studies differently. There is only one correct way to study, the way which works best for you. That is why you have so many different opinions here regarding study methods.

I only read the CBK and Conrad's study guide and passed on my first attempt. However, I made sure I quizzed over the material from every resource I could find until I understood the material. I answered over 6,000 quiz questions from Shon Harris, Eric Conrad, CCCure, and (ISC)2. Of these quizzes, the CCCure helped me the most because they gave detailed descriptions of each answer, even the incorrect choices.

And yet tunerX, who just passed the CISSP a couple days ago commented that CCCure was the worst study material he has come across....

I don't have any illusions that everyone will say "Oh yeah, use Shon for Domain 3", I was hoping that if enough people replied I would see a pattern that would point me towards one book for each domain. If five people respond, and three of them say that Sybex was the best way to study for domain 1, and the other two have it #2 or #3 then that would tell me what I need to know.

What I don't understand is how people can read the AIO, the CBK, the Syngress, and the Sybex cover to cover and not be left wondering which guide to use as reference when answering a question. In other words, I feel that there is some contradiction between the guides which leaves the reader to guess what is, and is not what ISC2 will test.

If nobody responds, that's fine.

Danielm7

Sirkassad wrote: »

And yet tunerX, who just passed the CISSP a couple days ago commented that CCCure was the worst study material he has come across....

Which only validates t93cobra's point, everyone learns differently. The test is supposed to draw from a wide body of topics. You're supposed to already have experience in some/most of those topics beforehand. Some people, myself included, felt that drilling questions and looking up things that I didn't understand yet was helpful as it helped narrow down what I need to focus on, but I had experience in most of the domains already.

Some people are trying to learn all the material at once, which again, isn't exactly what the CISSP is all about.

But, back to the original point, everyone learns differently, there is no single best resource for each domain for every learning style and experience level.

Mike7

This is like asking what clothes fit you best. It all depends on your background and experience. Eric Conrad is suitable for experienced practitioner while Sybex and AIO are suitable for those with less experience in the 8 domains. I passed CISSP primarily with Eric Conrad using Shon Harris only on areas that I am not familiar with. The exam test more of your ability to understand and apply concepts than on memory work. You mention steps to perform a BIA; do you understand why one step must be conducted before the other? When you do the quiz questions, are you able to explain why the answer is correct while the others are wrong?

Anyway, each of us has our own study styles; I tend to read up on something, internalise it and reflect on how the new knowledge can be used to solve practical problems. Others learn by doing lot's of quiz questions and learning from their mistakes.

tunerX

I would say the CBK and then the official study guide would be definitive. Any other books and material will cover the CIB how they interpreted it.

Sirkassad

tunerX wrote: »

I would say the CBK and then the official study guide would be definitive. Any other books and material will cover the CIB how they interpreted it.

When you say official study guide, you mean Sybex correct?

tunerX

Yeah. Sybex, is the publisher listed on the isc2 website as official.

tedjames

Here's what I did to pass Security+ and SSCP. I downloaded the exam objectives and created a spreadsheet with a different page for each domain. Then I researched and noted appropriate study materials for each bullet point in the objectives. I never found a resource that perfectly covered an entire domain. In some cases, it took half a dozen different resources to cover all of the bullet points in a domain. Essentially, I created my own study guide. I made sure that I was familiar with every part of the exam objectives before attempting the test. I passed both on the first attempt.

fitzlopez

Sirkassad wrote: »

And yet tunerX, who just passed the CISSP a couple days ago commented that CCCure was the worst study material he has come across....

I don't have any illusions that everyone will say "Oh yeah, use Shon for Domain 3", I was hoping that if enough people replied I would see a pattern that would point me towards one book for each domain. If five people respond, and three of them say that Sybex was the best way to study for domain 1, and the other two have it #2 or #3 then that would tell me what I need to know.

What I don't understand is how people can read the AIO, the CBK, the Syngress, and the Sybex cover to cover and not be left wondering which guide to use as reference when answering a question. In other words, I feel that there is some contradiction between the guides which leaves the reader to guess what is, and is not what ISC2 will test.

If nobody responds, that's fine.

I recommend you first read Eric Conrad. I read Shon Harris book first and found it a bit verbose. The CBK was excruciating to read I felt it real dry. I got Conrad's later and wished I started with that one so I could have skimmed over the others. What helped me the most was doing a couple of practice tests, hear the audio of the CISSP courses in my commute to work and then realizing what I've gotten wrong on the drive.

Then a couple of weeks later doing more tests check the wrong answers and looking up the reason another answer was the best answer. I also had a coworker doing the CISSP at the same time so he'd ask me to explain wrong answers and vice versa.

Did all of that several times during the months I was preparing. The best advice I got from the forums, do at least one 6 hours test. It gives you a brief idea of how sitting there for hours zaps your concentration.

About reading all and using parts for each domain, the idea is that you complement your own criteria with the material and experience. So you can choose the "best answer".

P.S. I like Cybrary but I think CBT Nuggets and Pluralsight had much better material.

Good luck,