CISSP failed again 2nd Attempt (rant)!!!.

mich12

CISSP failed again 2nd Attempt (rant)!!!.
Just failed CISSP with 691. Am starting to think there is a conspiracy by ISC2 to fail me. Sorry it is now personal. My first attempt scores were 673. I blamed it on the unfinished books am the Microsoft and cisco background I have to sitting exams. Well I thought to myself... This is my first 6hours on an empty stomach, it is possible my brain played tricks on me. Clicked a few buttons and got what I got. Having said this July Last year 2016, I gave myself more time Did all official ISC2 tests.. ,Exam Cram practice tests. Averaging 75% Did 7th Edition Sybex… Cover to Cover! What am I missing!

How does a person prepare for these Exams!!? I now know that what ISC2 indicates as official is not supposed to help in ‘passing the exam’ truthfully nothing in the books shows up in the exams. I mean nothing! Am I doing the wrong practice tests? Reading the wrong books (I’ve done Shon Harris too, not to mention Eric Conrad is great he makes you understand everything) All these times I think am going to be tested on things I know, (at least read)It is like the test is for innovators, I spent time thinking of scenarios I didn’t even think would ever exist.

For some time I’ve used this forum to pick up all peoples experiences to better myself. It is now that I come for your help to advise me on way forward.

tunerX

I used the Sybex 7th edition and had the exact opposite experience. Pretty much everything is covered in the Sybex study guide and practice tests. The two syngress (Eric Conrad) books are missing some topics and detail but those pretty much cover 90 percent of the relevant topics.

I used Sybex, Syngress, and Sari Greene videos. Read both books twice. I also did CCCure questions and didn't like those.

I feel the only thing not really covered in the books were the 25 experimental questions. For me, the experimental questions stood out.

The only thing I can think of is that you might be a little light in practical application in the domains. It isn't enough to memorize sentences, but you have to think about application of topics to real life scenarios.

mich12

[QUOTE=tunerX;

I used Sybex, Syngress, and Sari Greene videos. Read both books twice. I also did CCCure questions and didn't like those.

[/QUOTE]

Thanks tunerX I think am going to do videos... at this rate I never fancy them or Audios but going to try those too.

I won't stop, Because I can't stop

cjthedj45

mich12 wrote: »

CISSP failed again 2nd Attempt (rant)!!!.
Just failed CISSP with 691. Am starting to think there is a conspiracy by ISC2 to fail me. Sorry it is now personal. My first attempt scores were 673. I blamed it on the unfinished books am the Microsoft and cisco background I have to sitting exams. Well I thought to myself... This is my first 6hours on an empty stomach, it is possible my brain played tricks on me. Clicked a few buttons and got what I got. Having said this July Last year 2016, I gave myself more time Did all official ISC2 tests.. ,Exam Cram practice tests. Averaging 75% Did 7th Edition Sybex… Cover to Cover! What am I missing!

How does a person prepare for these Exams!!? I now know that what ISC2 indicates as official is not supposed to help in ‘passing the exam’ truthfully nothing in the books shows up in the exams. I mean nothing! Am I doing the wrong practice tests? Reading the wrong books (I’ve done Shon Harris too, not to mention Eric Conrad is great he makes you understand everything) All these times I think am going to be tested on things I know, (at least read)It is like the test is for innovators, I spent time thinking of scenarios I didn’t even think would ever exist.

For some time I’ve used this forum to pick up all peoples experiences to better myself. It is now that I come for your help to advise me on way forward.

Unlucky mate. It sounds like you have put in the work. What type of work experience do you have? Are you in a security role? Is it a technical role, or do you get involved in any risk management? I'm guessing maybe you are a techie and perhaps its your technical head answering the questions and possibly this could be where you are going wrong. If this is the case then may maybe spend a bit more time focusing on the risk management sections, so that you are really thinking about risk and answering questions from a managers point of view instead of technical. I have 2 weeks to my exam and I'm very nervous. I have a technical background, but I have operated in roles where compliance, governance and risk management have focused heavily. I'm hoping this stands me in good stead.

I can understand how you feel though and I wish you all the best. Keep at it you will get there!!

mich12

Am in a Security role at a supervisor level for the last 4 years, Work experience totaling 10 years. I agree that the techie mindset might be doing the rounds on me. Will give it an extra try.

Go with your whole, there is indeed alot on the exam. You will definitely pass

EANx

Try ebay and see if someone is selling a copy of the course material from an official class.

cjthedj45

mich12 wrote: »

Am in a Security role at a supervisor level for the last 4 years, Work experience totaling 10 years. I agree that the techie mindset might be doing the rounds on me. Will give it an extra try.

Go with your whole, there is indeed alot on the exam. You will definitely pass

Did it really feel that foreign as well when taking the exam? that scares me slightly. I'm just doing a transcender exam now and this was one of the questions

Which type of virus installs itself under the anti-virus system and intercepts any calls that the anti-virus system makes to the operating system?

script virus
meme virus
Tunnelling Virus
boot sector virus

The answer is tunnelling virus, but from what I can recall has not come up in any of my study materials (Sybex 7, Cybrary, CBT Nuggets) This is the first I have heard of it which concerns me.

SecChi

Sounds like you have studied hard and have experience so maybe the issue is not your lack of knowledge, but your test taking strategy.

1.) Eat a good breakfast or lunch (take a snack of nuts or granola to eat at the breaks)--cant focus if you're starving!
2.) Stay hydrated and do not over caffeinate
3.) Break up the questions--I worked the first 100 then took a 10 min break and did so with every 50 questions afterwards. Sometimes I went to the restroom or just out in the hall to walk. (make sure you break EVERY 50 or so questions--your mind gets to refresh even if you don't feel like you need it)

Good luck!

mich12

cjthedj45 wrote: »

Did it really feel that foreign as well when taking the exam? that scares me slightly. I'm just doing a transcender exam now and this was one of the questions

In my experience I still remember the first number obviously I can't disclose, but I felt like I had been given another exam! once in a while I could look at the top and it is the CISSP. I was given over 7 drag and drop simulations! and in my last I had never had. If you don't know those, you don't. It emphasizes the concept of knowing everything.

In my case it goes slightly beyond the books and goes to what I would call 'Work Experience'. I can't get any other 2 better words to explain it.
but have an open mind. When you focus on why and how more it will give you and edge.

That is the beauty of trying out a lot of resources, I bet the examiners (ISC2) benchmark to see what the service providers (Transcenders and others) are giving their 'clients' and ask themselves probably, Why not

Of course this is a wild guess but something close to that can happen.

mich12

SecChi wrote: »

Sounds like you have studied hard and have experience so maybe the issue is not your lack of knowledge, but your test taking strategy.

1.) Eat a good breakfast or lunch (take a snack of nuts or granola to eat at the breaks)--cant focus if you're starving!
2.) Stay hydrated and do not over caffeinate
3.) Break up the questions--I worked the first 100 then took a 10 min break and did so with every 50 questions afterwards. Sometimes I went to the restroom or just out in the hall to walk. (make sure you break EVERY 50 or so questions--your mind gets to refresh even if you don't feel like you need it)

Good luck!

Thanks SecChi

I agree, had light breakfast didn't take anything else during the exam! I knew I had it this time. It wasn't overconfidence but the kind you have just to do what you're supposed to.

Oztexs

geee ... sounds like i better postpone my exam from 12th of may to july .. only after getting on forum have I discovered iam not ready !!

scoobydoes

Sorry to hear about your road bumps. Keep on going and don't give up. You are right there!

I used eric conrad's books

[h=1]CISSP Study Guide, Third Edition[/h]
[h=1]Eleventh Hour CISSP®, Third Edition: Study Guide[/h]

and this link for practice questions as it helped tremendously in making sure I was coming from the point of view of a security manager:

https://www.mhprofessionalresources.com//sites/CISSPExams/exam.php?id=AccessControl

These CISSP practice questions and audio lectures were developed by Shon Harris and the Logical Security development team.

Stay focused on just one or two study sources, ignore the shiny objects.

Also, take breaks and either take a walk or eat something lite to get your mind off the test even for a few moments.

Believe in yourself. You can do it!

Look forward to your "I passed" posting.

CyberSecurity

There are 2 things I did during the exam that helped me pass:
1) Most computer generated tests have an equal percentage of A's, B's, C's, D's, etc. meaning that 25 questions out of 100 would be A's. I know this isn't that easy to do with the CISSP exam given the drag and drops, and A-E questions that throw off the numbers, but you can still get a pretty close estimation of a percentage if you just track it all as you go through each question. As the test starts on the blank piece of paper I write each letter with its corresponding talley mark horizontally so it looks like this
A IIIII IIIII IIIII III
B IIIII IIIII III
C III
D IIIII IIIII IIIII

By the end of exam if you have 10 questions left unanswered, you can pretty much assume they are C. Like I said, just use this as best as you can since the CISSP is still a beast. Also I'm not sure if this exam follows this computer generated strategy but it may have been a reason I passed.

2) On the exam there was a little Note button for each question to type in notes. As I selected an answer I was somewhat sure about but not 100% I would type in my reasoning in that note box and honestly realized about 1/2 through typing I had the wrong answer. Not sure why this worked for me, maybe it was something hidden more deeply in my logic-memory I previously learned but forgot and trying to convince myself of the correct answer helped me out. This strategy actually surprised me quite a bit since after I typed out my reasoning & I realized I had the wrong answer I suddenly became very confident in the new correct answer.

Pre Exam - I did the FreePracticeTests.org questions until I was getting above 75% on all 1800+ questions; Eric Conrad book; Very little shon harris just to get a better understanding; and talked to people for their versions.

Also, there seems to be a new website out that may help with analogies of different security terms: https://sidewaysdictionary.com/

You will get there, just keep trying. Failure is only a learning lesson to the successful.

SecurityMan9

CyberSecurity wrote: »

Pre Exam - I did the FreePracticeTests.org questions until I was getting above 75% on all 1800+ questions; Eric Conrad book; Very little shon harris just to get a better understanding; and talked to people for their versions.

Are these the same as the CCCure questions?

CyberSecurity

SecurityMan9 wrote: »

Are these the same as the CCCure questions?

I think so... Didn't CCCure shut their doors though?

chrisone

YAwn.....

I went through the same road, failed first attempt 669, failed second time 695.....passed on third attempt. It sucked , I felt the same as you, I did not choose to quit, too much time and money invested, when I passed it felt much more sweeter than when you pass any exam on the first attempt. There are many of us who passed on the third attempt.

Enjoy my story, you too will pass.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/isc-sscp-cissp/123805-cissp-passed-12-1-16-a.html

Hope this motivates you, but truly you weren't the only one who went through this. You can see some of the comments on my thread from others who passed on the third attempt.

Stay strong, study harder, stay consistent, don't give up.

mich12

scoobydoes wrote: »

and this link for practice questions as it helped tremendously in making sure I was coming from the point of view of a security manager:

https://www.mhprofessionalresources.com//sites/CISSPExams/exam.php?id=AccessControl

These CISSP practice questions and audio lectures were developed by Shon Harris and the Logical Security development team.

Stay focused on just one or two study sources, ignore the shiny objects.

Also, take breaks and either take a walk or eat something lite to get your mind off the test even for a few moments.

Believe in yourself. You can do it!

Look forward to your "I passed" posting.

On my study plan I always thought to myself Audios are not my thing, Now I know I have no option but to Watch all Videos and Audios the world has
I even knew people talked about Cybrary here on the forum. For some interesting reason I knew I don't have to watch anyghing

thanks Shaggy ooh scooby

mich12

CyberSecurity wrote: »

2) On the exam there was a little Note button for each question to type in notes. As I selected an answer I was somewhat sure about but not 100% I would type in my reasoning in that note box and honestly realized about 1/2 through typing I had the wrong answer. Not sure why this worked for me, maybe it was something hidden more deeply in my logic-memory I previously learned but forgot and trying to convince myself of the correct answer helped me out. This strategy actually surprised me quite a bit since after I typed out my reasoning & I realized I had the wrong answer I suddenly became very confident in the new correct answer.

Pre Exam - I did the FreePracticeTests.org questions until I was getting above 75% on all 1800+ questions; Eric Conrad book; Very little shon harris just to get a better understanding; and talked to people for their versions.

Also, there seems to be a new website out that may help with analogies of different security terms: https://sidewaysdictionary.com/

You will get there, just keep trying. Failure is only a learning lesson to the successful.

I respect your resilience. Using the inbuilt notepad is even scary for me ... why? I think it is a trick to take my 'little time' but I realize it can open your eyes before you finish typing.
Am checking out the https://sidewaysdictionary.com/ site and is quite amazing! thanks

Am going to try out more practice tests.
your first option seems complex am giving it more thought.

thanks Cybersecurity

mich12

chrisone wrote: »

YAwn.....

I went through the same road, failed first attempt 669, failed second time 695.....passed on third attempt. It sucked , I felt the same as you, I did not choose to quit, too much time and money invested, when I passed it felt much more sweeter than when you pass any exam on the first attempt. There are many of us who passed on the third attempt.

Enjoy my story, you too will pass.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/isc-sscp-cissp/123805-cissp-passed-12-1-16-a.html

Hope this motivates you, but truly you weren't the only one who went through this. You can see some of the comments on my thread from others who passed on the third attempt.

Stay strong, study harder, stay consistent, don't give up.

Thanks chrisone, I've read your story and have been encouraged! i've also left a note in your section. Am looking forward to my sweet victory

bjpeter

I hope you conquered that beast!