Passed on 3/29/2017

Sirkassad

Just got back from the test center. Still can't believe all my studying has paid off..

Need a drink

-Harry

stevon07

Sirkassad wrote: »

Just got back from the test center. Still can't believe all my studying has paid off..

Need a drink

-Harry

Congrulation .. can you tell what books to prefer and the approach to clear the exam.

newmove

Congratulations.

Sirkassad

stevon07 wrote: »

Congrulation .. can you tell what books to prefer and the approach to clear the exam.

I would say if you were to hand a 21 year old the Shon's AIO, the Sybex Guide, and Eric Conrad's guide and let them take the test I took today, open book, they would fail.

I passed because of my experience. However , I think there definately value in reading the Sybex book, using Shon's only as reference, and then taking as many practice tests as possible.

However the reason for taking a bunch of practice tests isn't because you may see the same question on the test, because you won't. What you need to accomplish, more than anything, is learning how to think like a prudent I.T Security Professional would do, and apply knowledge to problem solving. By reading the aforementioned books and taking practice tests you will hopefully start 'thinking' like the type of person that can take a scenario and approach it properly to come up with an approach that is 'Best Practice'.

I gave myself entirely to studying for this for the past 2.5 months; I've never studied so hard for a test in my life, and it was worth it.

The best thing, it looks like this is a great head start to both the CISM and the CISA.

pinksj

Congratulations on your hard work. Happy that it has paid off.

dhay13

Congrats!

cjthedj45

Congrats!!

I have my CISSP exam tomorrow and feeling very nervous. I have been preparing since October, but have 1 year old twins and a 4 year old. I used Sybex, cybrary, transcender tests, sybex tests, CBT Nuggets and have worked in IT for 15 years and 8 of those were more security related roles.

Do you mind if I ask the following

1. what exam scores were you getting on the sybex exams the first time you took them
2. what is your background/experience
3. Are you based in the UK (just curious because I may get a similar test to you)
4. Any tips for the exam

JasminLandry

Congrats

cfirsten

cjthedj45 wrote: »

Congrats!!

I have my CISSP exam tomorrow and feeling very nervous. I have been preparing since October, but have 1 year old twins and a 4 year old. I used Sybex, cybrary, transcender tests, sybex tests, CBT Nuggets and have worked in IT for 15 years and 8 of those were more security related roles.

......

You are well prepared IMHO, it's an easy exam don't worry about it. Be very careful on their wording -- they try to fool you with wording on different questions. Take your time to read the question, and then read it again carefully. Some advice that I read was to read the answers first and then the question. All of this is not going to matter for you in there, focus on what you've learned and forget about everything.


Good luck!!!!

malindak

cjthedj45 wrote: »

Congrats!!

I have my CISSP exam tomorrow and feeling very nervous. I have been preparing since October, but have 1 year old twins and a 4 year old. I used Sybex, cybrary, transcender tests, sybex tests, CBT Nuggets and have worked in IT for 15 years and 8 of those were more security related roles.

Do you mind if I ask the following

1. what exam scores were you getting on the sybex exams the first time you took them
2. what is your background/experience
3. Are you based in the UK (just curious because I may get a similar test to you)
4. Any tips for the exam

Good luck to you and me for tomorrow battle....

cjthedj45

malindak wrote: »

Good luck to you and me for tomorrow battle....

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Its much appreciated.

redworld

cjthedj45 wrote: »

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Its much appreciated.

I passed yesterday so I'll chime in as well. I used both CCCure and Sybex Practice Tests.


1. Started out scoring mid-high 70s after just reading Conrad 11th Hour. I listened to Cybrary, and did a full read on Sybex Official Guide and my scores over the last 1500 questions or so were in the 83-85% range. Studied 4-5 hours per day for 6 weeks.
2. Senior level systems engineering for 15 years, security focused for the past 5.
3. NYC
4. I dont think the exam was too far off (content and wording) from what I was getting on the practice tests so if you're comfortable with the material and have a large enough sample size saying you're scoring well enough, I think you'll be fine knowledge-wise. My pain point was just the length of the exam. I was used to taking my practice sessions in 50q chunks so theoretically I should have taken a quick break every 50. I ended up taking only 1 break halfway through and by the end my eyes were glazing over and I was looking through the screen and having to re-read questions 2-3 times. Barely did any review because I was fairly confident and just wanted out.

Sirkassad

I used the Sybex primarily. I cannot comment too much on the ISC2 guide because I hated it so much I stopped reading it. I was getting in the mid 80's on the practice tests. I was actually doing as well if not a little better on the Shon practice tests. I started with SHon's 7th edition back in mid-January. I read the first domain diligently because it was 16% of the test. I took notes, re-read, etc. After awhile I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to commit to memory 1400+ pages, and more importantly, I was obvious that a lot of Shon's book was not testable. This proved to make me shift gears and after researching I read that people were enjoying the Sybex book. I really enjoyed that book; easy to read, nice flow, etc.

I took transcender tests and scored okay, and felt really really good going into the test; I felt that I had left no stone unturned.

To my surprise, and disappointment the test revealed what I spoke of earlier.

I am located in Azerbaijan, I don't know if the region matters, but I have all the respect in the world for the non-English as a native language people who pass this test.

I didn't take any breaks, and was finished in 3 hours. I can't imagine needing anywhere near 6 hours.

Good luck to you, let us know.

Sirkassad

Forgot some of your questions..
My background is I.T manager for the Department of State; and I have lots of experience performing CompuSec Audits (yes I am thinking about that CISA now;)

My tips for the exam would be to read each question very very carefully, making sure you completely understand what is going on. Picture yourself in the problem, and the ramifications of your answer.

scoobydoes

Great job Sirkassad and redworld!!! You guys should be proud and thanks for taking the time to lend your experience to the community

cjthedj45

redworld wrote: »

I passed yesterday so I'll chime in as well. I used both CCCure and Sybex Practice Tests.


1. Started out scoring mid-high 70s after just reading Conrad 11th Hour. I listened to Cybrary, and did a full read on Sybex Official Guide and my scores over the last 1500 questions or so were in the 83-85% range. Studied 4-5 hours per day for 6 weeks.
2. Senior level systems engineering for 15 years, security focused for the past 5.
3. NYC
4. I dont think the exam was too far off (content and wording) from what I was getting on the practice tests so if you're comfortable with the material and have a large enough sample size saying you're scoring well enough, I think you'll be fine knowledge-wise. My pain point was just the length of the exam. I was used to taking my practice sessions in 50q chunks so theoretically I should have taken a quick break every 50. I ended up taking only 1 break halfway through and by the end my eyes were glazing over and I was looking through the screen and having to re-read questions 2-3 times. Barely did any review because I was fairly confident and just wanted out.

Congrats on your pass, fantastic turn around time as well.
Thanks for your feedback. It looks like we had a similar approach, but I used transcender instead of CCURE and have not used the 11th hour. Hopefully I can report some good news tomorrow. Also good to hear you felt the questions were on point. I have heard some people say they felt like they were sat in the wrong exam. Your feedback makes me feel a little bit better

cjthedj45

cfirsten wrote: »

You are well prepared IMHO, it's an easy exam don't worry about it. Be very careful on their wording -- they try to fool you with wording on different questions. Take your time to read the question, and then read it again carefully. Some advice that I read was to read the answers first and then the question. All of this is not going to matter for you in there, focus on what you've learned and forget about everything.


Good luck!!!!

Thanks very much for the words of encouragement and advice. Almost time to take down the beast!

cjthedj45

Thanks for the feedback. I will let you know how it goes.

logicmyfoot

congrats on your pass!! How to choose between buying transcender and CCCure question banks, any pointers? I have only Sybex question bank however would like to practice more.

sameoj

Congrats