Passed today "provisionally"
I've always found value in these "I passed!" posts, so thought I'd share my experience & reviews of study prep tools.
Official study guide:
I started reading the official guide around February, and read 1/3 way through.
Then, took this week off work and rammed through another 1/3 of the book.
Unfortunately I never made it to the last 1/3, which contained a lot of software dev stuff. Not making it to this section hurt me a lot.
Overall this book was really helpful. Though it dwelt a little too much on older protocols and standards.
Pocketprep app:
I used this intermittently to take quizzes. The questions themselves were not helpful. Far too direct and low level. However, I found value in the explanations when getting questions wrong.
CBT Nuggets:
Between chapters, I'd watch a cbtnugget video or two. I've never been a fan of videos for studying for Cisco or CompTIA exams. But for CISSP I found it invaluable since so many of the questions were contextual. The videos helped add emphasis to the overall story that I think ISC2 is trying to tell. But, like the book, I felt they dwelt a little too much on obsolete standards and protocols.
Transcender tests (followed through a link in CBT Nuggets):
I took one of the 250 question practice exams and was frustrated with the outdated tech. I doubt this exam has been updated in at least 5 years.
My background:
I got a DeVry undergrad in Network & Communication Management.
I spent about 4 years in post-sales support for firewalls, web filters, and file transfer.
And about two years in pre-sales support for SIEM.
I found my experience very relevant to the exam, except with software development. Hopefully it all counts as experience to ISC2.
Official study guide:
I started reading the official guide around February, and read 1/3 way through.
Then, took this week off work and rammed through another 1/3 of the book.
Unfortunately I never made it to the last 1/3, which contained a lot of software dev stuff. Not making it to this section hurt me a lot.
Overall this book was really helpful. Though it dwelt a little too much on older protocols and standards.
Pocketprep app:
I used this intermittently to take quizzes. The questions themselves were not helpful. Far too direct and low level. However, I found value in the explanations when getting questions wrong.
CBT Nuggets:
Between chapters, I'd watch a cbtnugget video or two. I've never been a fan of videos for studying for Cisco or CompTIA exams. But for CISSP I found it invaluable since so many of the questions were contextual. The videos helped add emphasis to the overall story that I think ISC2 is trying to tell. But, like the book, I felt they dwelt a little too much on obsolete standards and protocols.
Transcender tests (followed through a link in CBT Nuggets):
I took one of the 250 question practice exams and was frustrated with the outdated tech. I doubt this exam has been updated in at least 5 years.
My background:
I got a DeVry undergrad in Network & Communication Management.
I spent about 4 years in post-sales support for firewalls, web filters, and file transfer.
And about two years in pre-sales support for SIEM.
I found my experience very relevant to the exam, except with software development. Hopefully it all counts as experience to ISC2.
Comments
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cjthedj45
Member Posts: 331 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations! and thanks for the write up. Did I understand correctly that you only did one practice exam prior to the real thing? Just curious as I have seen it referenced that its helpful to do 50% learning books, videos etc and 50% practice exams. I failed first time and have rhe re-sit in a few weeks time. -
higherho
Member Posts: 882
@cjthedj45 - I only did one practice exam (250 questions) and each domain exam (15 questions per domain) in my book.