Passed - Watching videos
Hi everyone. Today I passed the CISSP exam, so thought i would share my experience.
Study
I'm not a reader. I could cover a book from start to finish and still not absorb any of the information. I watched lots of videos, listened to podcasts etc, and would advise the following - in this order.
1. Start with Kelly's Cybrary videos. These are a great introduction and really help set the tone of the exam. As she states - think like a manager - i cannot stress this enough
2. Mike Chapple videos on linked in - similar to kelly, but focus on a few other key areas
3. Sari Greene videos (Safari online books) - I would say these cover the whole spectrum at the right level
4. David Miller videos (Safari online books) - These are excellent for the detail where the concept is completely new to you. Really goes into the detail - but don't get fixated. Remember - Think like a manager
5. Youtube - For areas that i still didn't get, i just researched on youtube and watched specific videos on that concept.
I found myself watching all the videos on x1.5 speed.
Books
I only bought the Sybex book, and used this for reference / further deep dives into material that was unfamiliar to me
Practice Tests
I did all of the sybex practice tests. The weekend before the tests i did all 8 x 100 questions to cover all domains and scored the following : 1: 93% 2: 85% 3: 89% 4: 81% 5: 78% 6: 76% 7: 88% 8: 87%
I also paid for a month of CCCure, probably did about 1000, but found the sybex questions better.
I had done 3 x 250 tests during my study phase and saved 1 x 250 test for the day before. I scored 87% on that.
Mind Maps & Mnemonics.
I used the sunflower guide and this one : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3IpQVcFQ91hZGxWd1dzTDA5bGc/view
However, it is the creation of your own mind maps / mnemonics which actually makes the information stick - otherwise you are simply reading information from a page. It really is important to understand the "why" we do security, rather then just the "what" we do. If you know the order of the incident management process, but don't understand why the order is the way it is, you are not ready for the exam.
Test
I was fortunate to have a private room in my test centre, however, there were workman drilling next door for at least an hour. This really put me off. I asked for ear plugs which helped a little, but i struggled to concentrate at this point. I flagged 25 questions for review, probably change about 5 -10. I then started a review of all 250 questions - especially the ones where i struggled to concentrate. After 100, i was confident i was reading the questions appropriately and decided to finish there. Took about 3 1/2 hours including review.
The lady at the test centre decided to extend my agony by printing the sheet and reading it all before she gave it to me. Glad to have passed.
Study
I'm not a reader. I could cover a book from start to finish and still not absorb any of the information. I watched lots of videos, listened to podcasts etc, and would advise the following - in this order.
1. Start with Kelly's Cybrary videos. These are a great introduction and really help set the tone of the exam. As she states - think like a manager - i cannot stress this enough
2. Mike Chapple videos on linked in - similar to kelly, but focus on a few other key areas
3. Sari Greene videos (Safari online books) - I would say these cover the whole spectrum at the right level
4. David Miller videos (Safari online books) - These are excellent for the detail where the concept is completely new to you. Really goes into the detail - but don't get fixated. Remember - Think like a manager
5. Youtube - For areas that i still didn't get, i just researched on youtube and watched specific videos on that concept.
I found myself watching all the videos on x1.5 speed.
Books
I only bought the Sybex book, and used this for reference / further deep dives into material that was unfamiliar to me
Practice Tests
I did all of the sybex practice tests. The weekend before the tests i did all 8 x 100 questions to cover all domains and scored the following : 1: 93% 2: 85% 3: 89% 4: 81% 5: 78% 6: 76% 7: 88% 8: 87%
I also paid for a month of CCCure, probably did about 1000, but found the sybex questions better.
I had done 3 x 250 tests during my study phase and saved 1 x 250 test for the day before. I scored 87% on that.
Mind Maps & Mnemonics.
I used the sunflower guide and this one : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3IpQVcFQ91hZGxWd1dzTDA5bGc/view
However, it is the creation of your own mind maps / mnemonics which actually makes the information stick - otherwise you are simply reading information from a page. It really is important to understand the "why" we do security, rather then just the "what" we do. If you know the order of the incident management process, but don't understand why the order is the way it is, you are not ready for the exam.
Test
I was fortunate to have a private room in my test centre, however, there were workman drilling next door for at least an hour. This really put me off. I asked for ear plugs which helped a little, but i struggled to concentrate at this point. I flagged 25 questions for review, probably change about 5 -10. I then started a review of all 250 questions - especially the ones where i struggled to concentrate. After 100, i was confident i was reading the questions appropriately and decided to finish there. Took about 3 1/2 hours including review.
The lady at the test centre decided to extend my agony by printing the sheet and reading it all before she gave it to me. Glad to have passed.
Comments
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SariG
Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
Congratulations on passing the exam and achieving your CISSP certification! Best regards, Sari Greene -
Z0sickx
Member Posts: 180 ■■■□□□□□□□
congrats on your pass, i had to listen to weedwackers and lawn mowers they entire 4 hours of my test..along with noisy chairs in the room had sound cancelling headhphones that somewhat helped..
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redsteel
Member Posts: 32 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congratulations! Thanks for the pointers! I'm curious what your work experience has been and for how long for you to just watch videos and pass it.
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clarkincnet
Member Posts: 256 ■■■□□□□□□□
CongratsGive a hacker an exploit, and they will have access for a day, BUT teach them to phish, and they will have access for the rest of their lives!
Have: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CGEIT, ITIL-F -
LordQarlyn
Member Posts: 693 ■■■■■■□□□□
Yeah I found CCcure questions not really helpful for the CISSP exam I took. I joined them because many others who had their CISSP said it helped them to prepare. But when I took the exam there were topics that were not even touched or mentioned on CCcure's practice exams. I sent an email to Clement to let him know his material needs serious updating.
I took the exam at the Society of Engineer's test center in Dubai, it was nice and quiet fortunately. I had such a good experience that I took (and failed) my CCNA exam there.
