Passed the CISSP and IMHO
I agree with a lot of the people here that said this or that source was of no help, except to give you the basic information and set the foundation from which to draw your 'best answer' based on ALL of the materials. There were very few questions that resembled any of the questions in the prep exams unless "hell if I know" was the right answer to most of them (it wasn't). Having said that, Kelly Handerhan's voice, quips, mnemonics, illustrations, etc. helped probably as much or more than anything, for me, but there again, as a single source, there is no single source and I wouldn't even consider depending on one. What seriously irritated 
me is when they disagreed (i.e. the Official Guide didn't even list Strong Star), which in those cases, I went back to the original CBK to get the source of truth (or so I hoped). This is not to discourage anyone of you out there in taking the test or scare you any worse than I am sure you already are, I am saying all of this to let you know that everything you review, study and read, and all of the prep tests you can get your hands on and can afford (DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $100 for anything - it is a waste of money), and getting all of the points of view, perspectives, etc. was my greatest help......that and a "what the hell" attitude, knowing I could take it more than once. I sat for 4.5 hours without moving. Took a break, then went back and reviewed the first 100 again. I had a couple of "what was I thinking" 
moments and changed a few, but for the most part, I went with what I had answered originally. At 5 hours and 15 minutes, I hit the exit exam and submit...... I think all of the prep tests, reviews, reading and Kelly's videos were the biggest contribution to my passing the CISSP on my first try. I am not a network person (at all) and I come from healthcare insurance / IT PM and federal contractor experience with web, database, analytics and software development with some cyber security auditing in my many contracting and job backgrounds.
For managers, it is very technical, for technical people, it is very manager-ery - that's because it is a true mix with lots of judgment calls in many scenarios - again Kelly's little quips helped me there too.
me is when they disagreed (i.e. the Official Guide didn't even list Strong Star), which in those cases, I went back to the original CBK to get the source of truth (or so I hoped). This is not to discourage anyone of you out there in taking the test or scare you any worse than I am sure you already are, I am saying all of this to let you know that everything you review, study and read, and all of the prep tests you can get your hands on and can afford (DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $100 for anything - it is a waste of money), and getting all of the points of view, perspectives, etc. was my greatest help......that and a "what the hell" attitude, knowing I could take it more than once. I sat for 4.5 hours without moving. Took a break, then went back and reviewed the first 100 again. I had a couple of "what was I thinking" moments and changed a few, but for the most part, I went with what I had answered originally. At 5 hours and 15 minutes, I hit the exit exam and submit...... I think all of the prep tests, reviews, reading and Kelly's videos were the biggest contribution to my passing the CISSP on my first try. I am not a network person (at all) and I come from healthcare insurance / IT PM and federal contractor experience with web, database, analytics and software development with some cyber security auditing in my many contracting and job backgrounds. For managers, it is very technical, for technical people, it is very manager-ery - that's because it is a true mix with lots of judgment calls in many scenarios - again Kelly's little quips helped me there too. Comments
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jhearn
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Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience. I'm deep into my studies and I find it really useful to get this sort of input. -
gespenstern
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Congratz! Being a gov. contractor it helps a lot to have a CISSP label I guess!
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jtmusky
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Conga-ratz! When I took my test, I drew from my 10 years of experience more so than any of the test prep sources.
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jpadela48
Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
Agreed - I drew heavily from my years of technical project management; the reading and study helped give me the right terms and some foundations that filled in the gaps.
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LordQarlyn
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Congrats on the passing! It was Larry Greenblatt's videos who did it for me, setting my mindset, well I think anyway. Probably all of the materials I went over laid the foundation.I agree with a lot of the people here that said this or that source was of no help, except to give you the basic information and set the foundation from which to draw your 'best answer' based on ALL of the materials. There were very few questions that resembled any of the questions in the prep exams unless "hell if I know" was the right answer to most of them (it wasn't). Having said that, Kelly Handerhan's voice, quips, mnemonics, illustrations, etc. helped probably as much or more than anything, for me, but there again, as a single source, there is no single source and I wouldn't even consider depending on one. What seriously irritated me is when they disagreed (i.e. the Official Guide didn't even list Strong Star), which in those cases, I went back to the original CBK to get the source of truth (or so I hoped). This is not to discourage anyone of you out there in taking the test or scare you any worse than I am sure you already are, I am saying all of this to let you know that everything you review, study and read, and all of the prep tests you can get your hands on and can afford (DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $100 for anything -
jpadela48
Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
Another tip is to make sure you have a light breakfast (I had a protein shake and a Bel Vita) and then on my break, I had another Bel Vita biscuit - it gives you energy and a whole grain boost -- all of this helped sharpen my focus. After my nerves settled (after the first 20+ questions), I was so hungry and thirsty, I could have eaten a rat running across the floor if I saw one (can't be any worse than squirrel, right?). I took about 7 or 8 full-length tests so I knew about the hunger and endurance, but not to that extent.
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518
Member Posts: 165 ■■■□□□□□□□
I think all of the prep tests, reviews, reading and Kelly's videos were the biggest contribution to my passing the CISSP on my first try. I am not a network person (at all) and I come from healthcare insurance / IT PM and federal contractor experience with web, database, analytics and software development with some cyber security auditing in my many contracting and job backgrounds. For managers, it is very technical, for technical people, it is very manager-ery - that's because it is a true mix with lots of judgment calls in many scenarios - again Kelly's little quips helped me there too.
I couldn't agree more with Kelly comments. She basically closed all the gaps between materials I read and helped me with many judgement calls.
After the exam, I had 15mins left and 98 marked for review. I read the first two marked for review questions, and said: "F it, if I dont know this sh*t now, I'm already screwed. I'll just f'n re-schedule another one." then the results said, "Congrats." Whaaaaat...done and over. Next... -
leboratorical
Member Posts: 46 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations! It isn't a fun exam, in any way, shape or form.... but you nailed it.
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MIME
Member Posts: 36 ■■□□□□□□□□
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I have just started studying for my CISSP and this information is incredibly helpful. I'm in the same area of the country you are (lots of govt contracting here). My background is network admin/systems engineering with no management experience so learning "how to think like a manager" for this exam is going to be a challenge to say the least. I appreciate all of your tips and tricks and candid thoughts.
