Passed CISSP CAT
I swear I was going to share my experience even if I didn't pass!
Background: Masters in Computer Science. 17 years in IT as a Programmer/Architect, last 1.5 years in Software Security. This is my first InfoSec certificate.
Study Material
(Mostly video/audio and practice tests, I didn't read more than 5% of any books):
1. David Miller's CISSP Certification Training video course from O'Reilly (watched and listened 2-4 times, the best resource I liked) - 10/10
2. Total Tester from Shon Harris' AIO - Went through all ~1600 questions & their explanation - 7/10
3. CCCure - did about 1600 questions in all domains & their explanation - 8/10
4. CISSP Cert Prep video course by Mike Chapple on Lynda.com (watched top 4 domains by weightage) - 7/10
5. CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests - (Went through all the questions and 2 practice tests. The second best resource I liked) - 10/10
6. Only 'Exam Essentials' sections and Review Questions from the book - CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide - 8/10
7. Skillset.com - I did about 100 or so questions there.
8. Free practice exams from gocertify.com
9. Practice tests on a few free CISSP mobile apps as and when I found time.
I didn't read Shon Harris' AIO book which I have. I started cybrary videos but I gave up on this after watching a few minutes, since I already had David Miller's videos and I was happy with it.
Preparation: The breadth of material at first definitely felt overwhelming! I don't have other InfoSec certificate, I have a couple other certificates, SCEA and TOGAF, and preparing for this cert was definitely more demanding but it was challenging & satisfying as well. I realized that book reading was not my thing and I am glad I got David Miller's video course.
I got serious and focused on preparing for the exam for a week this past summer and I finished David Miller's course once. I got busy with other things but picked up the prep again and studied 4-8 hours every day since last 4 weeks. Once I went through David Miller's course and CCCure and Total Tester questions I wasn't sure if I was ready. I watched some of CISSP Cert Prep video course by Mike Chapple on Lynda.com and realized they were good, but they were not comprehensive.
I then picked up CISSP Official Practice Tests, and gave all questions and I scored about 79% on each of the two practice tests a couple days back, which made me think I was prepared. However, last night when trying to go through each domain's summary, I happen to also give the Assessment Test in CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide and scored 27/40 (67.5%) and for a moment I started doubting myself. I kept my cool and knew I have prepared the best I could in this time frame and went through 'Exam Essentials' in that book and did review questions.
I finished the CAT exam in first 100 questions. Since it is now an adaptive test, I could feel that questions were getting harder, and most of them were not easy/medium.
Thanks to all who shared their experiences on this forum! It certainly helped prepare and set the expectation for the exam.
Finally, any thoughts on what other certification you think I should consider next?
Background: Masters in Computer Science. 17 years in IT as a Programmer/Architect, last 1.5 years in Software Security. This is my first InfoSec certificate.
Study Material
(Mostly video/audio and practice tests, I didn't read more than 5% of any books):
1. David Miller's CISSP Certification Training video course from O'Reilly (watched and listened 2-4 times, the best resource I liked) - 10/10
2. Total Tester from Shon Harris' AIO - Went through all ~1600 questions & their explanation - 7/10
3. CCCure - did about 1600 questions in all domains & their explanation - 8/10
4. CISSP Cert Prep video course by Mike Chapple on Lynda.com (watched top 4 domains by weightage) - 7/10
5. CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests - (Went through all the questions and 2 practice tests. The second best resource I liked) - 10/10
6. Only 'Exam Essentials' sections and Review Questions from the book - CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide - 8/10
7. Skillset.com - I did about 100 or so questions there.
8. Free practice exams from gocertify.com
9. Practice tests on a few free CISSP mobile apps as and when I found time.
I didn't read Shon Harris' AIO book which I have. I started cybrary videos but I gave up on this after watching a few minutes, since I already had David Miller's videos and I was happy with it.
Preparation: The breadth of material at first definitely felt overwhelming! I don't have other InfoSec certificate, I have a couple other certificates, SCEA and TOGAF, and preparing for this cert was definitely more demanding but it was challenging & satisfying as well. I realized that book reading was not my thing and I am glad I got David Miller's video course.
I got serious and focused on preparing for the exam for a week this past summer and I finished David Miller's course once. I got busy with other things but picked up the prep again and studied 4-8 hours every day since last 4 weeks. Once I went through David Miller's course and CCCure and Total Tester questions I wasn't sure if I was ready. I watched some of CISSP Cert Prep video course by Mike Chapple on Lynda.com and realized they were good, but they were not comprehensive.
I then picked up CISSP Official Practice Tests, and gave all questions and I scored about 79% on each of the two practice tests a couple days back, which made me think I was prepared. However, last night when trying to go through each domain's summary, I happen to also give the Assessment Test in CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide and scored 27/40 (67.5%) and for a moment I started doubting myself. I kept my cool and knew I have prepared the best I could in this time frame and went through 'Exam Essentials' in that book and did review questions.
I finished the CAT exam in first 100 questions. Since it is now an adaptive test, I could feel that questions were getting harder, and most of them were not easy/medium.
Thanks to all who shared their experiences on this forum! It certainly helped prepare and set the expectation for the exam.
Finally, any thoughts on what other certification you think I should consider next?
Comments
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NOVA_USA
Member Posts: 13 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congratulations!!
Thanks for the breakdown of your study materials. It's very helpful for those beginning to think about tackling this exam. -
Info_Sec_Wannabe
Member Posts: 428 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats on the pass!
In as much as I want to prepare for the exam using only the videos and practice exams, I don't think it would suffice in my case and I really need to read a book or two...
X year plan: (20XX) OSCP [ ], CCSP [ ] -
tkreagan
Member Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
Congrats.
Just to tack on to this - I also felt the questions were consistently challenging, which made me feel confident as I knew I was doing well. So would advise anyone taking now under the CAT format to recognize that if it feels like this is really hard, it probably means you are doing well.
