How to determine CISSP Readiness

mikey88

So I've been studying for the CISSP exam for several months now and I'm still unsure if I am actually ready for my first attempt or not. I am utilizing several difference resources including Boson exam sim (scoring low %70s so far)

I've only taken CompTIA exams in the past so I don't want to underestimate the difficulty of CISSP. For those of you that recently attempted to take the exam, what were the indicators that gave to the confidence to proceed?

JDMurray

For me, there were no indicators. I simply set my exam date and then studied my butt off until the night before the exam. My edge was to have recently studied for and taken the SSCP exam. I felt that that the SSCP was good preparation for the CISSP exam, and it was.

I don't think anybody goes into the CISSP exam feeling that they understand enough about the material to pass, especially if they have never taken the exam before. You are doing the right thing by studying from several different sources of material. There is no single source that will cover everything that you might see on the CISSP is the exam or can prepare you for the wording of the questions.

SteveLavoie

Like JDMurray said, the SSCP exam is a nice stepping stone to CISSP. I did it too a few month before my CISSP (about 6 month before), to get a feel of an ISC2 exam and to see how the endorsement process is going. 

IMHO, if you score in the low 70, you are still not fully prepared. Does some domain make you sweat? Focus on them.  However nobody can be 100% ready to this exam. You need real-life IT experience and you need to know well each domain  to be able to pass it. 

And the final word, don't be afraid of this exam, after all if you failed, it is only 599$ USD. Nobody will fire you, nobody will laugh of you.. it is a hard exam and you will learn from this process. There is no honor lost by failing this exam. 

DZA_

A rule of thumb that particularly with the CISSP is that when you score 80% and above on questions and the mock exams, it'll provide a pretty good baseline that your knowledge is sound. As always, you would like to get higher score but 80% is a good measuring stick to start off with. If you find yourself explaining concepts well i.e. what are the different risk management frameworks without being too technical, that's another indicator that you're heading in the right direction. 

laurieH

70% area is too low. I was in the high 80%s and I still felt like I struggled (although I fortunately passed). Depends a bit on who's funding the exam - if you're paying for it yourself I would personally try and be performing higher because there's a higher risk of failing and having to pay to retake it.

SteveLavoie

DZA_ said:

A rule of thumb that particularly with the CISSP is that when you score 80% and above on questions and the mock exams, it'll provide a pretty good baseline that your knowledge is sound. As always, you would like to get higher score but 80% is a good measuring stick to start off with. If you find yourself explaining concepts well i.e. what are the different risk management frameworks without being too technical, that's another indicator that you're heading in the right direction. 

I would add that you need to score a 80% and higher on a fresh question bank, not the one that you know all the question by heart. 

JDMurray

Does anyone know if the (ISC)2 still sells practice exams? I just had a look on their site and I don't see any.

SteveLavoie

@JDMurray they have their official books and mobile apps.

DZA_

I believe when I took my exam back in 2017 that ISC2 didn't provide their own practice exams on their websites. I've think they've leaned towards using the Sybex and their official study guide for the mock exams.