Passed CISSP July 2019

vm_cybersec

Hi,

I passed my CISSP exam couple of days ago. The hard work was paid off. So now i am sharing my experience as i have been reading these forums for a long time. Starting off  I used the following study material for the exam -

1. ISC2 Official study book as i find it easier to read compared to Shon Harris.
2. ISC2 Official practise tests, online version.
3. I also watched Cybrary videos once. 
4. I googled some topics which i did not completely understood from the book.I also created my own mind maps which helped me lot while revising.

Most helpful -
The official practise test’s online questions ( about 1300 in total) were really good and i think it hugely helped me in preparation. Those practise questions allowed me to focus on my weak areas and revising those areas.I scored about 81% in mock exams. I spend about 130 hours in total ( 60% time reading and 40% on questions and mock exams)

A day before exam i went for jog in the morning, spend time with family and watched ‘The Great Hack’ at night. I wanted to make sure i am fresh mind when i go for the exam next day.
On the exam day my exam started at 8:15 am and I breezed though first 10 questions in 5 minutes. I though i might finish my exam in  90 minutes but i was so wrong. After first 10 questions, questions become difficult and i spend almost an hour answering next 35 questions. Some questions were really difficult and some I never read anywhere. After an hour i changed my strategy and i stopped spending more than 2 minutes on difficult questions as they were mentally exhausting. Also instead of finding the right answer i started marking out the wrong answers first, that helped me a lot going quickly through questions. For the next 55 questions it took me an hour. At 100th question i prayed that my exam ends now and as soon i clicked next exam ended.I was scared but i had a feeling that i passed. I went to reception, the lady handed me print out and first word i read, was Congratulations. I was overjoyed. 

Some people said exam is meant to fail you but i disagree. The exam is all about reading and understanding material, memorising important facts e.g DNS ports etc and most importantly test taking skills.

Finally my back ground is in IT/infrastructure support and last 4 years i have been involved in IT security operations. Also i am MCSE ( 2010), CCNA, VCP6, CEH, ITIL foundation, PRINCE 2 foundation, GIAC GMON, 7Safe Pen testing certified. 

Info_Sec_Wannabe

Congrats on the pass! I remember when I was doing my mock exams that I was only averaging about ~70% and was really thinking twice whether to schedule my exam at a later date. However, the mental exhaustion just pushed me to jump the gun and luckily I passed. 

What's next for you? 

vm_cybersec

Thanks and Congrats to you as well. Not many people will have courage to sit for exam with 70%  pass rate in mock tests. Next on my list is CISM because there is a bit of overlap with CISSM and its in demand certification. Also I am considering - BCS PCiIAA ( UK based ) or CISSP-ISSAP. Waiting on ISC2 to update the official book on CISSP-ISSAP as its seems to be missing some content.

mikey88

Congrats! Hard work does pay off.