Where have all the CISSP test takers gone?

ice9

Out of general curiosity, What happened to the abundant number of postings in the CISSP Discussion area?
Other than Reddit, Is there another competitive forum to TechExams?  I know there are probably just as many test takers out there that want to share their experiences.

--Ice9 

TheFORCE

I know of at least 2 people that are taking cissp,  one next week, also one person took sec+ this week. None visit the forum. People just don't find this forum as easily anymore. I posted a thread titled "is tech exams dead?" a few weeks ago and some people think that is not and believe that Reddit has taken a piece of the time, I'm not in that camp. 

UnixGuy

@ice9 are you taking the test? if yes, why don't you start a thread about it? people find threads via search engines this way & participate - that's how most of us found this place

ice9

@UnixGuy I hear ya! I am yet another long-term failure case of CISSP test taking, delaying and procrastinating until another push towards the newer CAT way of the exam.  There are probably man regular thread visitors that always want the status quo of 2019 test taking experiences.  Many of us know what to expect with the newer exam setup for almost 2 years now. (I failed under the 250 question days). I visit this site at least every 2 weeks for the CISSP "Camp Stories". It's about the human experience in the testing center, that is an obvious end statement to my comments/observations.

advanex1

I didn't post my CISSP pass in this forum, but I exist. I took it 8/19.

DZA_

I passed back in 2017 so my experiences aren't really recent and don't really apply. TechExams is the holy grail of all CISSP pass threads!

dandadynamite

they are probably waiting a month and 3 months to take it again if they failed

Or just avoiding retaking it because it costs $700

The ones that do pass post they passed and move on with life

I take my test next week and have just been trying to hack away at studying diligently

devilbones

The format of this forum is so bad, I wish there was a way to change it.  I cannot even tell the date of the OP and the layout is confusing. 

cyberguypr

What do you mean? It clearly says "September 28". Maybe you are on mobile and it displays different?

Ertaz

r/CISSP ?  I seriously think you can take the exam as part of a high school graduation package now. 

devilbones

cyberguypr said:

What do you mean? It clearly says "September 28". Maybe you are on mobile and it displays different?

I should have clarified that from the Sub forum it shows last activity.  Also the longer threads are all in one long page instead of breaking it into multiple pages. 

DZA_

Ertaz said:

r/CISSP ?  I seriously think you can take the exam as part of a high school graduation package now. 

Got a source for that? That totally defeats the purpose of being certified if you don't have the work experience to back it up. 

McxRisley

They have all passed and went to the glorious infosec utopia where they all make six figure salaries and buy beard care products.

Ertaz

DZA_ said:

Ertaz said:

r/CISSP ?  I seriously think you can take the exam as part of a high school graduation package now. 

Got a source for that? That totally defeats the purpose of being certified if you don't have the work experience to back it up. 

Should have highlighted it in blue. I was being sarcastic about the high school graduation package.   The cert is still great to have but the value is becoming very watered down by the volume of folks being added.   So many passed threads on r/CISSP.

Johnhe0414

McxRisley said:

They have all passed and went to the glorious infosec utopia where they all make six figure salaries and buy beard care products.

or soap made for real men....

mikey88

Ertaz said:

The cert is still great to have but the value is becoming very watered down by the volume of folks being added.   So many passed threads on r/CISSP.

Yes,  maybe more people are attempting the certification due to increased demand for Cyber professionals, but how is it watered down now? It’s the same requirements as before and plenty fail on the first attempt.

lucky0977

Ertaz said:

Should have highlighted it in blue. I was being sarcastic about the high school graduation package.   The cert is still great to have but the value is becoming very watered down by the volume of folks being added.   So many passed threads on r/CISSP.

I can see how it could be watered down but the exam is still diffcult. I talk with my co-workers who have failed the exam and they tell me all the horror stories and questions they ran into that blew their mind. I keep my mouth shut while they're complaining about all the aspects of the exam because I went through that experience as well. It may be partly watered down now because all these training providers who claim to train you for the exam tell students what you should or shouldn't study for because this topic will be on the exam while another subject won't be on the exam. In the past, we had to read the entire book multiple times mainly out of fear because you have no idea what was going to be on the exam.

You hear the term "Mile wide and an inch deep" and trainers tell the students you don't have to read this section or that section or you won't see this subject on the test so don't waste your time reading that part of the chapter.

advanex1

A certification is always going to have an increase in volume for those that are certified. They are especially going to have an influx when it's required by DoD for almost any position that's worth a decent amount of money in the IT world.

The reason CISM (probably an easier certification from what I've read) doesn't have a lot of people flocking to it is because it doesn't take care of the IAT III requirement, but does give you CSSP Manager. It also is not as widely known to recruiters as opposed to the CISSP for requirements.

I thought the test was pretty dang difficult, but it probably could have been more difficult (glad it wasn't). I think the reason it's losing it's "luster" to some is the fact that it's so over required that it's slowly looking like the new Security+. I made that comment to my boot camp instructor but he did point out that Cyberseek.org is showing the certified individuals vs job openings are still in good shape.

I don't know. I'm probably just rambling now but part of this field is improving.. so depending on your CISSP to be your ticket through life would be a bad assumption/plan. CISM, CISA, CCISO, etc etc should probably be the way forward if you want to stay ahead on the management side.

sumeetgandhi

I guess majority of CISSP takers / passed out folks are active on Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/cissp/new/

november24

I have no idea about the CISSP but a friend of mine has advised me to consider this certificate, I went to the ISC2 website to take an overview about this exam and then I read that the exam fees is $699 in the US, I found it too much, what if I have to repeat the exam? ISC2 considers themselves as a "non-Profit" and they still charge this fat number for their exam. such a shame.

tedjames

november24 said:

I have no idea about the CISSP but a friend of mine has advised me to consider this certificate, I went to the ISC2 website to take an overview about this exam and then I read that the exam fees is $699 in the US, I found it too much, what if I have to repeat the exam? ISC2 considers themselves as a "non-Profit" and they still charge this fat number for their exam. such a shame.

Yep, if you have to repeat the exam, you get to pay for it twice. A friend of mine took it three times before he passed. Maybe you can get your employer to pay for it.

The fees are really way too high, but at least they're cheaper than SANS.

cyberguypr

CISPP too much? Don't look at GIAC certs then. Wait, even better for discussion: $950 for CEH. Your turn.

november24

tedjames said:

Maybe you can get your employer to pay for it.

My employer doesn't need me to take any certificate or any training, he is happy with what I am, but it is not good for me

JDMurray

november24 said:

ISC2 considers themselves as a "non-Profit" and they still charge this fat number for their exam. such a shame.

Where did you learn to equate "non-profit" with "frugal" or "thrifty?" Many of the highest-earning non-profits rely on huge donations or charging significant amounts for their services to cover their operating expenses. Some have a CEO that makes over $1M a year.

JDMurray

cyberguypr said:

CISPP too much? Don't look at GIAC certs then. Wait, even better for discussion: $950 for CEH. Your turn.

This is cert inflation caused somewhat by the strong need for InfoSec but primarily by their acceptance in DDoD 8570.01.

DZA_

sumeetgandhi said:

I guess majority of CISSP takers / passed out folks are active on Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/cissp/new/

If you look at the activity, it's way active. You have post every couple of hours but most definitely at least one new post per day. 

beads

The difference is that we have tons and tons of material in which to study these days. Ten years ago we were still taking exams in person, proctored by CISSPs and the exam was still quite mysterious. We had one tome by Shon Harris. A class you took in order to hope to be one of the lucky 20 percent of people who passed. Today its closer to 90 percent on the first attempt but we have tons of study materials and the latest brain **** to boot.

Sorry we really don't need the boards like we once did and wow! Yet another major change to old TechExams! All corporate and everything now.