Doing a 5 day CISSP course, what do I need to know?

deltzy

As per the title my workplace is funding a 5 day CISSP course soon with a free exam attempt. Reading from various threads it seems it requires months of studying to be ready for the exam. What are peoples thoughts on the best way to go about this?

Revise before the course, do the 5 day course and book the exam shortly after? Or do the course to get the fundamentals, study for a period (e.g 30 days) after and then take the exam?

yoba222

My approach would be to self-study before the course and be at the practice exam taking level before stepping foot in the classroom. 5 days is sure to be highly concentrated information, and for me, I learn much more effectively if I already know most of the material when it's super concentrated. That course will be the icing on the cake and then take the exam shortly afterwards.

Infosec_Sam

I'd also recommend a bit of self-study before the start of the boot camp, especially if you're trying to pass the CISSP on your first attempt. Your mileage may vary, but Infosec's cert boot camps also include pre-study resources, as well as providing you access to recordings/materials after the boot camp ends. I ended up scheduling my exam about a week after the boot camp ended, since I had some weak areas that I wanted to address before attempting the exam.

But yeah, it certainly never hurts to do a little extra studying before/after the boot camp. 

Danielm7

Agree with the others, you don't want to go into that cold or little chance you'll retain everything you need. The time to study thing is based on a ton of variables, none of which I know about you. For example, what is your prior experience level with the domains? Judging from your signature, the OSCP is impressive but probably of no use for this one, the Sec+ would have more cross over, and with the current version of the CISSP exam I don't know how much the cloud material is covered. 

I took it with less than a month of concentrated self study, but I had a wide background covering a lot of the material beforehand. If you really want to pass it I'd start reviewing material now. I'd probably go through the full cybrary CISSP course beforehand, it's free and she gives tons of tips that help narrow down what material you should focus on as the whole CBK is huge if you don't have any direction. 

deltzy

Danielm7 said:

Agree with the others, you don't want to go into that cold or little chance you'll retain everything you need. The time to study thing is based on a ton of variables, none of which I know about you. For example, what is your prior experience level with the domains? Judging from your signature, the OSCP is impressive but probably of no use for this one, the Sec+ would have more cross over, and with the current version of the CISSP exam I don't know how much the cloud material is covered. 

I took it with less than a month of concentrated self study, but I had a wide background covering a lot of the material beforehand. If you really want to pass it I'd start reviewing material now. I'd probably go through the full cybrary CISSP course beforehand, it's free and she gives tons of tips that help narrow down what material you should focus on as the whole CBK is huge if you don't have any direction. 

Great points. I've had a look at the syllabus and there is some crossover from my CCENT/SEC+ for sure. Security and Risk Management, and the Security Operation are probably my weak domains. 

Thanks for the Cybrary course lead, I'll have a look at that and other learning materials others have recommended on here.

bigdogz

I agree with the others. Here is another point:
If you study before you walk in on the class, it is better to mark topics/subjects that you know and ones you don't as you begin your studies. You will slowly work your foundation of knowledge and build up to your strengths.You will be more comfortable in the class and ask more '...according to (ISC)2 ' questions, not fumbling through the book a great deal, getting confused, and frustrated. Don't get me wrong, asking questions is part of the class. I would encourage you to ask as many as you wish. 
You will be a better student during class but more importantly, you will be better prepared for the exam.