CISSP and trainingcamp.com

JustMeAgain

Is anyone familiar with trainingcamp.com for CISSP exam preparation? Besides being outrageously and prohibitively expensive, would you recommend them? Thanks.

LarryDaMan

I have a bootcamp with them scheduled from Oct. 13-19, so I can let you know. Search the threads over at cccure.org and you will find a bunch of opinions on bootcamps and Training Camp.

For the CISSP, the "bootcamp" is more of a review seminar. If you go into the bootcamp with no prior studying, you will fail.

I chose Training Camp because they are one of the few major providers authorized by ISC(2) to administer the test at the end of the camp. There are some great companies with proven quality training (SANS, Vigilar Intense) that do not administer the test. If you don't want to take the test at the end of class, the two companies mentioned above are probably more highly regarded.

The breakdown at Training Camp is Mon-Fri they do 2 domains a day (10-12 hr days), on Saturday they do an intense review and practice tests and then the test is administered on Sunday. Also, they have evening study groups and you supposedly have 24/7 access to the instructors for questions. Breakfast and lunch are provided. The hotel is included but your invoice can be credited if you don't need the hotel. There are putting me up at a Comfort Inn, so we are not talking anything fancy.

My work is paying for the bootcamp, if they weren't, I would not be taking one. Many people do just fine with self-study, but I figured an extra 6 days of very concentrated studying can only help.

IraqGun2CISSP

This is my first post. Hello to all.

I too am scheduled to do the 7 day Training Camp Boot Camp in December to take the exam at the end of the 7 days.

My company is paying for my training, as I feel its good to have 6 days of wall to wall immersion on top of whatever study I can do in Shon Harris's book.

Speaking for myself, Shon's book is good,but its 1100+ pages, and that book alone and some other select materials is alot, and with a fulltime job, there's not much time to study each day. Its small chunks on a daily basis, and before long, its easy to forget some of the stuff I reviewed 2 and 3 months ago.

Being burnt out with some of the long and dry reading, the focus at this point, I think is to do a good bit more with the freepracticetest.org , and to focus on that. Reading is passive, where practice tests are more active.

I'm hoping the bootcamp will somehow tie it all together. But then nothing is guaranteed.

Any suggestions from any CISSPs on EFFECTIVE Study Methods 3 months from the exam is always welcome!

JustMeAgain

Thank you for answering my post.

IraqGun2CISSP

LarryDaMan:

First off, congrats on passing, and slaying the beast! You do seem well releaved and understandably.

1. What was your impression of "Training Camp dot com"???

[What is clear from all of your posts is that you studied your balls off before going to the bootcamp, but how much of your success do you attribute to "self-study" and how to the Training Camp?]

2. Did the training you received in those 7 days match the REALITY of the test itself? If so, how would you rate that on a 1 to 10 scale? 1 being poor and 10 being outstanding.

3. What was different between your hard self-study and the 7 day bootcamp? Did you learn much during the course that you overlooked before the course?

I ask these questions, because I'm slated for the very same bootcamp you just went thru!

Your comments would be appreciated! Again, congrats!!

LarryDaMan

IraqGun2CISSP wrote:

LarryDaMan:

First off, congrats on passing, and slaying the beast! You do seem well releaved and understandably.

1. What was your impression of "Training Camp dot com"???

[What is clear from all of your posts is that you studied your balls off before going to the bootcamp, but how much of your success do you attribute to "self-study" and how to the Training Camp?]

2. Did the training you received in those 7 days match the REALITY of the test itself? If so, how would you rate that on a 1 to 10 scale? 1 being poor and 10 being outstanding.

3. What was different between your hard self-study and the 7 day bootcamp? Did you learn much during the course that you overlooked before the course?

I ask these questions, because I'm slated for the very same bootcamp you just went thru!

Your comments would be appreciated! Again, congrats!!

Here is what I posted on www.cccure.org. If you haven't found that site yet, spend a lot of time surfing through the resources and the posts. You'll probably gain points on your CISSP score just from doing that:

I passed the exam taken on October 19th.

I studied pretty hard and it paid off. Developed an 8-week study plan. Did one domain per week, with some of the smaller ones in the same week. Kept a strict schedule and laid everything out on an excel spreadsheet.

I watched Clement's excellent CISSP Overview presentation
Read Shon Harris's AIO
Read the OIG
Watched Shon Harris's DVDs
Used the pdf of Krutz's Gold Edition to search topics and keywords.
Read 2-3 NIST docs, and skimmed a few others. BCP doc was useful.
Looked up topics on Wiki and Google
Read many cccure posts
Took about 3,000 practice questions (averaged about 80%, kept track of this on excel too)
Used cram guides from cccure (Overly..etc.)
Went to a bootcamp with TrainingCamp (ISC2)

ALL of the Shon Harris stuff is great, highly recommended. The OIG was terrible and if I could do it over again, I would replace it with the Krutz/Vines book.

Practice questions were helpful. They built confidence and helped identify weak areas. I used questions from several places (ISC2, Shon Harris, Transcender, PrepLogic, cccure). I liked the Shon Harris and ISC2 questions the best. The cccure questions were great and free, but some of the questions seem to be written to show off how clever the question writer is, instead of testing knowledge.

The bootcamp was probably unnecessary in the sense that it was just a review, but it did allow me to get away from outside distractions and concentrate on the CISSP.

TrainingCamp is just an official ISC2 Bootcamp in disguise. The difference is the hotel, accommadations, and food... TrainingCamp adds the hospitality, but I had an ISC2 instructor and it was at ISC2 headquarters. Training Camp = ISC2

Your Questions:

1) For me, it was 99% perecent self study, 1% bootcamp. The bootcamp grazes over stuff in a few minutes that you may have studied for hours already. The major benefit of the bootcamp for me was that I was away in a hotel with no distractions.. CISSP "all the time" for 7 days. If you study hard and can find that quiet time to prepare during that last week, SKIP THE BOOTCAMP.

2) The training was fine, and the instructor was awesome. BUT, it was clear that the instructor had no inside knowledge of exam topics. I laughed because there were several things we were told that we MUST know and they were nowhere to be found on the exam.

3) Again, self-study would be fine. If you can get your employer to pay for the bootcamp (I did) and you think it would help, you should go.

IraqGun2CISSP

LarryDaMan: Thanks for your response, and your input. I'm inspired. I'm one of the lucky ones to have the employer pay for the bootcamp, but I have some work to do before that time. Your documented pre-bootcamp preparation helps tremendously.

Keep up the good work!!!

JDMurray

One thing I would say is that you should study AIO4 first (AIO5 is due out in 2009) to understand the concepts, and then read through OIG2007 to pick up any extra material not covered in AIO4. OIG is the official reference published by the vendor of the CISSP cert, so it is likely to contain conceptual and factual information not in other material. You do need to understand InfoSec from the (ISC)2's point of view for the CISSP exam. Rather than fully reading OIG for my own CISSP studies, I will be just skimming it looking for such tidbits.

IraqGun2CISSP

I've been resistant to OIG partially due to the bad PR it's received on this list. However, JD's point is valid, and so I'm looking for a used copy, although even that may not be too cheap.

LarryDaMan

IraqGun2CISSP wrote:

I've been resistant to OIG partially due to the bad PR it's received on this list. However, JD's point is valid, and so I'm looking for a used copy, although even that may not be too cheap.

I've been meaning to comment on this. I read the OIG and it is a mess. Many authors, almost 20 pages of errata. It has a lack of continuity and is redundant is some areas. Also, I don't think there is any advantage because it has the ISC2 name on it.

The training (for profit) arm of ISC2 is supposed to be separate from the certification arm (not for profit). This Chinese Wall was established to protect ISC2 from itself. ISC2 would actually risk de-certification of the credential if it used "inside" information to give their study materials a competitive edge.

Reading the OIG would not hurt, but it is a misnomer to think having that ISC2 name on it gives you some insight on the philosophy or methods of the testing body. The thing had more than a dozen authors!

Just my opinion, but there are at least 3-5 other widely recommended study guides that would probably make for better use of that precious study time. If nothing else, use the OIG as a tertiary reference book.

JDMurray

LarryDaMan wrote:

Just my opinion, but there are at least 3-5 other widely recommended study guides that would probably make for better use of that precious study time. If nothing else, use the OIG as a tertiary reference book.

The CISSP CBK follows the NIST Special Publications guidelines quite closely, but they can be monsters to read.

andyru99

I'm planning to attend the 7-day bootcamp by trainingcamp.com

In my case, I'll have to travel regardless of where/when I take it. The travel costs will be mostly comparable.

Where did you guys take the course and how was the facility? I'm wondering which place to go to (NY, PA, DC, etc.) I mean, it's all fun to say "Go to San Fran or Florida, etc." but we all know what this 7-day course is about. There is little free time and you need to be "on your game" mentally so you're not there for a good time persay.

Wondering which training location offers the best setup. Opinions appreciated.

unsupported

andyru99,

You may want to start a new thread with your question. This original thread is over 2 years old now.

When I took my CISSP boot camp it was held at my work, so I knew the facilities. I would make sure you do a lot of research about the facilities. If you are traveling, how far is it from the airport, or your hotel. Local restaurants. Also, what about the facilities themselves? I've mainly been concerned about facilities for taking the exams, because the wrong facility (like a double wide trailer in the middle of an airport) is not the place to take an exam, or even a boot camp.

Also, things to find out is how long after the boot camp are you able to schedule the exam? Is the exam right after the boot camp? Make sure you do a lot of studying on your own before any boot camp for the CISSP, otherwise you WILL be lost. Visit cccure.org for more detailed help on the CISSP.

Good luck!

IraqGun2CISSP

unsupported wrote: »

andyru99,

You may want to start a new thread with your question. This original thread is over 2 years old now.

Good luck!

This thread may be old, but it's not dead. This is my first post since November 1, 2008, and this was the last thread I posted to.

Training Camp is good to go. Instructors are great, the staff are very helpful and accomodating. The food and facilities are good to go.

I did not pass on my first attempt, but with the remote coaching of the instructor, and helpfulness of the staff, they did what they could to pull me over the hump and obtain a passing score for the CISSP exam. Kuddos to them.

For those who passed on this list the first time (with or without a bootcamp), it is probably because you have had a bit more experience that I did across some of the more technical domains - Crypto, Telco, Apps, etc. For me, I had some difficulty in those areas on the first exam, and it was tough.