Exam booked - 8/8/11

xenodamus

Well, the money is gone and the date is set.

My employer is putting on a 2 week training course that will end with a private examination. So far I've been through the CISSP for Dummies and scored well on all their practice questions. I'm currently working my way through the AIO book and it's questions. I also have an audio rip of the Shon Harris DVDs that have been playing in my car continuously for the past month. I've made it through the entire set twice, working on my third.

I've put in alot of time over the past few months, so hopefully it will all pay off. I need to pass the exam by December to keep my current position, so hopefully this will be my first and only attempt.

JDMurray

How much professional work experience do you have in any/all of the ten domains of the CISSP CBK? That factors in to your exam preparations too.

Essendon

Good luck!!

xenodamus

JDMurray wrote: »

How much professional work experience do you have in any/all of the ten domains of the CISSP CBK? That factors in to your exam preparations too.

I have 9 years of IT experience total. I spent a large portion of that supporting small businesses, which included everything from small Windows domains to VPNs on security appliances. I'm currently working as a Network Engineer, dealing with all types of Cisco gear. My experience has be varied, but it has definitely made studying for this exam easier. I know you can still take the exam without experience, but I don't think I would try. Studying for it has been an intensive process. I can't imagine trying to master all that information starting from scratch.

oujj

Good luck, friend

topann

Hi,

All the best for your exam.

How are you doing with practice tests? which practice test you are using?

I am preparing for last 3-4 months and have 11 yrs of exp in IT. I am getting 50-55% in practice tests.

Working hard nowadays on AIO and audio from shon harris.

I am planning in sept 2011.

xenodamus

topann wrote: »

Hi,

All the best for your exam.

How are you doing with practice tests? which practice test you are using?

I am preparing for last 3-4 months and have 11 yrs of exp in IT. I am getting 50-55% in practice tests.

Working hard nowadays on AIO and audio from shon harris.

I am planning in sept 2011.

The only practice tests I've gone through thus far are:

- CISSP for Dummies (scored 80-90%)
- Shon Harris AIO Chapters 1-3 (scored 70-80%)

I'm working through the rest of the AIO guide and just paid for a subscription to cccure.org/freepracticetests.org. We'll see how I do there. Our 2 week training class starts Monday, so I'm about to go into intense study mode.

joshua.skeens

Good luck on this test!

I just took it for the first time this past weekend and my head still hurts. I have close to 10 years experience in multiple domains and read the Shon Harris book front to back.

2 weeks out I started taking practice exams and regularly score over 85% on all of the practice tests I took, whether that was Shon Harris tests or some on the web.

I walked out of the room on Saturday 100% convinced that there was no way I passed the test and feel worse about it today. I am fully prepared to have to take this test again.

One individual was so distraught over the test that 125 questions in they just started filling in bubbles to get done.

Good Luck. My advice would be to make sure to use more than one study guide.

xenodamus

Well, I did it.

It took me 5.5 of my 6 hours to complete the exam. That thing is a beast! It's no joke when you hear that the CISSP is a test of mental endurance. I went to the bathroom and stretched after every 50 questions, which was around once per hour. I could feel the mental fatigue starting to set in around 175-200. By the time I got to 225 I felt like marking random bubbles just so I could leave that god-forsaken room!

So, the million dollar question: How did I do? I don't have a clue. No one that I talked to afterward did...lol. There's really nothing that can prepare you 100% for the questions they ask. You really have to draw on all the material you've learned from the 10 domains and do some critical thinking. Most of the questions are not straight-forward or fact based. You have to pay attention to key words and think carefully about what they are looking for.

Overall, I don't feel horrible about my performance. I wouldn't say I bombed it or anything. But with all those tricky questions it's really hard to feel confident about anything. I went through around 1000 practice questions from cccure and was consistently scoreing 70-80% before the exam. I spent about 3 months preparing and my resources consisted of:

- Shon Harris AIO
- Shon Harris DVD training
- CISSP for Dummies
- 2 week review course at work
- CCCure practice questions

Now I begin the infamous WAIT......

topann

Hi,

Congratulations that you did it for the CISSP.

I have scheduled mine on 3 Sept in Bangalore, India.

Can you clarify following things,

1. Did you have any knowledge of 25 non marking questions? did you think that these questions really disappoint you during exams?
2. How much time you spent on each question? were you able to finish 50 questions in 60 minutes?
3. what strategy you put to answer? i mean confident questions answered first and then came back to unanswered ones which require more logical thinking?
4. Any other suggestion for me?

Thanks.

whatthehell

Congratz, that sounds like a monster of an exam!

JDMurray

topann wrote: »

1. Did you have any knowledge of 25 non marking questions? did you think that these questions really disappoint you during exams?

The 25 research questions look just like any other question on the exam. If an exam candidate hopes to pass the CISSP exam by identifying and skipping the research questions, I would say that person needs to think about studying more and tricks-to-pass less.

xenodamus

topann wrote: »

1. Did you have any knowledge of 25 non marking questions? did you think that these questions really disappoint you during exams?
2. How much time you spent on each question? were you able to finish 50 questions in 60 minutes?
3. what strategy you put to answer? i mean confident questions answered first and then came back to unanswered ones which require more logical thinking?
4. Any other suggestion for me?

1. Ditto what JD said. You won't know which questions count and which don't.
2. Based on my time, I averaged 60-90 seconds per question. Some more...some less.
3. I answered almost all of them the first time through. The only ones I didn't answer were those that had terms I was totally unfamiliar with. I left them blank hoping something later in the exam might tip me off as to the meaning of those.
4. As for suggestions....truly study/learn the material. This isn't a test you can pass on memorization. Also, use more than 1 resource. Different authors explain things differently and will help clarify some topics.

joshua.skeens

topann wrote: »

Hi,

Congratulations that you did it for the CISSP.

I have scheduled mine on 3 Sept in Bangalore, India.

Can you clarify following things,

1. Did you have any knowledge of 25 non marking questions? did you think that these questions really disappoint you during exams?
2. How much time you spent on each question? were you able to finish 50 questions in 60 minutes?
3. what strategy you put to answer? i mean confident questions answered first and then came back to unanswered ones which require more logical thinking?
4. Any other suggestion for me?

Thanks.

Just got my results today and I passed!!! Felt so defeated after taking the test for the simple fact that it wasn't at all straightforward like any of the practice exams.

1. There is really zero chance you will know any of the 25 questions they are going to remove so don't worry about them.
2. I finished the exam in around 3 1/2 hours.
3. My strategy was simple. I broke the test down to 50 questions at a time. I didn't use the actual answer sheet first. I would circle the answers in the book and then go back and fill in the 50 bubbles. Once I did that, I started 50 more. I felt this gave me some "mental down time" to recover while just filling in bubbles.
4. To each their own but I did not go back and check answers. I knew if I did I would change answers and felt that would hinder me more than anything. When you get to the last question you are mentally spent. I will be honest that I did go back 2 times and change answers because a question later on caused me to realize I answered something wrong.

Good Luck on this test. Do not stress about taking it. You will either be prepared or you won't. I took it with a handful of friends and we all felt really defeated afterwards but it seems most feel that way.

topann

Thank you all and congratulations Joshua!!

I am preparing almost 6-8 hours a day. Few hours on audio and then tests.

I did enough tests and found out my weak areas and i concentrate more on those areas by listening to audio and pdfs.

Hope for the best.

xenodamus

Got my results today, 9 days after testing......PASS BABY!!!

That's a huge relief to see. I had to pass this exam within 6 months of my hire date to keep my job. Man...that has got to be the toughest cert exam I have ever taken.

Time to celebrate and get that endorsement paperwork ready!

Essendon

Well done mate, passing that exam is no mean feat!! So you going to get a raise or something or was this essential to keeping your job? Have they imposed any other exam pass conditions on you?

xenodamus

Essendon wrote: »

So you going to get a raise or something or was this essential to keeping your job? Have they imposed any other exam pass conditions on you?

I'm a DoD contractor and for the level our team operates at (IAT3) we need the CISSP and CCNA. I already had the CCNA going in, but had to get the CISSP within 6 months to continue working there. There is some talk about making the CCNP a requirement for our team sometime in the future, so that's what I'll be working on next most likely.

JDMurray

xenodamus wrote: »

Got my results today, 9 days after testing......PASS BABY!!!

Whoa, you didn't have long to wait! Congratulations!

Chivalry1

Congrats on the pass. I know that waiting on results can be a pain.

topann

xenodamus,

Congratulation on pass...

xenodamus

JDMurray wrote: »

Whoa, you didn't have long to wait! Congratulations!

Tell me about it. I think the quick turn around must be related to the fact that we had a private examination setup. It wasn't one of the regularly scheduled exam dates.

JDMurray

xenodamus wrote: »

Tell me about it. I think the quick turn around must be related to the fact that we had a private examination setup. It wasn't one of the regularly scheduled exam dates.

Yes, the (ISC)2 may very well expedite the grading of exams given in such a situation.

xenodamus

Looks like my endorsement went through without a hitch!

I got my email yesterday and am now a fully certified CISSP. It's a shame that I'm no longer working in an IAT3 position that requires it, but I'm proud to have it regardless.

CERTS4LADY

SO HAPPY FOR YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!!!!! GOOD on u!!!