My recommendations for preparing for the CISSP
Well since I'm seeking employment at the moment I thought it would be useful as well as beneficial to give some advice to my aspiring CISSP's. I will be the first to say that achieving the CISSP is a very satisfying accomplishment but the road doesn't end there, selling yourself and networking makes the path alot prosperous if I'm using the right words. A lot of people think that the CISSP is the golden key to landing a job with no effort, then when the road gets grim and they find themselves not advancing or not landing the ideal job/position then they criticize the certification as being worthless, shy away from those people because they do not know what they say, lol. I used to hear the same thing about degrees, that they were a waste of time yada yada yada. Your goals and admiration's should be for you and the people that love you.
Now enough with the mushy stuff. We all learn in various ways, some of us are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners or maybe a hybrid of the three but what you're the best at, use it, only you know your strengths and weaknesses. Discipline, Determination and Perseverance(@kalkan999) is my triad when it comes to the exam. I also would stress to use this as well; PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT.
1. PLAN - Construct a CISSP curriculum for yourself and situation e.g. Do an initial assessment exam. Read a domain a week, read for two hours a day, 6 hours on the weekend. You can even plan to attend a bootcamp before or afterwards. Some individuals perform better under deadlines by paying for the exam before and planning your studies leading to exam day. Gather resources to read, watch and test. My top four recommended reads are Shon Harris, ISC2 Official CBK, Eric Conrad Study Guide and CISSP for Dummies. Recommended Test engines would ccure.org, SSI Logic and Transcender.
2. DO - Once you have your plan in place, execute your curriculum and stay discipline!
3. CHECK - Once you finish a domain, answer the quizzes at the end of the chapters, do your practice exams on the domain you just covered via ccure.org, SSI Logic or Transcender. The goal is to score over 70%. Once you have completed all domains, give yourself a mock exam. From the results from the mock exams, go back over your weaker domains, repeat this process until you get your desired overall results. Come up with some mnemonics that will allow you to remember topics, have CBK discussions with colleagues (this worked wonders for me).
4. ACT - Think positive, feel positive and control the test don't let it control you!
Test Day Tips:
1. In my opinion stay away from energy drinks, you'll come in wired but you will come down (crash), I like protein bars, vitamin water, peanuts, cashews, etc.
2. DO NOT SIT DOWN THE ENTIRE EXAM, take a 10-minute break once you hit Question 100 then the same for Question 200, it depends on you. I took a 15 minute break at Question 125.
3. Try not to change your answer, your first answer is usually the correct answer.
4. Dissect the question; identify the BOLD words, verbs, adjectives and conjunctions.
5. Choose the best security answer not the definition
6. Read the question, then read the answers starting with D and ending with A (This is my favorite)
A. This forces you to read ALL answers; Human nature when reading top down is to select a good choice, then skim the others, this sometimes misses a better answer later.
B. This counterbalances two balances two biases; A is better (grade) than B, etc. Also, the misconception about First choice is best choice.
7. THINK LIKE A MANAGER, HAVE A SECURITY FRAME OF MIND, and EVERYTHING IS A PROJECT
I'm not going to give you all the test tips, I'm sure others will contribute to this post so I'll let them have at it. The one thing that I want to state lastly and this I owe to my great dear friend KALKAN999. Life is what we put in it, either if you believe in a higher power or science, which ever floats your boat all at the end flows around the law of attraction. The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. Now you're probably saying, what the hell does the law of attraction has to do with the exam, well it has alot to do with the exam.
1. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Breathe.
If you do not think you will do well, even with all the studying in the world, you will get the results you think you deserve.
The law of attraction is a universal law, and exists whether you understand it or not. This law states you will attract into your life all that you need to support your beliefs.
2. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Chew Gum.
Studies show that those that chew gum have a 15% higher recall for test taking.
3. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is listen to Music.
Playing music while you study is good for the brain, not all kinds of music, but music that is in the low beta frequency range, like Mozart’s Sonata for Two Piano’s in D Major, before writing exams or tests.
Why, because the retrieval of information at the unconscious level occurs at the low beta frequency range. All the info that you have learned over the weeks is held in the unconscious mind.
4. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is No Sugar the morning before the test.
As an test taker you do not want to have a sugary breakfast, like popular over processed cereals or donuts before tests, because your blood sugar goes up and then drops quickly making it harder to concentrate, and often resulting in headaches.
In fact it stops oxygen from reaching the brain efficiently, and oxygen is needed for effective functioning of the brain.
Studies show that eating complex carbohydrate breakfasts like oatmeal, and proteins like eggs keep the blood sugar level stable, allowing for better concentration, faster thinking, and a generally better sense of well being while you are under exam stress.
When the brain functions effectively, then you are able to retrieve the store information in the brain.
5. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Positive Affirmations.
Positive affirmations prime the brain to give you the information that you “KNOW YOU HAVE STUDIED FOR”. Knowing you have the information there tells the brain you are confident, and it will not hesitate to give it to you.
6. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Visualization.
Visualization is a process where you use imagery to imagine yourself in a certain situation. Visualizing yourself successfully completing the test, is a powerful message to the mind that you are prepared to write the test. The memory associates the imagines to the things you want to remember, and makes recall easier.
7. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Self Hypnosis. (My favorite; I did this the night prior to the exam over Kalkan999 home)
In self hypnosis you give yourself positive suggestions to recall information. All the information you have ever learned is stored in the subconscious mind, and is easy to retrieve when you are not under stress.
I hope my fellow CISSP aspirer's find this useful. You can see my exam experience in previous posts.
Now enough with the mushy stuff. We all learn in various ways, some of us are visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners or maybe a hybrid of the three but what you're the best at, use it, only you know your strengths and weaknesses. Discipline, Determination and Perseverance(@kalkan999) is my triad when it comes to the exam. I also would stress to use this as well; PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT.
1. PLAN - Construct a CISSP curriculum for yourself and situation e.g. Do an initial assessment exam. Read a domain a week, read for two hours a day, 6 hours on the weekend. You can even plan to attend a bootcamp before or afterwards. Some individuals perform better under deadlines by paying for the exam before and planning your studies leading to exam day. Gather resources to read, watch and test. My top four recommended reads are Shon Harris, ISC2 Official CBK, Eric Conrad Study Guide and CISSP for Dummies. Recommended Test engines would ccure.org, SSI Logic and Transcender.
2. DO - Once you have your plan in place, execute your curriculum and stay discipline!
3. CHECK - Once you finish a domain, answer the quizzes at the end of the chapters, do your practice exams on the domain you just covered via ccure.org, SSI Logic or Transcender. The goal is to score over 70%. Once you have completed all domains, give yourself a mock exam. From the results from the mock exams, go back over your weaker domains, repeat this process until you get your desired overall results. Come up with some mnemonics that will allow you to remember topics, have CBK discussions with colleagues (this worked wonders for me).
4. ACT - Think positive, feel positive and control the test don't let it control you!
Test Day Tips:
1. In my opinion stay away from energy drinks, you'll come in wired but you will come down (crash), I like protein bars, vitamin water, peanuts, cashews, etc.
2. DO NOT SIT DOWN THE ENTIRE EXAM, take a 10-minute break once you hit Question 100 then the same for Question 200, it depends on you. I took a 15 minute break at Question 125.
3. Try not to change your answer, your first answer is usually the correct answer.
4. Dissect the question; identify the BOLD words, verbs, adjectives and conjunctions.
5. Choose the best security answer not the definition
6. Read the question, then read the answers starting with D and ending with A (This is my favorite)
A. This forces you to read ALL answers; Human nature when reading top down is to select a good choice, then skim the others, this sometimes misses a better answer later.
B. This counterbalances two balances two biases; A is better (grade) than B, etc. Also, the misconception about First choice is best choice.
7. THINK LIKE A MANAGER, HAVE A SECURITY FRAME OF MIND, and EVERYTHING IS A PROJECT
I'm not going to give you all the test tips, I'm sure others will contribute to this post so I'll let them have at it. The one thing that I want to state lastly and this I owe to my great dear friend KALKAN999. Life is what we put in it, either if you believe in a higher power or science, which ever floats your boat all at the end flows around the law of attraction. The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. Now you're probably saying, what the hell does the law of attraction has to do with the exam, well it has alot to do with the exam.
1. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Breathe.
If you do not think you will do well, even with all the studying in the world, you will get the results you think you deserve.
The law of attraction is a universal law, and exists whether you understand it or not. This law states you will attract into your life all that you need to support your beliefs.
2. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Chew Gum.
Studies show that those that chew gum have a 15% higher recall for test taking.
3. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is listen to Music.
Playing music while you study is good for the brain, not all kinds of music, but music that is in the low beta frequency range, like Mozart’s Sonata for Two Piano’s in D Major, before writing exams or tests.
Why, because the retrieval of information at the unconscious level occurs at the low beta frequency range. All the info that you have learned over the weeks is held in the unconscious mind.
4. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is No Sugar the morning before the test.
As an test taker you do not want to have a sugary breakfast, like popular over processed cereals or donuts before tests, because your blood sugar goes up and then drops quickly making it harder to concentrate, and often resulting in headaches.
In fact it stops oxygen from reaching the brain efficiently, and oxygen is needed for effective functioning of the brain.
Studies show that eating complex carbohydrate breakfasts like oatmeal, and proteins like eggs keep the blood sugar level stable, allowing for better concentration, faster thinking, and a generally better sense of well being while you are under exam stress.
When the brain functions effectively, then you are able to retrieve the store information in the brain.
5. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Positive Affirmations.
Positive affirmations prime the brain to give you the information that you “KNOW YOU HAVE STUDIED FOR”. Knowing you have the information there tells the brain you are confident, and it will not hesitate to give it to you.
6. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Visualization.
Visualization is a process where you use imagery to imagine yourself in a certain situation. Visualizing yourself successfully completing the test, is a powerful message to the mind that you are prepared to write the test. The memory associates the imagines to the things you want to remember, and makes recall easier.
7. Law of Attraction for test and exam stress is Self Hypnosis. (My favorite; I did this the night prior to the exam over Kalkan999 home)
In self hypnosis you give yourself positive suggestions to recall information. All the information you have ever learned is stored in the subconscious mind, and is easy to retrieve when you are not under stress.
I hope my fellow CISSP aspirer's find this useful. You can see my exam experience in previous posts.
Bachelors of Science in Technical Management - Devry University
Masters of Information Systems Management with Enterprise Information Security - Walden University
Masters of Science in Information Assurance - Western Governors University
Masters of Science Cyber Security/Digital Forensics - University of South Florida
Masters of Information Systems Management with Enterprise Information Security - Walden University
Masters of Science in Information Assurance - Western Governors University
Masters of Science Cyber Security/Digital Forensics - University of South Florida
Comments
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raybfree
Member Posts: 38 ■■□□□□□□□□
Thanks for the tip. I read the book, did the online class and never sat to write the exam. Now, who knows if the information has escaped me. But I printed it out action plan and will file it for when I'm ready to combat the dark side... For now, I'm trying to write the CISM in June. Any tips are welcomed! -
da_vato
Member Posts: 445
Thanks for this thread TBRAYS, I am sitting for this exam next month in Orlando and I feel pretty overwhelmed right now. I have forgotten about the laws of attraction "The Secret".... Good call and will take your advice and hopefully come away with a "congradulations". -
webgeek
Member Posts: 495 ■■■■□□□□□□
Thanks for this thread TBRAYS, I am sitting for this exam next month in Orlando and I feel pretty overwhelmed right now. I have forgotten about the laws of attraction "The Secret".... Good call and will take your advice and hopefully come away with a "congradulations".
Why not CBT? You live in Florida?BS in IT: Information Assurance and Security (Capella) CISSP, GIAC GSEC, Net+, A+ -
da_vato
Member Posts: 445
I live in Albuquerque NM and my company is sending me to training camp, it just happens to be in Orlando when I have some available time.
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webgeek
Member Posts: 495 ■■■■□□□□□□
I live in Albuquerque NM and my company is sending me to training camp, it just happens to be in Orlando when I have some available time.
10-4 I live in Orlando...let me know if you need any help with studying or if you want to know a good place to eat. I'll PM you my phone # just in case.BS in IT: Information Assurance and Security (Capella) CISSP, GIAC GSEC, Net+, A+ -
danny069
Member Posts: 1,025 ■■■■□□□□□□
Man, i'm gonna print this out lolI am a Jack of all trades, Master of None -
ejg398
Member Posts: 57 ■■■□□□□□□□
I live in Albuquerque NM and my company is sending me to training camp, it just happens to be in Orlando when I have some available time.
Da_Vato see if you can find out who your instructor will be. As TBRAYS can back me up on this one, if you get Monica Gonzalez you will be in good hands for the training camp. She will dedicate time to you after class if you need it to make sure you understand the material. -
pcgizzmo
Member Posts: 127
Thanks for a great post. I believe in the law of attraction. Looks like from your Avatar you are strong with the force
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bobloblaw
Member Posts: 228
Music suggestion is a great one. I spent a lot of my time studying here and there at work. It's very hard to concentrate with people talking intermittently in the background. Shortly after listening to music with lyrics, I had to change what I was listening too. I would start singing along (ie - no Rage Against the Machine). I switched to Spotify and would hit the radio button on videogame music (try not to laugh too hard). It's mostly soundtrack based, and would roll into some solid movie soundtracks. Nothing makes reading about physical controls more exciting than music from Crysis 2 or Bourne Identity.
