Honest opinion, am I ready?

5502george

I need some honest opinions on if you think I have enough background to attempt the CISSP (after about 3-4 months of study of course).

I am an IA manager (1.5 years)

I only have sec +

I was a security manager for 2 years prior to this job and worked with cryptography on the daily

I currently do vulnerability assessment, C&A, Policy and some system admin.

....should I target CISSP at this point or shoot for a lower cert first?

ivx502

What did you do prior to your security manager position because even if you are granted a waiver for security+ you appear to be 6 months short. You can attempt the exam, but if your experience is short they might only grant you the ISC2 associate designation until you get the experience needed for the full CISSP.

I think you might pass it but that is just my opinion.

azmatt

The bad news is that you'll have to study for it but the good news is you're as ready to study for it now as you ever will be.

The test doesn't have a ton to do with technical questions but has more to do with policy, think like a manager type questions. The SANS GSEC has an almost identical common body of knowledge on paper. I got a score in the 90s on that exam two months before I took my CISSP. If I hadn't spent those two months studying for all I was worth I would have bombed the CISSP in a bad way.

If at all possible take a bootcamp online or in person to not only cover the material but listen to the instructor talk about the types of questions you'll encounter and how to best deal with them. Book wise, I personally couldn't make it through a 1,000+ monster book so I went with Eric Conrad's which is around half that size and gives a great overview. If you think you're lacking on any topic, get your Google on.

Once you've read through whichever book you pick go straight to a never ending diet of practice tests. In my opinion there is no point in reading a second book, just start knocking out questions for all your worth. There are several exam question books out there and a lot of people (myself included) also use cccure. Some of the topics are covered more heavily than they will be on your test but they will get you used to the types of questions which will be asked as well as help you identify your areas which need improvement.