CISA Sep 2013

diggity801

whatever930 wrote: »

Got officially certified by 6 Nov 2013 but I still haven't got the certificate today!
ISACA definitely knows how to torture people lol

Congrats! It was definitely a different, interesting experience going through the certification with everyone at the same time. Now the hard part in my case - getting an actual auditor job.

jerry.stockholm

Hey diggity,

Great to hear you passed!

Any helpful tips for the exam?

- Are the real exam questions similar to that of the Q&A database? Is the real exam more/less/equal difficulty?
- Did you find a lot of technical questions (i.e. questions related to specific technologies - firewalls, routers, OSI, etc.)
- Any other helpful tips that will help us who have yet to write the exam?

Any guidance/input is appreciated.

Cheers,

JS

diggity801

jerry.stockholm wrote: »

Hey diggity,

Great to hear you passed!

Any helpful tips for the exam?

- Are the real exam questions similar to that of the Q&A database? Is the real exam more/less/equal difficulty?
- Did you find a lot of technical questions (i.e. questions related to specific technologies - firewalls, routers, OSI, etc.)
- Any other helpful tips that will help us who have yet to write the exam?

Any guidance/input is appreciated.

Cheers,

JS

The questions on the exam were very similar to the review database. I believe the database is one of the things you should definitely have if you want to for sure pass on the first attempt. I failed many, many times until I was able to get to 80% on the database questions. I thought the real exam was actually easier. They write the questions on the real thing in a more straight forward way.

Also, I eliminated the wrong answers in a lot of cases where I was unfamiliar with the question. I was able to eliminate three of the wrong answers in many cases. The wrong answers seemed obviously wrong, too. This isn't like a Microsoft exam where they put 3 correct answers and want you to answer the Microsoft way (god I hate their exams).

Study all of these completely, like I did, and you will be ready:

ISACA Review questions database (you'll want to score 80% or higher before you take the exam if you don't want to struggle)
ISACA Review Manual 2013
CBT Nuggets CISA videos
CISA Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide

As for technical questions, they love questions about VPN and the protection of information assets part is worth more than any of the other sections on the exam.

Hope this helps.

jerry.stockholm

Amazing! Thanks so much for your help! It is greatly appreciated and it sort of validates my study approach, which also helps!

One last question for you, and perhaps it may be difficult to answer, but just your opinion would suffice

Given that I come from a technical background (undergraduate degree in IT) and that I currently work for an audit firm (have done a few audit engagements already), the study approach I took was as follows:

- Dive right into the Q&A database and answer as many questions as I could. When I identified areas of weakness, I would refer back to the Review Manual and read/review the needed areas. Most of the answers to the questions came naturally to me (as a result of my education and experience I suppose) but I am concerned because I have not read the Review Manual in detail cover to cover. I would say that I have read about 60% of the Review Manual word for word, and skimmed through the rest. The remainder of my studying has been validated/re-forced through the QA database (currently, my overall average score in the QA database is around 85% and I consistently score around 85% as well when I do practice quizzes).

With that said, my major concern is, am I becoming too reliant on the QA database? Did you actually read the entire Review Manual cover to cover, and if so, were you able to retain and recall all of that info on the exam?

As an additional test for my self, I have done other practice tests outside of the QA database (like this one here) to re-assure myself that I am not simply just memorizing the answers, but truly understand the concepts/logic. I also scored around 80% on average on the tests in the link that I have provided.

Any thoughts? I'd really like to pass on my first shot!

Thanks again for your guidance and tips! Much appreciated:)

Cheers,

JS

jerry.stockholm

Great, thanks Diggity! Much apprecaited!

One last question for you, not sure you will be able to answer this, but your opinion would be great!

The study approach that I took, given that I have an IT educational background and work for an audit firm, was to dive into the QA database right away and answer as many questions as I could. For those areas where I'd score low on, I'd review them in the Review Manual. With that said though, I haven't read the entire review manual word-for-word. I'd say that I've read about 60% of the Review Manual and have skimmed/reviewed the rest.

My major concern is, am I becoming too reliant on the QA database? Did you in fact read the entire Review Manual cover to cover, and if so, were you able to recall/retain everything on the exam?

To provide you with some perspective, I generally score around 85% on the questions I do, with my latest score being 82% on a full 200 question mock exam (just recently did this). I've also taken some other exams outside of the QA database to ensure that I wasn't simply memorizing the answers, but understanding the logic/concepts, and in those as well, I manage to score around 80-85% on average.

Should I be concerned? I'd really like to pass on my first try!

Any thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

JS

diggity801

jerry.stockholm wrote: »

Great, thanks Diggity! Much apprecaited!

One last question for you, not sure you will be able to answer this, but your opinion would be great!

The study approach that I took, given that I have an IT educational background and work for an audit firm, was to dive into the QA database right away and answer as many questions as I could. For those areas where I'd score low on, I'd review them in the Review Manual. With that said though, I haven't read the entire review manual word-for-word. I'd say that I've read about 60% of the Review Manual and have skimmed/reviewed the rest.

My major concern is, am I becoming too reliant on the QA database? Did you in fact read the entire Review Manual cover to cover, and if so, were you able to recall/retain everything on the exam?

To provide you with some perspective, I generally score around 85% on the questions I do, with my latest score being 82% on a full 200 question mock exam (just recently did this). I've also taken some other exams outside of the QA database to ensure that I wasn't simply memorizing the answers, but understanding the logic/concepts, and in those as well, I manage to score around 80-85% on average.

Should I be concerned? I'd really like to pass on my first try!

Any thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

JS

Well, from what you have said, it looks like you are scoring higher than I did on the practice questions. Id still study the Sybex book at least If I were you. I did read all of the review manual, but I didn't stop to think over anything so I basically finished it in like 3 days. I just kept reading as fast as I could until I was finished.

jerry.stockholm

Maybe I should just read the Review Manual cover to cover in my last 3-4 days before the exam Not sure how feasible that would be though...

In any case, I appreciate your thought and feedback, and congrats again on passing! Hopefully I'll be joining you and all of the other successful test writers soon!

I don't know, I just sometimes feel that the QA database questions seem kinda easy... Feel like I'm fooling my self and I'm going to get my ass handed to me in the real exam... Hahah! I think my brain is just processing CISA CISA CISA all day now...

Feel free to share any other tips/tricks if you wish!

matthew2012

still waiting for the hardcopy of cert ....

Over 21 days.

At last I paid renew fee last week.
Hope to have the physical cert. I doubted they might not issue it if they didnt get paid.

maharaliel

Are CISA review manual for 2014 available yet? If anyone can tell me please update me.

wikiget

maharaliel wrote: »

Are CISA review manual for 2014 available yet? If anyone can tell me please update me.

It's on the ISACA bookstore now.