CISSP Recommendations

Hello All,

I am looking to take the CISSP test by the end of next month (May 2014) and looking for some pointers from anyone out there on which practice exams are most effective.

I have already read Shon Harris CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition, currently reading Eric Conrad CISSP Study Guide 2nd edition and will be reading Eric Conrad CISSP Eleventh Hour and Michael Gregg CISSP Exam Cram 3rd edition.

I just purchased the freepraticetest.org to get some practice with testing, but read that this really wasn't accurate as to what to expect on the exam. So I am using it as a learning tool.

So I was wondering if anyone has used or recommends either Transcender or Boson for CISSP practice tests.

Also, does anyone have anything that I may want to look into deeper that is not explained in any of these books.

Thanks all!

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Comments

zxbane

I didn't personally use Transcender or Boson so I can't speak on their value but I can say CCCure's practice quiz engine was invaluable for me in my pursuit of the CISSP this past November.

LeifAlire

The only thing I read was the 5th edition of Sybex CISSP book and CCCure website. The Sybex book was great not sure what edition they are up to now though.

Jonnyg

NimrodHunter wrote: »

Hello All,

I am looking to take the CISSP test by the end of next month (May 2014) and looking for some pointers from anyone out there on which practice exams are most effective.

I have already read Shon Harris CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 6th Edition, currently reading Eric Conrad CISSP Study Guide 2nd edition and will be reading Eric Conrad CISSP Eleventh Hour and Michael Gregg CISSP Exam Cram 3rd edition.

I just purchased the freepraticetest.org to get some practice with testing, but read that this really wasn't accurate as to what to expect on the exam. So I am using it as a learning tool.

So I was wondering if anyone has used or recommends either Transcender or Boson for CISSP practice tests.

Also, does anyone have anything that I may want to look into deeper that is not explained in any of these books.

Thanks all!

I skipped the AIO so I can't really comment on that. I have heard it is good from some people and have heard it is overkill from others. However, I did the Shon Harris practice questions on her site and found them to be the least helpful of all the practice questions I used. I read some of the Eric Conrad book as my second reading source, and found most of it to be pretty useful. Many people swear by it and The Eleventh Hour. My first reading source was the CISSP for Dummies and found it to be the most useful of the reading sources by far. I would highly recommend it as a first reading source to really get the basics down, followed by the Eric Conrad book to solidify what you've learned so far. If you stick with the AIO and Eric Conrad and master the material in both, you should be fine. They are all good books with good reputations.

Use the CCCure questions. People say they aren't representative of the exam. This is true. However, no questions outside of the exam are truly representative of the real exam, so keep that in mind. The information on the CCCure questions is vast and invaluable, to repeat what zxbane said earlier. I recommend doing the questions and making as many flash cards as you can and know it all. It will be more information than you need and the information will be more technical than you need. However, it gives you a more complete understanding of the material and does allow you to answer more of the questions correctly. This is what will ensure your passing, so long as you put forth the necessary effort to prepare. Plus, the key to passing the CISSP is actually knowing the material, rather than just regurgitating facts and forgetting it a day later.

It is a management exam, however, not knowing the technical stuff as well will, without a doubt, hurt your score and chances of passing. There were many questions where I was only able to decipher the "best" answer due to the fact that I didn't "brush aside the technical stuff" like many do. I highly recommend that you do not dismiss the technical stuff. Follow the advice given here, stick to your study plan and you will do well.