I didn't fail...but...

Hey Everyone,

You are not going to believe this. I was all set to take my exam. I went in and sat down in front of the test terminal ready to go. I started praying and doing a little meditation and then all of a sudden "POOF!". The PC that I was sitting at said that I had timed-out from the NDA, and I was unable to take the exam.

Wow, seriously? After all of this? They couldn't start the exam over for me, and I even called ISC2 about this. The testing center opened an incident about this, and I have to write an email to ISC2 about what happened to see if they can make an exception about me "forfeiting the exam" before I can reschedule something.

I am still in shock. I had no idea that there was a five minute limit to review the NDA before it automatically times out as you declining the NDA.

I feel lost. I'm sitting home right now watching TV just zoning out - something that I haven't done in a long time. My boyfriend is taking me to the movies tonight.

So what do I do now? I guess press on with my studies and practice test? I was thinking about picking up another book - it will be a while before I can reschedule something. Any suggestions on another book that I can pick up?

This really blows. I feel so silly and embarrassed. I guess it wasn't meant to be today.

Thank you everyone for all your support and advice.
::Claudia

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cledford3

I heard about this at my CISSP boot camp. It seems to be uncommon "common knowledge." sorry about what happened. Apparently, a lot of people try to use the time to brain **** and have been bitten by this.

cyberguypr

Wow, you learn something new every day. I honestly rarely read NDAs, TOUs, license agreements, etc. because there's simply no way around them. I just click away. I would imagine ICS2 would understand this and not make you pay again. That would be one heck of an expensive mistake.

IaHawk

Wow, feel horrible for you. Hope it works out and you are able to retest soon.

Ertaz

This sucks. 5 minutes, really? Hopefully they reschedule for free and give you something for your trouble.

tedjames

A similar thing happened to me on the Security+ exam. Got through the intro and all that. Then I started the performance-based questions and the machine froze. I complained to the proctor, and it took him 30 minutes to get things working again. Meanwhile, I was losing precious time. When the machine was working again, I noticed that the time it took to diagnose the problem and reboot and all was subtracted from my overall test taking time. So I complained again. No way was I going to even try to take the test now. I was pretty upset and probably would've failed. The proctor had to get on the phone with Pearson tech support in India, but they had no idea what to do. I spoke with them, too. They finally transferred me to someone in the U.S. I got them to renew my voucher and took the exam the next week at a different testing center. I passed with no problems.

Sorry this happened to you. You should definitely hold out for them to make an exception. This is an expensive exam, and no doubt you spent countless hours preparing for it. Go all the way to the top if you have to to get a retest.

secmart

webpriestess wrote: »

Hey Everyone,

You are not going to believe this. I was all set to take my exam. I went in and sat down in front of the test terminal ready to go. I started praying and doing a little meditation and then all of a sudden "POOF!". The PC that I was sitting at said that I had timed-out from the NDA, and I was unable to take the exam.

Wow, seriously? After all of this? They couldn't start the exam over for me, and I even called ISC2 about this. The testing center opened an incident about this, and I have to write an email to ISC2 about what happened to see if they can make an exception about me "forfeiting the exam" before I can reschedule something.

I am still in shock. I had no idea that there was a five minute limit to review the NDA before it automatically times out as you declining the NDA.

I feel lost. I'm sitting home right now watching TV just zoning out - something that I haven't done in a long time. My boyfriend is taking me to the movies tonight.

So what do I do now? I guess press on with my studies and practice test? I was thinking about picking up another book - it will be a while before I can reschedule something. Any suggestions on another book that I can pick up?

This really blows. I feel so silly and embarrassed. I guess it wasn't meant to be today.

Thank you everyone for all your support and advice.
::Claudia

That's a really bad luck, I believe ISC2 will not refund anything since they share this info with you already. I am testing tomorrow and i read the email which i received from pearson:

"NDA Agreement
You will be required to agree to the NDA Agreement that will be presented at the beginning of your exam. Failure to read/accept the agreement within the allotted 5 minutes will result in your exam ending and a forfeit of your exam fees. Please take a moment to review the agreement now so that you are familiar with it when you sit for your exam."

I never ready any NDA's or license agreement in my entire life, don't know what you were doing for 5 minutes on NDA page

If were in your place i would jump into exam as soon as i can to see the what are the questions

Anyway, Hopefully you'll get it in your next attempt.
Thanks.

webpriestess

I wrote ISC2 a formal email requesting them to reconsider my unintentional forfeit. The representative I spoke to over the phone asked me to sent the email to her. She said it would take 3-5 business days for management to evaluate this. I did this around 11am and I asked for confirmation that she got email. Of course I heard nothing. If I don't hear anything by Friday I am calling them again.

What bothers me the most about this whole thing is that a) the proctor was the one who started the exam, said to me "begin when you are ready" and I was never warned about the NDA timeout... and b) it's my agency that paid for the exam, not me. If I paid for this exam on my own I wouldn't feel nearly as bad - but I feel terrible that it was someone else's money.

I still have full intentions to try this again and will pay out of my own pocket if I have to. Even a second time if I fail the first time.

Tonight I am not even going to think about CISSP. I asked my boyfriend to take half a day from work. We went to the buffet, we saw a movie and then went shopping. Now I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted

::Claudia

mmmike999

Claudia,
I am so sorry but this is what the NDA section states:
NDA Agreement
You will be required to agree to the NDA Agreement that will be presented at the beginning of your exam. Failure to read/accept the agreement within the allotted 5 minutes will result in your exam ending and a forfeit of your exam fees. Please take a moment to review the agreement now so that you are familiar with it when you sit for your exam.

For you and any future candidates, please don't meditate on the NDA part. Start the exam and you can do meditation and writing notes once the clock starts ticking. This is also similar in other exams. My sister was sitting for the CPA and they have an NDA they have to sign prior. She started writing down notes and once the NDA time expired, she was disqualified for the exam and had to wait another 3 months to resit it.

Best of luck though, I hope they let you redo the exam soon. I know its a painful lesson but everything happens for a reason.

mmmike999

I suspect they will let you give you an exception and let you reschedule for a fee of 200$. See link https://cccure.training/m/articles/view/Forcing-Student-to-sign-their-NDA-under-a-time-limit

csk007

Bad Luck!!!

I had come across this here, I guess this problem exists from a long time... unbelievable...

it should be part of the cissp training information...

CISSP Exam Goes Online | CISSP Certification Training | CISSP Exam Preparation | Simplilearn

Registering for exam
Candidates can register for the exam by visiting the following link(ISC)2 :: Pearson VUE. You can schedule your exam either online or over via phone by calling Pearson VUE. If you choose online option you can start the registration process by signing in with your (ISC)2 account. If you don’t have an account, you can create a new web account by signing up which is simple 4-step process. Locate the desired test center by entering your location information in the required fields. Check the available time slot before scheduling your exam. At the beginning of your exam you will be presented a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which you need to agree to proceed further. Failure to read/accept the agreement within the allotted 5 minutes will result in your exam ending and a forfeit of your exam fees. Please take a moment to review the agreement now so that you are familiar with it when you sit for your exam.

jt2929

Praying and meditating? Really? You should have done that before sitting at the PC. Next time, be prepared to take the exam before you get to the testing center, test day is no time to fool around.

StillStream

With $600 on the line, it's best to do your praying and meditating before you take the exam. Sucks but it is what it is.

webpriestess

StillStream wrote: »

With $600 on the line, it's best to do your praying and meditating before you take the exam. Sucks but it is what it is.

jt2929 wrote: »

Praying and meditating? Really? You should have done that before sitting at the PC. Next time, be prepared to take the exam before you get to the testing center, test day is no time to fool around.

Yeah, it is what it is and I feel really stupid about this after this all went down. I tend to do dumb things when I am nervous. And I was really really nervous and got tripped up. So, thanks a bunch, guys.

::Claudia

mmmike999

Claudia, I was going to reply to you other thread the other day. But I looked at your practice scores and think you are ready for the exam. Just keep brushing up and reschedule the test ASAP. I had similar practice test scores like yours and passed the exam comfortably I think last month. I told mika123 they would pass and they passed the next day

IaHawk

mmmike999 wrote: »

Claudia, I was going to reply to you other thread the other day. But I looked at your practice scores and think you are ready for the exam. Just keep brushing up and reschedule the test ASAP. I had similar practice test scores like yours and passed the exam comfortably I think last month. I told mika123 they would pass and they passed the next day

Since you have a great track record, will you tell me I'm going to pass on the 9th? Thanks!

danny069

Sorry to hear what happened. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because now you have learned from this, and gives you more time to pack in some more training. Hopefully ISC2 will understand and give you another voucher, please let us know how it goes. I've never heard of this happening, and like one of the posters said I usually just click, next, next, next, but hey we all live and learn. Good luck on your exam.

mmmike999

IaHawk, I see you have done the SANS MGT414 OnDemand Course training, those are pretty solid and you have the GSEC. If you are getting at least 75% average on the cccure practice exams, you too shall pass!!

webpriestess

danny069 wrote: »

Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because now you have learned from this, and gives you more time to pack in some more training.

Thanks, Man. That's exactly how I'm looking at it.

IaHawk wrote: »

Since you have a great track record, will you tell me I'm going to pass on the 9th? Thanks!

I will be thinking about on Monday. mmmike999 does seem to be right on the money

cbkihong

I read all the terms including NDA weeks before the exam, and was fully aware of the arrangement. Sometimes, you just have to be a bit more focused. Not just in the sense of studying for the exam, but also planning well ahead for that. These info are all online. If you do the homework researching that prior, you can be more rest assured on the exam day, and can just focus your attention on the materials.

I'm perhaps the overly cautious type and would feel incredibly uneasy should I not knowing what will happen on the day. In fact, I even took to write Pearson a few times months ahead on exam arrangements for days with bad weather, and indeed it turned out my exam day was a rainy day (though not to the point of affecting my exam schedule). Their support replies were mostly bogus so I think it was fortunate that no contingency plans were eventually needed.

Being cautious definitely helps with your security career! Hope you get to test soon, and look forward to seeing your pass post!

havoc64

WOW! That sucks!...