1/18 CISSP Passed

adamj2281adamj2281 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
I've followed this forum quite a bit for both Security+ (passed in November) and now CISSP.
  • Background info:
    • MS-Applied Physics
    • 12 years Systems Engineer Experience - mostly ESS and some CISSP-related topics (backup management, DIACAP, some RMF, etc.)
    • Recently took new position as an Information Systems Analyst (October 2017)
    • As stated - I studied/took the Security+ exam in November, studied for it for roughly 3 weeks.
  • Reference Material
    • Sybex CISSP 7th Edition Guide/Practice Tests (Primary Source)
      • This was my main study material and does an adequate job of setting a foundation.
      • Completed all of the practice tests/domain tests as I read through the material
      • Went back and did text searches on topics that I stuggled with.
      • The tests were helpful, but definitely not as difficult as the actual exam.
    • Cybrary
      • Kelly's videos were really helpful for big picture overviews and capturing the focus of the test.
    • Transcender Tests
      • Some info was not pertinent and/or wrong, but it was difficult enough to challenge you.
      • The search text function is great for focusing on topics you struggle with
    • Conrad 11th Hour
      • Probably didn't need this; brief overview.
    • McGraw-Hill
      • Used these a bit on topics I needed help with, just to see more questions.
I used OneNote and organized my notes from CISSP and Cybrary by domain. I took a lot of practice tests (probably went through most of Sybex twice - counting the questions I took online). I was scoring in the 80% on the Sybex exams just picking a random selection of 50-100 questions from the online bonus exams. I'm sure this was skewed to the higher side since probably 75% of the questions I had seen before.

The test ended after 100 questions, it's definitely a wide range of topics, and difficult.

This forum helped a lot, so if anyone has any questions, go for it.

Comments

  • Info_Sec_WannabeInfo_Sec_Wannabe Member Posts: 428 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congratulations! icon_thumright.gif

    In my case, I'm currently reading the 11th Hour book as an overview before I read either the Sybex or the Shon Harris.
    X year plan: (20XX) OSCP [ ], CCSP [ ]
  • mattster79mattster79 Member Posts: 135 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Well done Adam 👍
    CISSP
    CISM
  • sameojsameoj Member Posts: 366 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats and well done
  • clconrad1clconrad1 Member Posts: 26 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats! I am getting ready for my re-test in Feb. I failed the first one! I had no idea what to expect from the questions and I found the way I was studying was wrong. I think I am on track now. I kind of feel like the way the questions are asked during the test are very similar to how the Transcender questions are. Did you feel this way? I know a lot of people are saying some of the answers are inaccurate, but I mean the wording and such.
  • adamj2281adamj2281 Member Posts: 20 ■□□□□□□□□□
    clconrad1 wrote: »
    Congrats! I am getting ready for my re-test in Feb. I failed the first one! I had no idea what to expect from the questions and I found the way I was studying was wrong. I think I am on track now. I kind of feel like the way the questions are asked during the test are very similar to how the Transcender questions are. Did you feel this way? I know a lot of people are saying some of the answers are inaccurate, but I mean the wording and such.

    I would agree at least in terms of the thought process; Sybex is probably more accurate in terms of material. Transcender definitely has some off-the-wall questions and some wrong answers mixed in here and there.

    I think the strategy that helped me most, which I utilized more towards the end, was to read through a concept and then search for questions on that topic in both Sybex and Transcender. It galvanized the idea into my head.

    Also - as stated earlier I used OneNote to organize my notes, but I also used hand-written flash cards towards the end.
  • averageguy72averageguy72 Member Posts: 323 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats!
    CISSP / CCSP / CCSK / CRISC / CISM / CISA / CASP / Security+ / Network+ / A+ / CEH / eNDP / AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty / AWS Certified Security - Specialty / AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional / AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional / AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate / AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate / AWS Certified Developer - Associate / AWS Cloud Practitioner
  • CryptoQueCryptoQue Member Posts: 204 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats! Great study material.
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