CISSP Achieved! Failed 7 times, passed on the 8th!
To all CISSP endeavors;
I am long time lurker here on TechExams. Read almost every passed/failed thread on here and if anything, learned almost nothing from them. That's because each and every passed was unique to the individuals and their learning style. If ISC pulled the fail stat, I am certain one of those with high failure attempts. Now, all this is my fault, and blamed no materials, ISC. If there is anything I learned from the folks that passed this utmost brutal exam, it's DETERMINATION!
ME: 35 yr old, IT Professional, wore different hats throughout my career, currently a Govie't with a Chief title.
There were many reasons of why I failed 7 times, of which, the benefit was figuring out the best learning method that can be applied. So below was what helped for me, and I hope you get something out of it.
1. I put in a few hours a day to read these books in sequential order (sybex cissp 7th edition, Eric Conrad 11th hour 3rd Edition) for two months after each failed attempt (on weak areas).
2. Converted the Mike Chapel CISSP Lynda.com course to Audio files and listened over and over while driving to and from work.
3. Took the CISSP Pocket App for Android. I do not own an Android phone but used the Blue Stacks instead. I am not a fan of using it on the iOS devices as their screen sizes are limited. BlueStacks is free and can expand the screen to desktop sizes. This gives me mouse function to maneuver much better.
4. Practice questions, read every single explanation as to why it was the CORRECT/INCORRECT answer. Understand the concepts and the reasons behind them and NOT memorize them. This was an issue for me, trying to memorize everything.
5. If analytical is a strength of yours, definitely leverage this. Decipher what the question is asking for, then put in two hats (1) Security Professional and (2) Business Manager.
6. Stay consistent with the study schedule, never a day when I did not touch the materials until the day before the exam.
Exam Time:
I passed it this morning with an inexplicable relief feeling. I hugged all the ladies at the testing centers
.
The 7th exam that I failed was the new adaptive CAT exam. I was given weak areas to improve on they were a lot.
Preparation:
1. Day before exam, I dropped all materials, no study no nothing. I enjoyed time with my children. All I know is put them to sleep and get a good nights sleep myself. I did not try to remember ANYTHING from the CISSP material.
2. Dropped the kid to daycare, then head straight to the PEARSON center.
3. Picked myself a locker, put everything in it except IDs for processing.
4. Sat for the exam and....
5. The first question I got was a drag and drop scenario, holy smokes, that freaked me out! Then reading through it, it was an easy one.
6. 1 hr and 50 minute later, on question 101....exam closed.
7. Headed over to the front desk, and truth be told, all I looked for is the FIRST word that says "Congratulations!" and indeed it was there.
That's it folks! I am onto CISM and if I fail it, I will do it again and again. Remember, DETERMINATION is your ONLY juice in knocking this exam out.
Thank you for reading and best of luck to all who have exams scheduled. To those who have given up, don't get held up on failures, but rather work to attack them. I know I did!
I am long time lurker here on TechExams. Read almost every passed/failed thread on here and if anything, learned almost nothing from them. That's because each and every passed was unique to the individuals and their learning style. If ISC pulled the fail stat, I am certain one of those with high failure attempts. Now, all this is my fault, and blamed no materials, ISC. If there is anything I learned from the folks that passed this utmost brutal exam, it's DETERMINATION!
ME: 35 yr old, IT Professional, wore different hats throughout my career, currently a Govie't with a Chief title.
There were many reasons of why I failed 7 times, of which, the benefit was figuring out the best learning method that can be applied. So below was what helped for me, and I hope you get something out of it.
1. I put in a few hours a day to read these books in sequential order (sybex cissp 7th edition, Eric Conrad 11th hour 3rd Edition) for two months after each failed attempt (on weak areas).
2. Converted the Mike Chapel CISSP Lynda.com course to Audio files and listened over and over while driving to and from work.
3. Took the CISSP Pocket App for Android. I do not own an Android phone but used the Blue Stacks instead. I am not a fan of using it on the iOS devices as their screen sizes are limited. BlueStacks is free and can expand the screen to desktop sizes. This gives me mouse function to maneuver much better.
4. Practice questions, read every single explanation as to why it was the CORRECT/INCORRECT answer. Understand the concepts and the reasons behind them and NOT memorize them. This was an issue for me, trying to memorize everything.
5. If analytical is a strength of yours, definitely leverage this. Decipher what the question is asking for, then put in two hats (1) Security Professional and (2) Business Manager.
6. Stay consistent with the study schedule, never a day when I did not touch the materials until the day before the exam.
Exam Time:
I passed it this morning with an inexplicable relief feeling. I hugged all the ladies at the testing centers
.The 7th exam that I failed was the new adaptive CAT exam. I was given weak areas to improve on they were a lot.
Preparation:
1. Day before exam, I dropped all materials, no study no nothing. I enjoyed time with my children. All I know is put them to sleep and get a good nights sleep myself. I did not try to remember ANYTHING from the CISSP material.
2. Dropped the kid to daycare, then head straight to the PEARSON center.
3. Picked myself a locker, put everything in it except IDs for processing.
4. Sat for the exam and....
5. The first question I got was a drag and drop scenario, holy smokes, that freaked me out! Then reading through it, it was an easy one.
6. 1 hr and 50 minute later, on question 101....exam closed.
7. Headed over to the front desk, and truth be told, all I looked for is the FIRST word that says "Congratulations!" and indeed it was there.
That's it folks! I am onto CISM and if I fail it, I will do it again and again. Remember, DETERMINATION is your ONLY juice in knocking this exam out.
Thank you for reading and best of luck to all who have exams scheduled. To those who have given up, don't get held up on failures, but rather work to attack them. I know I did!
Comments
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johndoee
Member Posts: 152 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations. I didn't read the entire post. What I did see is that you passed after several missed attempts. My hat goes off to you! -
cyberguypr
Mod Posts: 6,928 Mod
Jeez! I would've quit after the second fail. Congrats on pushing through and climbing your Everest!!! Everyone please go rep this guy right now. -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
I can relate to failing multiple certs and I feel ya! One of the worst was Novell. Even tried to pass a Novell CNE exam the day before I gave birth to my son(I failed). My brain cells were gone by that time (LOL). I did manage to attain my CNE after my son was born.
Congrats to you!!!Never let your fear decide your fate.... -
mikey88
Member Posts: 495 ■■■■■■□□□□
Congrats on the pass. Sounds expensive. ISC2 must really love you.Certs: CISSP, CySA+, Security+, Network+ and others | 2019 Goals: Cloud Sec/Scripting/Linux -
synack_dk
Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
hey all...i'm the OP for this thread and apparently the number failed was wrong, failed 5 times, sixth time passed. it was less as after I looked at my pearson history records.
MODERATOR - please delete the post. ALso some content I did not want to share.
thank you!!! -
gespenstern
Member Posts: 1,243 ■■■■■■■■□□
Wow! That's definitely the longest losing streak I've seen!
Congrats! -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
I am pretty sure you can delete your own thread/or edit it, if you don't want all that information in your post.Never let your fear decide your fate....
-
synack_dk
Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
scaredoftests wrote: »I am pretty sure you can delete your own thread/or edit it, if you don't want all that information in your post.
tried and no such optio
n -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
look to the top right of your post, you can edit...Never let your fear decide your fate....
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synack_dk
Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
scaredoftests wrote: »look to the top right of your post, you can edit...
thanks. I can't even see my account panel let alone that option. The mods for this forum isn't responsive....I sent many inquiries. -
scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
You don't view it via your account, but your post.Never let your fear decide your fate....
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anthonx
Member Posts: 109 ■■■□□□□□□□
First of all, congrats! You deserve a break from studying and spend more time with your family. Long time lurker? Yeah, you are a member since 2012 and you only have 4 posts. There is a saying... learn from your mistakes and you finally made it. In here, I'm hoping to avoid making mistakes if I can learn from other peoples mistakes. Thank you for sharing your experience.AnthonX -
chrisone
Member Posts: 2,278 ■■■■■■■■■□
As long as it got done that is all that matters.
Congrats on the pass!Certs: CISSP, EnCE, OSCP, CRTP, eCTHPv2, eCPPT, eCIR, LFCS, CEH, SPLK-1002, SC-200, SC-300, AZ-900, AZ-500, VHL:Advanced+
2023 Cert Goals: SC-100, eCPTX -
E Double U
Member Posts: 2,229 ■■■■■■■■■■
LOL talk about dedication. Congratulations!Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS -
DatabaseHead
Member Posts: 2,753 ■■■■■■■■■■
That's called powering through. How much did it cost you? -
trojin
Member Posts: 275 ■■■■□□□□□□
Impressive
I'm determined, but not to this stage
Congrats !!!!I'm just doing my job, nothing personal, sorry
xx+ certs...and I'm not counting anymore -
Falcon56
Member Posts: 94 ■■■□□□□□□□
Pretty sure no one is going to call you out for posting the wrong #. You had the guts to keep going and showed fantastic perseverance. I'm thrilled for you. One of my favorite posts I have read here recently. Good for you!
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Deadly-Dosage
Member Posts: 49 ■■□□□□□□□□
Hey, still you didn't quit after one. Nicely done and enjoy making pass the finish line! -
averageguy72
Member Posts: 323 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats! That's some serious determination.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 -
cbdudek
Member Posts: 68 ■■■□□□□□□□
Dude! Congrats! This is excellent news. I commend you on your determination and persistence! -
laurieH
Member Posts: 109 ■■■□□□□□□□
Well done for keeping going - after all that do you think it was worth it?
-
sameoj
Member Posts: 366 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congrats. Your story is highly encouraging. "You only fail when you give up". -
NavyMooseCCNA
Member Posts: 544 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats!!'My dear you are ugly, but tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be ugly' Winston Churchil
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Artemisa
Member Posts: 15 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations. Who cares how many time the end result is important. Way to go.synack_dk said:To all CISSP endeavors;
I am long time lurker here on TechExams. Read almost every passed/failed thread on here and if anything, learned almost nothing from them. That's because each and every passed was unique to the individuals and their learning style. If ISC pulled the fail stat, I am certain one of those with high failure attempts. Now, all this is my fault, and blamed no materials, ISC. If there is anything I learned from the folks that passed this utmost brutal exam, it's DETERMINATION!
ME: 35 yr old, IT Professional, wore different hats throughout my career, currently a Govie't with a Chief title.
There were many reasons of why I failed 7 times, of which, the benefit was figuring out the best learning method that can be applied. So below was what helped for me, and I hope you get something out of it.
1. I put in a few hours a day to read these books in sequential order (sybex cissp 7th edition, Eric Conrad 11th hour 3rd Edition) for two months after each failed attempt (on weak areas).
2. Converted the Mike Chapel CISSP Lynda.com course to Audio files and listened over and over while driving to and from work.
3. Took the CISSP Pocket App for Android. I do not own an Android phone but used the Blue Stacks instead. I am not a fan of using it on the iOS devices as their screen sizes are limited. BlueStacks is free and can expand the screen to desktop sizes. This gives me mouse function to maneuver much better.
4. Practice questions, read every single explanation as to why it was the CORRECT/INCORRECT answer. Understand the concepts and the reasons behind them and NOT memorize them. This was an issue for me, trying to memorize everything.
5. If analytical is a strength of yours, definitely leverage this. Decipher what the question is asking for, then put in two hats (1) Security Professional and (2) Business Manager.
6. Stay consistent with the study schedule, never a day when I did not touch the materials until the day before the exam.
Exam Time:
I passed it this morning with an inexplicable relief feeling. I hugged all the ladies at the testing centers.
The 7th exam that I failed was the new adaptive CAT exam. I was given weak areas to improve on they were a lot.
Preparation:
1. Day before exam, I dropped all materials, no study no nothing. I enjoyed time with my children. All I know is put them to sleep and get a good nights sleep myself. I did not try to remember ANYTHING from the CISSP material.
2. Dropped the kid to daycare, then head straight to the PEARSON center.
3. Picked myself a locker, put everything in it except IDs for processing.
4. Sat for the exam and....
5. The first question I got was a drag and drop scenario, holy smokes, that freaked me out! Then reading through it, it was an easy one.
6. 1 hr and 50 minute later, on question 101....exam closed.
7. Headed over to the front desk, and truth be told, all I looked for is the FIRST word that says "Congratulations!" and indeed it was there.
That's it folks! I am onto CISM and if I fail it, I will do it again and again. Remember, DETERMINATION is your ONLY juice in knocking this exam out.
Thank you for reading and best of luck to all who have exams scheduled. To those who have given up, don't get held up on failures, but rather work to attack them. I know I did!
-
baghdaddy19
Member Posts: 51 ■■■□□□□□□□
Congratulations my man!
2020 Certification Goals
CompTIA: A+, Net+, Sec+, Cloud Essentials, and Project +
LPI: Linux Essentials
AXELOS: ITIL v3
SANS GAIC: GSEC, GCIH, and GCED
