I Passed the CCISO Exam - Sept 2019 - My thoughts on the Exam

I took and passed the CCISO exam in Sept 2019 and wanted to share my experience.    This is currently my first and only certification. EC-Council offered a five training course in Las Vegas. The course was actually 4 and half days with the option to take the test  Friday afternoon.  The course included a live instructor,  the test and a re-test if you failed, the CCISO training book, and the course slides. This made taking the test cost effective.  The instructor was wonderful!  The class started at 8:00 and ended at 5:00.  The instructor never cut the class short and stayed over every evening and answered any questions that we had.  The course also included students who dialed in.  He did a great job of keeping everyone actively engaged to include the students who dialed in.  I was not able to take the test Friday afternoon.  However, I did take it at a Pearson Vue Testing Center when I got home and I passed the first time.  The test was not easy.  I thought the level of difficulty was fair.  I believe that this test in on the same level as the CISM exam.  75 percent of the students in my class had already taken and passed the CISM.  I am considering taking the CISM exam next because the information and domains for both exams are almost the same.  For the record, a lot of the CCISO course material and study manual cited information and articles from ISACA sources.    This is my last thought:  I do not know if I would have passed this test the first time without taking the live course.  The course taught my how to answer the questions.  The questions are not straight forward.  Most questions had more than one right answer.  However, the catch is to pick the most correct answer.  This was the most important thing that I learned in the class.  I would not have picked that up studying on my own.  I do believe that I can study for the other Certs without an instructor because I now understand how questions are administered.  I hope that this review helps other.