CISSP Journey:
Exam Taken in Omaha, Nebraska: March 27, 2011 @ 9 AM (Sunday)
Results Received from ISC2: April 11, 2011 @ 3 PM (Monday)
Pass or Fail: Passed !!!!!!!!!!
Endorsement Sent in: April 12, 2011 @ 10 AM (Tuesday)
Endorsement Received: by ISC2 April 13, 2011 @ 12:29 PM (Wednesday)
Final Result Received: May 10,2011
@10:34 AM (Tuesday)
Now I'm working at getting the resume and stuff together for the sponsor. I thought ahead, so I contacted the coworker when I started studying, so I don't need to search for a sponsor.
I did not previously post on the forum that I was pursuing this certification, LOL ... for obvious reasons.
What did I use to prepare?
cccure.org (I did the free practice exams, I'm a cheap-skate stuff)
Boson (An audio book)
Shon Harris All-In-One, 5th Edition
How long did I prepare?
On March 9, I decided that I would pursue this cert, and asked the coworker to sponsor me. I had bought the Shon Harris book earlier, but had never opened it, due to studying something else for the job I had just started in mid-February. This might seem like a very short preparation schedule, but I'm not that busy at work (ssshhhhh), so I did hours and hours of studying at the office each day. (More studying than working, if that gives you any idea.)
I began studying, and I got through the entire Shon Harris book. I did the practice exams in the book, as well as on the CD. I also prepared with the cccure.org practice tests (the free ones). I also listened to Boson audio books. I can say that the cccure.org practice questions were some of the best questions to prepare with, and I wanted to get the paid version, but I was just going it cheap, LOL.
I did a ridiculous thing for when I took the exam. I'm sure you might be able to see my location here in my profile, and then look up where I took the exam, based on the date I took my test. .... I would not do that long a drive again, but I had reached a point where I was a week out from the test, and I had finished the book, so I did an "impulse" thing, and scheduled the test at the next available location. (You might note that there was a local test that weekend, but I waited so late to schedule, that I was stuck between Saturday in AZ and Sunday in NE for a test that next weekend, and I felt that I would not be able to do it with my schedule, if I waited another week to take the test.)
Check-in was Crazy, as the people could barely read my driver's license, since I was from out-of-state.
From the moment I opened the test booklet, I felt overwhelmed. I was so nervous that I would mark a correct answer, that would get scored wrong, due to using the bubble-in sheets!
What was so horrible after that, is that I had to drive all the way back to work after the test, and yes, it really did take that many hours to drive back ... wish I had flown. I was drinking cappucino's and five hour energy the entire trip, and still showered/shaved and went into the office, like it was nothing special.
This feels much, much better than the notification that I passed the ITILv3.(April 9)
Now, it is time to tweak the resume this evening (to add Associate of ISC^2 and the ITIL v3 Foundation to it.
Also, it is time to begin strategizing on those CPE's.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd take it a little slower, but I can get so impulsive when I really want something.
