CISSP Passed

EverlifeEverlife Member Posts: 253 ■■■□□□□□□□
Hi all!

I passed my CISSP exam over the weekend and wanted to share my experience.

I took a new job last December and was asked to get my CISSP in the next year or two. In January, I first purchased the Shon Harris book, but found it to be extremely difficult to read due to her writing style. I then picked up the Eric Conrad book and found it much more readable. I read off an on over the next few months until the birth of my son, at which time at no longer had any time to study. Last week I was offered the chance to take the official (ISC)² CISSP boot camp.

The class was quite intense, running from 8AM to 7PM Monday to Friday with the exam Saturday morning. It did a wonderful job of cutting through the immense amount of information and focusing on what was important. There were a number of former exam questions presented as daily quizzes to reinforce topics. The content of the quizzes wasn't so important, but rather learning the enigmatic way the questions are asked on the CISSP exam. The class also did a wonderful job of explaining the more business oriented domains such as business continuity.

In addition to the class, I put in about 4 - 5 hours a day studying the material each night. Essentially, I threw myself into CISSP mode about 18 hours of the day, which definitely helped. I finished the exam in about 2 to 2.5 hours and felt pretty comfortable before hitting the finish button.

Normally I am not a fan of boot camps, but this was really well run and the instructor was amazing.

On to the MCSA 2012!

Comments

  • ajs1976ajs1976 Member Posts: 1,945 ■■■■□□□□□□
    congrats and thanks for the info.
    Andy

    2020 Goals: 0 of 2 courses complete, 0 of 2 exams complete
  • da_vatoda_vato Member Posts: 445
    Congrats. Out of curiousity who was your instructor?
  • EverlifeEverlife Member Posts: 253 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Thanks! My instructor's name was Rick Bellwood. By far, one of the best IT instructors I have ever had next to Rob Lee from SANS.
  • LionelTeoLionelTeo Member Posts: 526 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Congrats on passing! Mine was on the 18th October, hopefully I can come back with good results.
  • qutubnoorqutubnoor Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hi Everlife,

    Congrats!!

    I'm scheduled to give my exam next week. Would it be possible to share some info on your earlier quote "It did a wonderful job of cutting through the immense amount of information and focusing on what was important." Can you brief on the focused Topics.

    tnx.
    You can Accept to LOOSE or Determine to WIN !!!:thumbup:
  • infosicinfosic Banned Posts: 7 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congratss bro,

    Just wanna ask you something. when you purchased the Shon Harris book, did you also get any CD that includes exam practice questions???
  • cyberguyprcyberguypr Mod Posts: 6,928 Mod
    Congrats on the pass!
  • kenerepkenerep Member Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Reading your post has just reinforced my will of taking the cissp exam before the year runs out. I have been on and off studying for more than 5 months now. It is not required in my present job role maybe that is why I am lackadaisical, but I am looking to change job soon and I really would love to get into the security field which is why I want to take the exam.

    Thanks for indirectly encouraging me, I hope I get to share my own success story when it finally happens. Thanks once again.

    Please if there is any tip you can give that would aid during the exam, I won't mind hearing from you.

    I am presently studying on my own and I use the shon Harris book as well as the official ISC book plus cbt Nuggets. Thanks once again and success as you rise in the world of I.T.security.
  • ccnpninjaccnpninja Member Posts: 1,010 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • DAVIS NGUYENDAVIS NGUYEN Member Posts: 1,472 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats on the pass icon_thumright.gif
  • ThistlebackThistleback Member Posts: 151
    Congrats on your pass! I too passed last year after three months of study and then attending boot camp. They are amazing!
    Feel the fear, and do it anyway!
  • joebannyjoebanny Member Posts: 84 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congratulations!

    2-2.5hrs? That was pretty good! It shows you've got a pretty good grasp of the concept. It took me about 5hrs for mine, and I used the last hour to go over my answers. Good luck with the endorsement process.
  • EverlifeEverlife Member Posts: 253 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Thanks everyone!

    Qutubnoor: My topics were all over the place. I can't tell you what topics I ran into, but I can tell you the instructor of the class said to focus on the Security Architecture and Design and Information Security Governance and Risk Management.

    Infosic: I bought the ebook, so there wasn't any CD included.

    Kenerep: Read the questions carefully and eliminate the answers you know are wrong. On questions that weren't obvious to me, I stopped, read it slowly, and wrote down key words from the question on to scrap paper. This was SO helpful in getting through the more vague and difficult questions.
  • qutubnoorqutubnoor Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Everlife wrote: »
    Thanks everyone!

    Qutubnoor: My topics were all over the place. I can't tell you what topics I ran into, but I can tell you the instructor of the class said to focus on the Security Architecture and Design and Information Security Governance and Risk Management.

    Infosic: I bought the ebook, so there wasn't any CD included.

    Kenerep: Read the questions carefully and eliminate the answers you know are wrong. On questions that weren't obvious to me, I stopped, read it slowly, and wrote down key words from the question on to scrap paper. This was SO helpful in getting through the more vague and difficult questions.

    Thanks for the insite Everlife, however it came in a little late:D. I managed to Pass the exams on 1st OCT. whatever said and done. TechExams have definitely proved the best resource for me to get myself clear the exams.

    Thanks to all the Members and JD for giving this platform.

    regards,
    Qutub
    You can Accept to LOOSE or Determine to WIN !!!:thumbup:
  • JDMurrayJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,025 Admin
    qutubnoor wrote: »
    Thanks to all the Members and JD for giving this platform.
    Hey, you're welcome! But don't forget to thank that Webmaster guy. He has something to do with TE place too! ;)
  • qutubnoorqutubnoor Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
    JDMurray wrote: »
    Hey, you're welcome! But don't forget to thank that Webmaster guy. He has something to do with TE place too! ;)

    My apologies Webmaster!!!! Thank you as we'll!!
    You can Accept to LOOSE or Determine to WIN !!!:thumbup:
Sign In or Register to comment.