CISSP study material to prepare in a month

Hi,
I am scheduled to take the CISSP on 9th April. I am wondering if it is really necessary to read shon harris 6th ed or just reading Eric conrad CISSP Study guide and 11th Hour CISSP would suffice. I intend to do the practice questions from shon harris, McGraw hill, skillset along with CBT nuggets videos, sunflower pdf and combined notes. I looked up all the previous threads but am unable to draw a conclusion. Some have read shon harris cover to cover multiple times but others didnt even touch it. Most people suggest the office guide to CISSP CBK. what would be the best approach? Should I simply skip AIO and read the official guide along with the other two. Any advice is appreciated.

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jvrlopez

I didn't use the AIO outside of the chapter intros, summaries, bullets, and quizes. I think it covers way more than necessary and would be a hard read to finish in a month. The 11th Hour is good, but I wouldn't touch it until you get closer to the test (2 weeks or so). I'd recommend the Sybex CISSP book, that is an easy read, the questions and test engine are great, and I think you could finish it comprehensively in a month.

Good luck!

TheFORCE

vmaddela wrote: »

Hi,
I am scheduled to take the CISSP on 9th April. I am wondering if it is really necessary to read shon harris 6th ed or just reading Eric conrad CISSP Study guide and 11th Hour CISSP would suffice. I intend to do the practice questions from shon harris, McGraw hill, skillset along with CBT nuggets videos, sunflower pdf and combined notes. I looked up all the previous threads but am unable to draw a conclusion. Some have read shon harris cover to cover multiple times but others didnt even touch it. Most people suggest the office guide to CISSP CBK. what would be the best approach? Should I simply skip AIO and read the official guide along with the other two. Any advice is appreciated.

Don't compare your study time by what others did. Other people have different experience, didn't retention span etc etc. Theres too many variables. Go by how you personally feel about it, depending on your experience in the domains and your experience in IT in general. I personally wouldn't do it in a month, theres too many risks and a lot of material to cover. That's my opinion, then again there was one post a few days ago where the person passed the exam by studying for only one day. It all depends how comfortable you feel about the domains.

vmaddela

jvrlopez wrote: »

I didn't use the AIO outside of the chapter intros, summaries, bullets, and quizes. I think it covers way more than necessary and would be a hard read to finish in a month. The 11th Hour is good, but I wouldn't touch it until you get closer to the test (2 weeks or so). I'd recommend the Sybex CISSP book, that is an easy read, the questions and test engine are great, and I think you could finish it comprehensively in a month.

Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestion. Do you think the paid practice tests and questions (transcender, cccure) make a lot of difference over the free ones? Transcender have a 120$ monthly subscription with a money back guarantee if I fail. Are they worth it?

jvrlopez

I didn't use any paid test engines as I felt I had plenty with the Sybex, AIO, and AIO practice question books. I'm not sure how different they are, but I will say that no test engine will emulate the test exactly. As long as you know the material and know as to why the question is right or wrong, I would say you are good to go.

If there is a money back guarentee, I wouldn't be that hesitant to try it if I felt I needed it.

vmaddela

TheFORCE wrote: »

Don't compare your study time by what others did. Other people have different experience, didn't retention span etc etc. Theres too many variables. Go by how you personally feel about it, depending on your experience in the domains and your experience in IT in general. I personally wouldn't do it in a month, theres too many risks and a lot of material to cover. That's my opinion, then again there was one post a few days ago where the person passed the exam by studying for only one day. It all depends how comfortable you feel about the domains.

I actually intend to write the exam before the new CBK comes into effect on April 15th. I will have to source the newer study materials and spend lot more time on studying them and that will delay me taking the exam by another couple of months so I figured it would be best to write it before that. Your thoughts?

Rimmi

Go for it. U reap what u sow. Exam is not difficult.

vmaddela

After reading telecommunications in sybex, took the CISSP practice exam and managed to score only 60% in it because Sybex didnt cover the questions asked in Shon Harris. Obviously practice exam is based on Shon Harris AIO but would the exam actually require that much in depth knowledge or what we get from Sybex and practice questions should be sufficient? Just few thoughts.

vmaddela

Thanks for the advise. I passed the exam.

kvponkshe

congrats!! have you used Transender quiz finally ?

vmaddela

kvponkshe wrote: »

congrats!! have you used Transender quiz finally ?

No. I put up a post in detail just now. Please check that.