My CISSP Study Plan Exam booked 22nd July

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if you can help me. I am feeling a bit worried about my CISSP exam I have it booked on 22nd of July.
I have been studying for the exam since the end of April. As the exam contents changed I got a bit worried and decided to enroll in a professional training course which I took last week that lasted 5 days. The course went through all the "new material" and the "new domains" I feel a bit more prepared but after doing some practices test's I can see I still have a major gaps in my knowledge. I am scoring right now between 55% - 75% on practice tests which I know is not good enough!
As I still have some time left I am thinking about doing the following

1) Go through the topics I am unsure about first.

2) Take some practice questions on these topics.

3) Go through the remaining domains.

4) Take more practice questions!

and basically just keep going through the above until I am scoring higher!

Resources
Dummies guide to CISSP
Official CISSP Guide
CISSP Cram Study Guide
CCCURE
CCCure practice tests
Mcgrawhill practice tests
CBT Nuggets Videos

Do you think this sounds like a good plan? right now I feel slightly worried about the exam!

I have taken other certs like CCNA etc but never have come across a cert like this that contains so much info!!

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Comments

TheFORCE

Your source material is very weak to be honest. Get your hands on the AIO Shon Harris, that might add some depth to your gaps. The dummies guide is for someone really unfamiliar with anything IT related. You are trying to cram information but you need really deep understanding and the ability to draw from your experience to answer questions on the cissp exam. You already have many certifications i notice but still getting low scores in your cissp practice tests. I find that a bit strange going by the certs you currently hold. You might want to reschedule your exam and prepare more.

cyberguypr

That scoring tells me there are major gaps in your knowledge. What are you strongest and weakest domains? Also, whatever those practice tests with the asterisks are, I suggest you get rid of them.

TheFORCE

He is cramming and using **** so he is not understanding the questions and the way they are formulated so he is getting weak scores. Pretty simple.

desi121

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your comments. I understand that with this exam its not a simple task of memorizing info and that the concepts need to be understood. I've been reading through many threads on this site. Thanks for your advice I'll grab a copy of the Shon Harris Guide and go through all the concepts again.

Archon

I thought Cybrary were pretty good - https://www.cybrary.it/video/cissp-introduction/

I passed recently and i only read maybe 20 pages of the AIO Shon Harris book. I tried to use as many different sources as possible.

JoJoCal19

As for books, I wouldn't go with the Shon Harris AIO as you're coming up on your test soon and you may use up all your remaining time reading it. I would get both of Eric Conrad's books, the CISSP Study Guide, and the CISSP 11th Hour. I used solely those books to pass.

kukku

desi121 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your comments. I understand that with this exam its not a simple task of memorizing info and that the concepts need to be understood. I've been reading through many threads on this site. Thanks for your advice I'll grab a copy of the Shon Harris Guide and go through all the concepts again.

Yes. time is less. I too recommend AIO Shon Harris. All the best.

kdawood

How can he go throifh 1400 pages od AIO? Either he has to postpone the exam or use both flavor of Eric book.

kukku

kdawood wrote: »

How can he go throifh 1400 pages od AIO? Either he has to postpone the exam or use both flavor of Eric book.

Yes. Thats true. One alternative is to watch Shon Harris lecture series video.

dustervoice

You might need to push your test back to a later date if your scoring low on the practice quiz. (shon harris & eric conrad's) books seem to be the magic formula. CISSP is a $600 test!

no1ali

Instead of going through steps 1 - 4, I would like to recommend:

1) Take practice questions
2) Identify week areas and cover those topics (I used white board and identified weak areas in each domain via practice test)
3) Go through the topics you are unsure about.
4) Solidify on weak areas and start repeating from 1st step.

Robertf969

All of my CISSP study material looks like it lost a fight with a highlighter. I liked the Wiley book, and the 11th hour the day before the test. I also found the transcender practice questions useful as they provided very clear descriptions of why the right answers were right and the wrong answers were wrong. Good luck.

Jasiono

TheFORCE wrote: »

He is cramming and using **** so he is not understanding the questions and the way they are formulated so he is getting weak scores. Pretty simple.

Where did you come up with this conclusion?

To the OP

I would seriously think about rescheduling. Cramming for exams sucks. If you need more time don't be ashamed of it.

TheFORCE

Jasiono wrote: »

Where did you come up with this conclusion?

Look at his study source material. 2 of the materials have the word "cram" in there. 1 was blacklisted by the forum with *** and 1 is a dummies guide and 5 of them are just test engines or practice tests. Surely anyone trying to pass this exam would not try to gain knowledge and understand the questions by just taking tests. The tests should be used as supplemental study material to validate what you already know, that's why they are called practice tests. In addition to that the OP holds several certifications that should have assisted him in his preparation. As mentioned earlier, he should be able to draw from past experience since he already has some. However he is scoring very low and is surprised by this, this makes me question not only his current attitude of cramming but also his previous certifications. Then again, people can do whatever they want in order to pass the exam. However the lack of skills will eventually show. I'm just assuming here and only saying what i think is happening so i might be wrong. Who knows.

desi121

Guys thanks for all the comments let me clarify a few things,

My reason for using "Cram Study Guides" and Practice tests is that I took a professional 1 week CISSP training course therefore I thought I knew the material! However from the results I am getting in the tests its clear I need to go through a few of the main concepts again!

Secondly, I have only been working in the Security Field for 2 years and I am going for the Associate of CISSP therefore its difficult for me to use my past experiences. In regards to my past Certs yes I do find them useful for this exam but things such as the legal aspects of computing and access control models I have never covered.

I have taken on board everyone's comments and have purchased the conrad books and also changed my study plan to reflect my current situation!

Thanks for everyone's help and comments.

grungeisevil

Here's how I would approach it within this short span amount of time:

1) Do the CCCure questions, identify your weak topics.
2) Use Conrad's book and study the identified topics.
3) Watch the Cybrary Free CISSP videos of the identified topics
4) Repeat

If you're working at the moment, take a couple of days off before the exam. Do a quick run through of all the topics, and CCCure.

A word of caution: The exam questions are quite tricky as it would test your understanding on the topic. I would advice you to plan your time accordingly, read the question and answers twice at least before answering.

All the best, bud!

Jasiono

TheFORCE wrote: »

Look at his study source material. 2 of the materials have the word "cram" in there. 1 was blacklisted by the forum with *** and 1 is a dummies guide and 5 of them are just test engines or practice tests. Surely anyone trying to pass this exam would not try to gain knowledge and understand the questions by just taking tests. The tests should be used as supplemental study material to validate what you already know, that's why they are called practice tests. In addition to that the OP holds several certifications that should have assisted him in his preparation. As mentioned earlier, he should be able to draw from past experience since he already has some. However he is scoring very low and is surprised by this, this makes me question not only his current attitude of cramming but also his previous certifications. Then again, people can do whatever they want in order to pass the exam. However the lack of skills will eventually show. I'm just assuming here and only saying what i think is happening so i might be wrong. Who knows.

I agree with you on letting people do whatever they want, but when I read his post I honestly thought he was talking about those exam cram books you see for just about every exam lol

tuabuikia

kdawood wrote: »

How can he go throifh 1400 pages od AIO? Either he has to postpone the exam or use both flavor of Eric book.

You can. I used AIO only as that is the only book available to me. I can't seem to find Conrad's book here in my country and buying them online seems to takes ages to arrive.

Tip is don't be put off my its size and verbosity. Go through each topic and see how it relates to the IT security practice in your current role and workplace.