CISSP FAIL 19Aug2015

Unfrigginbelievable.....

When someone here says that the test is NOTHING like the "practice questions", believe them. I'm now saying it, too. That test has got to be the most vague, confusing POS I have ever encountered.

There were questions that seemed to have not two, but three correct answers. If there were "memorization" questions, then I certainly didn't have them on my exam. The focus was mostly on DRP, BIA, BCP, et cetera. Maybe 8 or 10 long scenario questions? LEAST, MOST, BEST all over the place.

I just took it, and I actually thought I was doing pretty good on it! Took a break at the 125 mark, and then another at the 220 mark, then another at 250 and then came back to review marked questions (maybe 30 something). When others come here and say they cannot describe how the test is, it's true! It's just...well...confusing to say the least. I thought I applied the "read the question and know what they are asking for and everything is about security and....". It's been maybe an hour since I left, and I don't even know what to study, or where I went wrong.

I even left with 30 mins to go, thinking, "I'm pretty sure I passed".

So, it's back to the drawing board, but I WILL pass this test. I don't know if it's me not doing the questions "correctly" or what, but it is nothing like the practice exams. I'm going to have to take a few moments to digest what happened, when I can see straight from staring at that screen for so long, and move forward.

One last thing.....SON OF A !!!!!

/rant over

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Comments

Expect

The CISSP isn't easy. did you manage to identify any weak areas? focus on them the most.
good luck on your next attempt, im sure you will pass next time.
which resources did you use?

E Double U

I've been there. Better luck next time!

successrealm

Expect,

Weak areas were:
Security Engineering
Communication and Network Security
Identity and Access Mgmt
Security Assessment and Testing

Used:
Eric Conrad CISSP
Eric Conrad 11th Hour
Sunflower Notes (Prob not enough)
Cybrary IT Videos (maybe half, this was very good, as Kelly mentioned what to focus on. Perhaps this would have been beneficial to watch them all)

Practice Exams:
McGraw Hill
CCCure practice questions (paid)
Pocket Prep CISSP Mobile App (paid)

It's strange, but I "feel" that I don't know what else I can study, because the test wasn't really "study able". (I know that's not true, but it seems that this test is based on being able to pull the answer out of one's A double S).
Hard to explain right now, but I'm sure that I'll just have to study the material more and hope it "clicks" during the exam in a month. I still don't believe I failed it, coming out of the room feeling pretty good about it.

E Double U

How many years of experience do you have? There were questions that I was able to answer because of what I've learned in my current role that I didn't quite remember from books.

It wouldn't hurt to add the Shon Harris AIO to your studies.

jt2929

I would pick up the Shon Harris AIO and use that for your weak domains. Also use the Total Tester software that comes with it for practice. I found the questions on TT comparably difficult to the exam. Don't give up, just work on your weak areas and review the strong ones.

successrealm

E Double U,

I've been in IT since 1996. IT/Server support/sys admin with the US Navy '96-2000, Lead Sec Analyst with GE, Lead Sec Analyst with Fed Reserve, Desktop support to AD admin with numerous financial institutions, now an Info Security Officer dealing with Compliance/Privacy/HIPAA, et cetera.

Just gotta dig deeper, I guess. It's just frustrating feeling like, "I got this", and I didn't.

jt2929-Yeah, need to do something different, that's for sure...

Mike7

Commiseration.

The books does not cover the new areas in 2015 CISSP, the CCCure question does. Seems that your weak areas are the ones where new material is added. You may want to supplement your reading from say https://cccure.training/m/articles/view/CISSP-CBK-2015-WHAT-WAS-ADDED.

I took the old 10 domains CISSP exam end March this year. There were questions that I was able to answer because of experience, there were also questions about security technologies that were just introduced just 1 or 2 years back. So it pays to keep up on latest infosec news.

Other than that, when you encounter questions that ask for "best solution", put on your "manager" instead of "analyst/engineer" hat. For example, administrative controls are better than technical controls to a security manager. The Shon Harris AIO was emphasizing this, so try the questions in there.

You are almost there. Just work on the weak areas and approach it with the correct mindset.

gespenstern

It's okay, it is supposed to be tough. But doable. Just go through all prep steps one more time and try again.

!nf0s3cure

Like E..d..U said, there is lot of stuff that you encounter when you do your time for the crime to enter IT!

I can agree that the book or the outline is just a guide. The questions can be from either side of the Arch of any subject. So you really need a wide wide lens to capture this image and at very few time will you need a telephoto. Have I given enough philosophy and photography lesson here. Wait I too am currently changing lenses and thinking.

Take the next exam ASAP, do not make the mistake I and many made to delay it and lose momentum. Do not make that mistake. I am still repenting. Should have gone back at doing it straight away while most concepts were fresh in mind. Otherwise you will end up doing more time for your crime:) Good luck next time.

kukku

Sorry to hear..Come back strongly..Have a 2 months study plan...Watch Cybrary IT Videos, Shon Harris videos, read the explanation of answers from cccure exam engine...More importantly, take out the memories of the first attempt..I have seen lot of people who dont have the courage to take the exam again for various reason..It is good to see that you are determined to go for the second attempt soon...All the best..

ColoradoRick

Sorry to hear that...I'm also actively re-studying for my retest (I got a 691 on Aug 1st). I had just attended an ISC2 Bootcamp, too. I was not confident that I passed when going through it but felt I might've come close. (I did it in 4 hours...next time I'm going to SLOW DOWN and skip the monster questions and go back to them.)

I've heard that the goal is to have a 70% pass rate. So if questions are answered correctly closer to the 90% mark, they are thrown out to keep the passing rates down. In my class, 10 out of 20 had already taken the test once and our passing rate was 14 out of 20 passed.

I studied primarily the Shon Harris book prior and the class gave us the ISC2 CBK guide.

Since failing, I purchased the 11th Hour CISSP book and CISSP study guide by Eric Conrad to just broaden the depth a bit. I'm currently enlarging my flash card pile by going through 1,300 pages of Brain **** questions and selecting areas I'm weak in or questions that are similar to those on the exam. (Finding quite a few similar questions, which is encouraging.)

When selecting answers, and I get it down to 2 or 3, I ask, "What is the one a manager would pick?" and "What is the umbrella answer?" Often, an answer will be true but another answer will include that on it but also have more width, so more of an umbrella-type answer.

And, no it's NOT " a mile wide and an inch deep" as some depth goes WAY more than an inch!!

I'm looking at a a late-Sept retest date but haven't made it, yet...saving up $599 for a voucher!

melvinfz

Sorry to hear that .I too failed the exam on July 23rd . Scored a 623. I was refering to Shon harris and CCCure paid questions . As of now I am going through Eric conrad 11th hour and CISSP Combined Notes . Plus will go through all my notes again. My weak domains were as you mentioned above .I will attempt it again end of September .Lets c what happens then .

@bh!4u

ColoradoRick wrote: »

I've heard that the goal is to have a 70% pass rate. So if questions are answered correctly closer to the 90% mark, they are thrown out to keep the passing rates down. In my class, 10 out of 20 had already taken the test once and our passing rate was 14 out of 20 passed.

What do you mean when you say that "if questions are answered correctly closer to 90% mark they are thrown out". I really did not follow you on that. Can you please explain?

g33k3r

Hang in there! The theme I am hearing is there aren't any shortcuts to understanding the material. You can't memorize terms, you have to fully understand the concepts and how they are applied.

Robertf969

The Transcender practice questions really helped me, they had really clear explanations about why wrong answers were wrong and right answers were right. Especially helpful on the ones like you mentioned that seem to have 2 or 3 right answers.

bpenn

Robertf969 wrote: »

The Transcender practice questions really helped me, they had really clear explanations about why wrong answers were wrong and right answers were right. Especially helpful on the ones like you mentioned that seem to have 2 or 3 right answers.

I can also attest to this. Transcender was a god-send. I went through all 1100 of them, making sure I not only understood why each answer was right but WHY the wrong answers were wrong. Transcender was a great supplement to the books. I used Shon Harris, the Sybex book and Eric Conrad.

bigdogz

Remember that you need to sharpen all of your knives for each domain. You will have another exam that is different. The exam will hit the domains differently.

You also have to think like management for this exam. It is also somewhat of an English test, which IMHO, is not what the exam should be based on.
This is where the mind games come into play.

Good Luck to all !!!

dustervoice

I think the key to passing the CISSP is reading the questions more than once. I remembered when i took it, after reading a question once and looking at the options i immediately saw what i thought the answer;however, on a second read i was like Holy Sh*T that's not what they are asking. wish i could give an example without violating the NDA. All the ones i can think of was probably on the test. My best advice is read the questions more than once and dont jump to conclusions.

OM602

It's gonna hurt, but you definitely need to read the new CBK ór Shon Harris' book, at least some chapters.
Another +1 for Transcender, also helped me alot I think. Once you hit the 80% mark on CCure, I think it's more efficient to do more practice questions than read whole chapters.

Also I feel that sometimes people with a lot of experience do worse on the CISSP, because they tend to go with the answer that seems right. On a lot of questions I thought "In real life, I would do this, but they probably wanna hear this"
There is an hilarious example regarding this issue about a fire alarm on the forum here somewhere...

JrRiskM

I took the test on 14th of august, I failed too. I had the same feeling that I thought i passed. I have memorized a lot only to end up answering more about BCP, DRP etc. Anyway, I was told what I am weaker and I am not going to stop until i got this CISSP, because I really want it. So never lose hope, the answers are not hard, its just too tricky that got me

now i want to ask, what can you say about this book i am planning to add to my resources apart from Eric Conrad, Sharon harris AIO:

1. CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide [COLOR=#555555 !important]7th Edition[/COLOR]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119042712/ref=pe_353940_147500440_em_1p_9_ti

2. CISSP Exam Prep Questions, Answers & Explanations: 1000+ CISSP Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982576846/ref=pe_353940_147500440_em_1p_12_ti

These were with new domains. Can anyone tell me if you have tried these?

Leah

JrRiskM

JrRiskM wrote: »

I took the test on 14th of august, I failed too. I had the same feeling that I thought i passed. I have memorized a lot only to end up answering more about BCP, DRP etc. Anyway, I was told what I am weaker and I am not going to stop until i got this CISSP, because I really want it. So never lose hope, the answers are not hard, its just too tricky that got me

now i want to ask, what can you say about this book i am planning to add to my resources apart from Eric Conrad, Sharon harris AIO:

1. CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide[COLOR=#555555 !important]7th Edition[/COLOR]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119042712/ref=pe_353940_147500440_em_1p_9_ti

2. CISSP Exam Prep Questions, Answers & Explanations: 1000+ CISSP Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982576846/ref=pe_353940_147500440_em_1p_12_ti

These were with new domains. Can anyone tell me if you have tried these?