@chingaming
Commiserations on the exam result.
I think the only thing you have to be aware of is that you mut leave at least 30 days after the test - I don't know if the system will stop you booking one inside this period, but I would not chance it and make sure you're gone say 32 days just to clear any potential time zone issues again.
Retake I believe costs 199 USD and then another 50 USD to certify and each year thereafter you want to retain the certification (if you're doing it for the most common driver to help with employment it will either help get you a job/or it won't either way it will cease to be too useful after a year or two and other ISC and third party certifications have better recognition right now).
I haven't sat the exam as I'm quite old and have enough pieces of paper however I do hear in the forums that the free course might not contain coverage of everything you need to know to pass. I think that it's more likely that the way the exam questions are written (more comprehension than stored knowledge) are throwing people off, but if the free training for the free exam didn't have a curriculum that covered all of the information required then in my view that wouldn't be great, though it's probably a good way of getting a retake fee - let's say cost for an exam at test center to ISC was thirty bucks(hypothetical, no idea if it is or isn't) - a fail and retake is going to bring in more revenue than just a pass and AMF - though registering as a candidate and hanging on past a year isn't to bad - in any case it's a 50 USD PUPY subscription.
While you are waiting you should recover your material:
CC Study Tools and Resources (isc2.org)
ISC2 will happily sell you an Official (ISC)2 Certified in Cybersecurity eTextbook for a year for 19.95 USD or slightly less in a leap year:
"- 365 days (once accessed for the first time in the VitalSource platform)"
Google will give you seven free days to their training for their cert 49 USD PUPM after:
https://grow.google/certificates/cybersecurity/
And Microsoft are most generous in that you can get a month free access to Linked-in learning. Around fifty bucks thereafter and it can cover CISSP, SSCP, Security+ and probably CC by now - plus premium career might be helpful if you are job searching:
LinkedIn Learning: Online Courses for Creative, Technology, Business Skills
CompTIA Security+ training may help a bit, and you get to keep the textbook if you buy one, (also, libraries and the fundamental have not changed):
Security+ (Plus) Certification Training | CompTIA IT Certifications
It's also a good time to take stock and see if CC is right for you. So far, I guess you've only spent time and transport to the test center. CC might become a really recognized certification in 2-3 years, and if you're doing it for personal satisfaction, it's also fine, however right now there are not that many job adverts asking for it, using it as a filter etc. It's possible to work into a story that will sound interesting in an interview - especially if you're chatting to folk with ISC2 certs, but what I'm hearing right now (and I could be wrong, but to corroborate you can search on jobsites) is it's not helping that much to get candidates to interview while Security+ or even SSCP to name a couple do a better job here right now.
Lastly, good luck, and here's ISC2's official process guide for retake:
Retake Policy
For each of the CC, SSCP, CISSP, CCSP, CGRC, CSSLP, CISSP-ISSAP, CISSP-ISSEP, CISSP-ISSMP and HCISPP certification programs, there are two independent rules that govern exam retake attempts:
Test-free days between retake attempts:
- If you don’t pass the exam on your first attempt, you may retest after 30 test-free days.
- If you don’t pass the exam on your second attempt, you may retest after 60 test-free days from your most recent exam attempt.
- If you don’t pass the exam on your third attempt and for all subsequent retakes, you may retest after 90 test-free days from your most recent exam attempt.
Per certification program, at a maximum you may attempt an (ISC)² exam up to 4 times within a 12-month period.
Candidates may pursue multiple certifications simultaneously.
(ISC)² Certification Exam Results (isc2.org)
