CISSP books, and general advice

[Aurelio]

Hi Everyone

I'm new here and I am looking into beginning my CISSP studies.

I have a question which I was hoping if someone could provide advice on:

- Would it be advisable to wait for the new editions of the Official CBK / Study Guide to be released (Q3 / May respectively I believe) or are the current editions sufficient considering the change in exam this month?

For context, I have been working in the IT field for 12 years, primarily in the SMB space. My previouse role where I spent most of this time was a small company so i wore many different hats, which included working with Windows Servers/Desktops (patching, Active Directory), Endpoint protection, Firewalls/IDPS, Data availability/storage/retention). Obtained my CCNA Route/Switch cert late last year.

I am both excited but also nervous about undertaking this path so any general advice would be most welcome.

Thanks 🙂

[MiniMe]

I am sure there are pros/cons for any route you take here.

This exam covers a LOT of topics and it resembles a marathon as opposed to a sprint imho. Therefore, patience is probably an important part of many people's studies. 

Well, if you take a step back and look at your question from a patient man's perspective, your answer would be waiting for the new material unless you have a burning desire to take the exam before the new material is released. 

My 2 cents...

Thanks,

JohnZ

[Aurelio]

Hi JohnZ

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I understand that there is a huge amount of information that goes into this certification. Hence my eagerness to get 'stuck into it'.

My main concern is around the study materials not bring available yet for the current revision of the exam. I'm struggling to find information on what exactly has been changed / removed / added (apart from the minor rewording of the 8 CBK) and whether the 2015 study materials are sufficient for the current exam.

I'm aware that experience comes into play during the exam and not everything will be learned from a book, but having said that I would hate to miss out on material that I should know for the current revision.

Thanks again for replying!

[Baechle]

Aurelio,

I wouldn’t be too worried about a change in the exam between versions.  If the exam changed that much, we should all retest from scratch.  There are some difference in best practices for our community overall from the best practices of 15-20 years ago, but not much changes in a couple of years.

Here’s the thing.  The study guides, boot camps, and seminars are not likely going to teach you the knowledge you need to pass the test.  If you don’t already have the knowledge, you’re better off enrolling in an IT Security degree program than looking for a study guide.

For an exam this expansive, the study guide is only going to be a refresher for things you knew already but don’t work with all the time.  In that case, if you get one that 2 or 3 years old or for the previous version of the exam, it shouldn’t matter that much.

My $0.02.

Eric B.