Failed my CISSP exam today - 27 May 2025

[karan97]

I know this is depressing but failing once doesn't means I am a failure. Perhaps my method was not right or whatsoever. I am here to ask what was your method to pass the CISSP exam. Appreciate if you can provide any inputs. Thanks in advance.

[RobertCousins]

Hopefully I don't go offside the rules about discussing the exam here while being very general.

It is a tough exam because there is a LOT of material covered, and quite often the answers offered to questions are not strictly right or wrong. Instead, the situations and context presented in the question mean you have to make a decision that is best for the scenario given.

Remember that keeping the passing standard high is one reason the certification has value. Now that you have experience about what the actual exam is like, you can prepare again with more focus!

[emb021]

Well, as we don't know what you did to study, its hard to make recommendations.

I would add to what @RobertCousins noted.  One of the big mistakes people make with many certification exams is approaching questions with "what would I do at work".  This is often a mistake as how you do something at work might NOT be what is the industry standard, or more importantly, how the certifying organization wants you to do it.

This is why its important to understand the body of knowledge of the certification AND work on practice exams that not just point out what is the right answer, but WHY that is the right answer, and why the other answers are wrong.

[dcontesti]

Sorry to hear but I echo what @emb021 and @RobertCousins have said.  It is a difficult exam and we as humans sometimes read things into questions.  Whilst I was doing exam admin, I would remind folks to read the questions carefully (not sure the Pearson Vue do that) and choose the most correct answer.

There are many conversations in the Community from folks that managed to pass the exam (you can search for them) but this one was also posted this morning.

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exam-Preparation/Passed-CISSP-on-First-Attempt/m-p/80809

Some key takeaways from all the comments include:

1. Be well rested

2. Try to minimize your stress level

3. Read and re-read the question

4. Try not to read anything into the question

5. Of the answers provided, choose the most correct.

Hopefully, you will take do some additional quizzes and try again.

d

PS: A very wise person told me one time, there is nothing wrong with failing, that is how we learn and at least you tried (in this case one of the most difficult exams, I have ever taken).

[Spirnia]

I don't recall hearing about the method you used to study.

[JoePete]

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@andrew93 wrote:

What matters is that you’re learning and coming back stronger. For me, the key was switching from memorizing details to thinking like a security manager.

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Some good, succinct advice. I think a widespread challenge in the industry isn't the ability to gather knowledge, but the ability to gather experience. What distinguishes the CISSP (at least in intent) from many other certs is it was intended to validate experience. I know when I sat for the exam (more than two decades ago), I had about 10 years of IT and security under my belt. While there were some topics and domains I needed work on, I had already taken part in policy development, application development, system admin, networking etc. While we didn't always do things according to the ISC2 CBK, I had ample grounding to absorb the CBK and not just memorize things out of context. However, all of that experience was thanks to work environments where we had the flexibility to wear multiple hats. Today, many jobs are narrowly defined with limited opportunity or encouragement to step outside your lane and actually problem solve. It takes away the necessary creativity of the job and induces burnout. The one bit of advice I offer to people just starting is to value experience way more than pay. The pay can come later.

[cweinstein]

I hope it's not too late to reply, as I passed the CISSP exam a week ago.

Yes, it's a tough exam, but it's about more than just knowledge. You have to also learn the CISSP mindset of thinking like a manager. If the question presents a problem, you're not solving the problem; you are managing it.

As you prepare for your next attempt, in addition to the official practice questions and text, I would like to offer a couple of suggestions.

A book entitled Think Like a Manager for the CISSP Exam by Luke Ahmed, and a YouTube video series about the CISSP mindset.

You'll get it next time, hang in there!