Hello Fellow Security professionals,
Hope you all are doing well, I am happy and excited to share that I passed the CISSP exam on June 11th 2021. I would like to share my experience here and exam preparation.
Study materials:
Signed for an extension class at UCSD
CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Eighth Edition 8th Edition by Shon Harris
Eleventh Hour CISSP®: Study Guide 3rd Edition by Eric Conrad
Practice Tests:
Boson (https://www.boson.com/practice-exam/cissp-isc2-practice-exam)
Youtube:
Destination Certification - Mind Map videos
Test taking tips videos
Exam date: Once you decide to purse the cert, sign up for the exam, and that will keep you motivated, I had to reschedule once, but postponing the exam by 2 weeks was ok considering the bigger picture.
Study approach: Around 3-4 months while trying to balance professional commitment at work, and studying over weekends as time permitted.
Read the study materials, CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide over and highlighted exam relevant or important topics.
Two weeks before the exam:
After completing the book, took my first practice test in study mode and as expected it was hard to recall everything, but this gave me an idea on what domains and areas I need to focus more.
Skimmed through the entire book again, and revised the topics which needed more attention, and then started took second practice test in simulation mode, and did better than before.
After revising each domain from the book, going through the mindmap videos helped further.
Took around 5 practice test, and simulated 3 with time limit. With every practice test, the score improved, and reviewing both correct and incorrect answers helped me confirm my approach and understanding, however the highest I scored was 69%, so don't get discouraged if you cannot get past 70% in practice tests.
As long as you know you are improving and you are confident that you will not repeat the mistakes, that helps.
In last 3 days, read the 11th hour CISSP book twice end to end, word by word. In these last 2-3 days it is important to feel confident and relaxed.
Exam:
I ended up using all 3 hours in the exam, the key is to keep going and treat each question individually, and to keep calm. Don't think of the end result, it is a marathon, and not a sprint.
Wish you all a good luck with your exam prep.
Thanks,
Ashish
