Passed the CCSP exam - my recommendations

[darie17]

Dear community,

I joined this forum a couple of weeks ago, while I was preparing for my CCSP exam - which I had today and passed 🙂 I would like to sum up my personal recommendations for having good chances of passing the exam. Please do not take these notes as a general "recipe", it's just how it worked out for me.

Reading this post very thoroughly detailed by Radioteacher (who also recently passed the CCSP exam) - btw, congratulations from my side also! - I got a bit scared that maybe I am not doing enough for my preparation. The thing is: it very much depends on your previous experience and if you already have other credentials, like CISSP (or aquivalent). And more training is never bad, it's just a matter of perspective. In the end, what matters is if you go with a "clean mind" to the exam, meaning you feel you have done enough to prepare.

Long story short: I used the following materials to LEARN:

1. The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CCSP CBK (2nd Edition)
2. CCSP (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Study Guide (1st Edition)

And to PRACTICE I used:

• the review questions at the end of each chapter in the CBK and Official Study Guide
• the online practice exams provided by Sybex to those who buy the Official Study Guide

I did not participate in any classroom training and did not use any other resources for learning or practicing. But I must mention that I earned my CISSP credential last year in december, which helped a lot during learning and in the end at the exam. And I have approximately 6 years of experience in the IT Security field.

My recommendation: do NOT rely solely on the Official Study Guide, it simply does not cover all topics as thoroughly as the CBK does. Read the CBK at least 2 times to make sure you did not miss any important concepts.

Both books are, in my opinion, well written (like a story), with enough examples from the real world, so I would definitely recommend them both.

How much time I invested? Hard to say (I lost track...), but I started at the beginning of September 2017 and learned every week approximately 6-8 hours, starting with November a lot more (maybe 20 hours a week?) + a bit more in the last week prior to the exam. So I would assume I spent somewhere around 150 hours of study to pass the CCSP exam.

Is the exam time of 4 hours enough? Yes, in my opinion it is more than enough to cover the exam, 1-2 short breaks and a bit of buffer in the end.

I hope this information helps you in getting prepared for your CCSP exam. Wish you all the luck! Let me know if you have questions which you think I might be able to answer (except of those related to the real exam questions, which I will not disclose...).

Cheers,

-darie17

[n0rg]

Yes, a very much deserved congratulations your way.  This exam to me really sucked IMHO.  It tests on material that is NOT in any of the study guides or the Adams video, or areas that I don't think specifically are for CCSP concern (database?).  I've written exams for (ISC)2, so I THOUGHT I knew the syntax.  Nope.  Took it 3x and worse result was last.  That was it for me.  If (ISC)2 wasn't such a money grubbing org and gave discounts for 2nd+ tries as some other orgs do, I bet more forgiving.  So from my vantage point, people who can pass that exam - hats off!

[me_shail]

Hi There

Well I am not sure about the sequence but I read the sybex book first and then the CBK twice (back to back). That's all.

I would highly recommend the CSA cloud security paper though.

Cheers

[me_shail]

Bro

Giving you pep talk is no use because you know the drill. My only thought, don't let the money go waste. BTW how are you preparing?

Some people go with videos and short things. I go the longest way. cert secondary learning first. So if you can do the sybex book twice, cbk twice, csa cloud security 3.1 twice and then the ISC2 exam paper (1000 questions) once only and in the end edusum tests. I know it's a lot but that was my way. no videos, no short courses, no other stuff.

Another thing to keep in mind you will find new tech, terms and concepts in the isc2 prac tests and edudum tests. research those things on internet. that's it.

I hope you bounce back.

[Siddiqui786]

just read sybex once ??

[bpdelacruz]

---

@n0rg wrote:

Yes, a very much deserved congratulations your way.  This exam to me really sucked IMHO.  It tests on material that is NOT in any of the study guides or the Adams video, or areas that I don't think specifically are for CCSP concern (database?).  I've written exams for (ISC)2, so I THOUGHT I knew the syntax.  Nope.  Took it 3x and worse result was last.  That was it for me.  If (ISC)2 wasn't such a money grubbing org and gave discounts for 2nd+ tries as some other orgs do, I bet more forgiving.  So from my vantage point, people who can pass that exam - hats off!

---

Dude, don’t give up. I suggest taking a bootcamp to prepare for the exam. After you pass the exam on your 4th attempt, ask your employer to cover the cost for your first three attempts.

[Xin]

Passed CISSP exam today!  Finished 150 questions at the last minute!   The documents I used are  ISC official study guide and student book.  Also I reviewed all ITDOJO on youtube. Nothing else.