Passed the CCSP exam - my recommendations - Page 5

darie17 · ‎12-04-2017

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:

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

armg183 · ‎11-04-2018

I just passed the ccsp yesterday. I didn't read a single chapter of any book simply because my brain doesn't work that way. I used two sets of sybex practice questions, the official practice test questions which come with 1000 and I did the other 705 practice questions that the other sybex study guide gives you access to.

After passing the Cissp just a month ago, I have to say these tests are probably only 20% knowing the how and 80% knowing the why. In order to pass these exams, you truly have to understand why certain decisions are the best decisions from an organizational standpoint.
I thought the sybex test engines really helped get me in the right mindset. When you read each explanation as to the why of each answer to each practice question, try to truly grasp how the conclusion was made.

AladdinSane · ‎12-27-2018

Hi Darie - I'm concerned about your comment "My recommendation: do NOT rely solely on the Official Study Guide, it simply does not cover all topics as thoroughly as the CBK does".

I have been studying now for a while, but only using the Official Study Guide and Corresponding Sybex on-line test material, as well as the reference white papers. I now feel comfortable with with the material, but it seems as if you are saying I am in for a (rude) surprise when I sit the exam if I don't purchase and review the CBK. Can you comment? Thank You,

darie17 · ‎12-27-2018

I strongly recommend to also read the CBK because it explains most concepts in more detail. These details might help you better understand the exam material and to pass the exam. This was at least my impression while reading the CBK. Finally, please remember that the CBK embodies the complete material required at the exam (categorized like in the official isc2 exam outline). The official study guide is just that: the study *guide*.

Hope this helps.

AladdinSane · ‎12-27-2018

Thanks for the quick response and input Darie17. Thing is, I have been
studying now for about 4 months now with only the Study Guide/Test Exams
and I was hoping I could avoid reading the CBK as some of the reviews of
the book on Amazon on not that flattering, and in fact listed the Study
Guide as better material. But I will definitely take your advice.

Thanks and congratulations on passing the exam!

AlecTrevelyan · ‎12-28-2018

I used the Official Study Guide and the Official Practice Tests to help me pass the CCSP.

The Official Practice Tests highlighted some areas of study that weren't covered in the Official Study Guide so I just found some online resources to help cover those areas.

The practice tests questions are similar to the real test questions in style, type, language used and level of difficulty so I found these very useful.

https://www.amazon.com/CCSP-Official-ISC-Practice-Tests-dp-1119449227/dp/1119449227/ref=mt_paperback

AladdinSane · ‎12-28-2018

Hi Alec - i am using the same material you quote and i am also finding the
practice questions from cybex quite useful as the type of question one can
expect Can you tell me, did you also use the CBK book Darie17 mentioned?
https://www.amazon.com/Official-ISC-Guide-CCSP-CBK/dp/1119276721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1512...

I don't want to invest more time and money than i need to on this exam, but
I also don't want to throw away $560.00 🙂

Thanking you in advance,
AladdinSane

AlecTrevelyan · ‎12-28-2018

Hi @AladdinSane,

No, I didn't read the CBK. I just used the two books I mentioned, combined with around 5 years of experience working on cloud related projects.

I have to say I feel the CCSP was the toughest of the three ISC2 exams I've taken, not because of the subject matter, but due to the questions being written in "doublespeak". The CISSP and ISSEP exams I found to be written in plain English so were much easier to comprehend what they were asking.

The Official Practice Test questions are written in a similar fashion to the real test so these helped me prepare to pass the CCSP exam. I would say on a scale of 1-5, the Official Study Guide questions are level 2 or 3, the Official Practice Test questions are level 4 and the real test questions are level 5, but as long as you understand and can apply the fundamental concepts to seemingly abstract questions you should be fine - it's not an impossible test!

Good luck!

AladdinSane · ‎12-30-2018

Thanks for the well wishes and advice and congratulations on passing the
exam!

AladdinSane · ‎01-24-2019

Hi - I'll be taking the CCSP quite soon and appreciate all the input and feedback. I apologize if this has already been asked, but can someone tell me if the exam allows you to return to previous questions like the practice exam does?

Thanks In Advance,

A. Sane

armg183 · ‎01-24-2019

I believe it did. I didn't try going back though as it is my philosophy to never go back and change any answers. I think I recall their being a "back" or "previous" button somewhere, but I can't quite remember.