When Can I retest and What can I do different?

[Mark_M]

Hello All,

First thing first, took the exam today and was shocked with the difficultly from a reading comprehension perspective. Failed it (5th time), with all domains either Above or Near proficiency (no Below).  Studied with CCCure test bank and Sybex/Wiley (ISC2 Official Study Guide) test bank.  Attended a ISC2 Boot Camp. Lastly, I used the following text books: Official Study Guide 8th edition, and ISC2 official Student Study Guide.

Any recommendation on What I should try next?

Also, I'm curious on when can I retake the test?

I took the exam:

- 2 March 2021 (Failed)

- 27 Sept 2020 (Failed)

-21 July 2020 (Failed)

- 20 June 2019 (Failed)

From ISC2 website:

• If you don’t pass the exam on your first attempt, you may retest after 30 test-free days.
• If you don’t pass the exam on your second attempt, you may retest after 60 test-free days from your most recent exam attempt.
• If you don’t pass the exam on your third attempt and for all subsequent retakes, you may retest after 90 test-free days from your most recent exam attempt.
• Per certification program, at a maximum you may attempt an (ISC)² exam up to 4 times within a 12-month period

Thanks All.

[Mark_M]

Also worth stating that my average scores on the test banks were 70-85%.

[rslade]

Read "Security Engineering" by Ross Anderson.

Try the questions at
https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exams/Practice-Questions/m-p/18626

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"Cybersecurity Lessons from CoVID-19" CRC Press 978-0-367-68269-9
============= for back issues:
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[rslade]

> Buckridge (Viewer) posted a new reply in Exams on 03-04-2021 04:07 AM in the

> Subject: Re: When Can I retest and What can I do different?
> Received a positive COVID diagnosis? Getting a COVID test is not the best piece
> of news to receive right now. However, once you get the news, it is important to
> decide the next course of action. While over 80% of cases are mild or moderate
> in nature, not every patient requires hospitalization.

OK, pretty sure that @Buckridge, supposedly aka Margarete Nolan, is a bot. And
a pretty simplsitic bot, to boot, given that it probably triggered on the word
"retest" in the subject line ...

======================
rslade@gmail.com rmslade@outlook.com rslade@computercrime.org
"If you do buy a computer, don't turn it on." - Richards' 2nd Law
"Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2
"Viruses Revealed" 0-07-213090-3
"Software Forensics" 0-07-142804-6
"Dictionary of Information Security" Syngress 1-59749-115-2
"Cybersecurity Lessons from CoVID-19" CRC Press 978-0-367-68269-9
============= for back issues:
[Base URL] site http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev/
CISSP refs: [Base URL]mnbksccd.htm
PC Security: [Base URL]mnvrrvsc.htm
Security Dict.: [Base URL]secgloss.htm
Security Educ.: [Base URL]comseced.htm
Book reviews: [Base URL]mnbk.htm
[Base URL]review.htm
Partial/recent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/techbooks/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Slade
https://is.gd/RotlWB http://twitter.com/rslade
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/author/p1/

[alekos]

Hello Mark,

It seems like you are eligible to retest after 90 days from your most recent attempt. I admire your courage to keep going but we have to figure out what we are doing wrong here.
Have you worked in security or IT for at least 5 years? In my case I have 19 years of experience in most of the domains. However only 2 years of my experience was in a technical role, the rest was mostly in management.
Passing the CISSP exam is not as simple as reading one book. I have read many books over the years which in combination with my experience resulted in me passing the exam on the first try back in January of this year. I studied for about 4 months quite intensively before I sat for the exam. I read the All in One CISSP Exam Guide by Shon Harris which is a great book and comes with some good practice questions.
You mentioned that you are scoring somewhere in the 70s or low 80s on practice tests and that is low, which is an indicator that you are not ready to take the CISSP exam. The practice tests are “easy” compared to the real exam so you should be scoring in the 90s.
The advice I will give you is to study more and go at it harder than you ever have in all your previous attempts. For the 4 months I was preparing I dedicated all of my energy to my studies. Everything I did was CISSP related; I did not read anything else, I did not talk about anything else. I would even give full on lectures to my family and friends about SSO technologies and the SDLC.
Anyway, I wish you the best and hope you pass the CISSP exam on your next attempt.

Thank you,

Alex