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CISSP Exam or Study Tips?

W

WobbleWobble

Diamond Member
I have both the official CBK books, but found them to be a bit dry so I picked up the Shon Harris CISSP All-in-One. It's a better read, so hopefully it'll be enough to get me through. I'll probably skim through the ExamCram book the week before the exam while working through various practice exams.

There are also videos from TechTarget that look interesting.

But any CISSPs here that can provide any study or exam tips?

Update: I passed! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
Good luck to you. I'm using the All-in-One 4th Ed. plus practice exams on the included CD.
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Is that all you will be using? What's your background in experience?
 
Get the Passport book and (don't laugh, I'm serious) the CISSP for Dummies. It's a pretty good book and I used it to study for the test.
 
I couldn't go this route because of budget cutbacks and schedule conflicts, but I've heard very good things about the Deloitte CISSP Boot Camp. That said, the feedback I hear has been from Deloitte people. But the course is "only" $3000 Canadian and includes the exam which is almost $700 Canadian. 6 day boot camp, 5 days of study and 6th day is the exam.
 
Originally posted by: vital
Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
Good luck to you. I'm using the All-in-One 4th Ed. plus practice exams on the included CD.
Click to expand...

Is that all you will be using? What's your background in experience?
Click to expand...

that's the only thing I bought. I got some study guides and practice tests from cccure.org as well. I've been exposed to a lot of the domains already so I don't need to learn/memorize so much as constantly refresh myself. That said, I've never taken the exam before so I don't know what to expect from it.

For work experience, I have about 3 years experience in security, roughly 3 more in IT. If I were to take it and pass in the short term, I'd be down a few months experience before I qualify for the full CISSP.
 
So I just had my CISSP exam today. I think I did alright.

I used the Shon Harris AIO book as my main "textbook" and used the Dummies book to reinforce concepts. The videos I linked to earlier, kind of useless as it's pretty high level. I wouldn't waste your time.

The exam is a lot more conceptual than what you would get in most of the practice questions. Which is good, because things didn't need to be as memorized as I thought. Yes there were some questions that needed to be memorized, but the key thing is to learn the concepts. The notable thing I saw that was missing was TCSEC and ITSEC. Most practice exams have lots of those questions, but on my CISSP exam CC was what was tested on.

Questions from CCCure.org gave me a good handle on how to think to best answer questions. Questions from Shon Harris' book were alright, but not very reflective of what you get on the exam. They are good to reinforce ideas after you've finished that domain.

I finished in 3 hours and took 30 minutes to look over some questions. I chose not to look over every question as I wanted out of there 🙂

Anyways, time to wait for the results and good luck to those taking it in the future.
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
So I just had my CISSP exam today. I think I did alright.

I used the Shon Harris AIO book as my main "textbook" and used the Dummies book to reinforce concepts. The videos I linked to earlier, kind of useless as it's pretty high level. I wouldn't waste your time.

The exam is a lot more conceptual than what you would get in most of the practice questions. Which is good, because things didn't need to be as memorized as I thought. Yes there were some questions that needed to be memorized, but the key thing is to learn the concepts. The notable thing I saw that was missing was TCSEC and ITSEC. Most practice exams have lots of those questions, but on my CISSP exam CC was what was tested on.

Questions from CCCure.org gave me a good handle on how to think to best answer questions. Questions from Shon Harris' book were alright, but not very reflective of what you get on the exam. They are good to reinforce ideas after you've finished that domain.

I finished in 3 hours and took 30 minutes to look over some questions. I chose not to look over every question as I wanted out of there 🙂

Anyways, time to wait for the results and good luck to those taking it in the future.
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Harris does specifically state that her book is not geared specifically towards taking and passing the exam, but rather to teach the main concepts of security. In my version of the book, she does say something about how TCSEC/ITSEC were most likely not needed for the exam, but helps you grasp the history behind and therefore the need for CC.

That you say the questions were more high level seems to be better for those using study materials that teach for knowledge rather than memorization. Thinking questions test a person's level of knowledge better than a memorization question.

Post back with your pass/fail status when you find out. Good luck to you.


 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I have both the official CBK books, but found them to be a bit dry so I picked up the Shon Harris CISSP All-in-One. It's a better read, so hopefully it'll be enough to get me through. I'll probably skim through the ExamCram book the week before the exam while working through various practice exams.

There are also videos from TechTarget that look interesting.

But any CISSPs here that can provide any study or exam tips?
Click to expand...

Make sure you got lots of sleep the last few nights before, and that you had a decent brain-fueling meal for breakfast. Study more on the CBKs you're weakest on. Remember that they throw in a lot of questions that don't contribute to your score, so if it doesn't seem like something you had seen before, just answer to your best ability and move on.

And don't second guess anything. You either know it or you don't - if you're not sure, stick with that initial gut feeling. Don't go back and try and change it.
 
What you said is more or less what I did. Sleeping early was tough, because I was a bit anxious the day before. Future test takers, remember that not all the CBKs are tested on equally and don't second guess. Do read the questions carefully though and really understand what they are asking for. They'll have the answer choices for people who misinterpret the question by reading it incorrectly.
 
Studied the AIO book (get the latest version if you can) and take cccure.org sample test in medium difficulty in blocks of 100 questions until you consistently get 90%+ correct. That was our strategy between me and another co-worker and it seemed to work. Personally it helped that I've been exposed to several of those knowledge domains in my jobs so did not have to start with all 10 from scratch. I will have to say that was one of the more difficult certification test I've taken. Just got our notice that we both passed.
 
Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
Just got word today that I passed as well. :thumbsup:
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Congratulations? How did you feel when you were doing the exam?
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In retrospect I think I prepared well because as I was doing it, the answers came relatively easy. However, during the actual test, I felt like crap because I was going through really fast and thought I wasn't reading the questions carefully enough. I finished in 3 hours 15 minutes. After I finished, I considered going back and doing a full review ebcaues I had plenty of time. Then I decided to just leave it be, turned it in, and left.
 
Oops, that congratulations should be an exclamation mark, not a question mark. 🙂

I just got notice that I'm now officially a CISSP. For those who don't know the process, you have to be endorsed before you finish the CISSP membership process. I took some time to go through it as my endorser was on vacation. From the time I had the papers faxed to them, it took just under a week for them to let me know that I'm now certified.

Again, congratulations. I know you worked hard to pass.
 
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