Authoralexntaylor

“A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history – with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.”

— Mitch Ratliff

My study method:
I bought the official study guide in September 2020 and went through it occasionally for the next four months – rarely making it past the second or third chapter.

In January 2021, Ontario went back into lockdown so I used the opportunity to focus and I spent around two hours per day (more on weekends) throughout January going through the guide, taking notes, taking end-of-chapter practice tests, and searching for more information on the items I felt the weakest in.

I spent the last week watching videos + taking practice tests + reading more about my weak areas.

I booked my exam for 8am on Feb 2nd and I walked into the testing centre feeling ready – I knew I still had some gaps but I felt confident that I’d learned a lot.

My background:

Five ‘official’ years in infosec + ten years of general security/privacy interest and knowledge

Two+ years of hands-on compliance and privacy experience which helped a lot – there were entire sections of the study guide that I only lightly touched because I had so much experience with them – risk management and business continuity/disaster recovery, primarily.

I struggled the most with cryptography – I understand the basics of crypto but I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge (still do) that needed a lot of repeated reading

Resources used:

Official ISC2 CISSP Study Guide – Read and took notes front to back with this text – I completed each practice test multiple times and covered the book with highlights and notes. Learned a lot. Found it useful and would definitely recommend it.

Official ISC2 CISSP Practice Tests – I used a few of these but didn’t cover every page of this book – these questions seemed more difficult than the actual exam but they were useful in terms of practicing the wording of the exam – choosing the best answer etc.

Kelly Handerhan videos via Cybrary – I watched these videos while they were free on Cybrary – they were excellent and I recommend them, but they’ve unfortunately been chopped up and there are pieces missed in the Cybrary series. I recommend these but be aware that there are some continuity issues.

Kelly Handerhan’s Why You WILL Pass the CISSP video – Quick 15 minute video to get you into the right mindset – I watched this twice the morning of the exam and it seemed to help

Mike Chapple videos via Linkedin Learning – Watched almost the entire series on Linkedin Learning – This follows the ISC2 textbook fairly closely – Easy to watch and Chapple is a great teacher, somewhat light on details. Recommended if you have access to LL

Boson Practice Tests – 100% money well spent – I went through each practice test twice in different order, and also did a few random collections of questions. These are more technical than the actual exam, but they were helpful for identifying gaps in my knowledge. I spent most of my last week doing practice test and filling in those gaps.

Mindmaps from Destination Certification – Extremely high quality recap videos and mindmaps – I watched these the day before the test and wished I’d watched them sooner.

The CISSP subreddit – Tons of insight here into how different people react to the exam – got a lot of good reminders here that this is a management exam and that I should answer the questions from a risk management perspective rather than a tech perspective.

Resources I didn’t use:

The practice tests that came with the ISC2 text

The Sunflower guide (pdf) + a few others that folks recommended, but didn’t end up touching them at all.

CISSP All In One Guide – I bought this and didn’t even open the cover.

Recommendations and insights:

Trust everyone when they tell you this is a management exam. You’ll come across plenty of questions with more than one right answer – the key is thinking like a risk manager and picking the best answer at a management level, rather than trying to ‘fix’ the problem like a technician would.

The computer adaptive testing means that you can’t go back to questions later – take your time, read the question at least twice, make your selection and stick with it.

Go slow and take breaks if you need to – I’m a ‘good’ test-taker so I finished in around 75 minutes without needing a break, but you’re allowed to take them if you need them – sometimes it will help to just take your eyes off the screen and take some deep breaths.

Don’t get discouraged if you can’t tell how well you’re doing – This is a difficult exam that covers a LOT of information – I reached Question 100 feeling unsure how I was doing – I knew I wasn’t failing miserably but I really wasn’t sure if I was going to pass. That is normal!

I received information about the endorsement process within a day or two of passing the exam, and I received official notification that I had earned my CISSP about four weeks after the endorsement process was submitted.

Next up for me is Azure Foundations, and then I’m working on earning my AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification.