The Journey of how I passed CISSP
Time Line
It took me roughly 3 months to study for CISSP . I got the thought of giving the CISSP in November so the first thing I did was go and understand how the exam works. I was on reddit and discord for 2 months going through almost all the success stories on reddit , YouTube LinkedIn.
This step was crucial. as you would see later. Every post , every article taking a note of every point what helped them and what did not. This stage took me roughly 2 months to compile the list of articles and points. Then I started preparation from January onwards.
Preparation Material
Study
CBK Official book
Official CISSP Book
Destination Cert
study notes and theory
how to think like a manager for the cissp exam
Test
Destination cert
Flash Card
Destination cert
questions app
Official Book CISSP Practice test
Boson
https://www.boson.com/practice-exam/cissp-isc2-practice-exam
Learnz
Wanna practice
study notes and theory
Study Cram (last minute)
Pete Zerger's exam cram on YouTube
Destination CISSP mind map
Prabh Nair's "Coffee shots"
Preparation
I started with the CBK did a couple of chapters but this was really too slow and boring. I was not able to get my self to read through It. Which is where I jump to Destination Cert. I got the Book from amazon and started reading it. This is extremely good but I found I was able to understand the concepts but was not able to answer the practice exam questions properly (not a problem with the book tho as you will read later). I read through the book twice and then did a couple of exam test where my scores were still coming low. After which I started reading through the Official CISSP Study Guide. It started with a first read where I just skimmed though it (I did use a hack to go through it). This took me around 2 days. After which I did a couple of mock test and my scores went up but still not good enough. which is where I sat and diligently went through he book chapter by chapter taking notes.
I went through the book around 3 times. again took the test which boosted my scores. (I was tracking my scors on excel with every attempt)
the final book which is the best (its its own way) is How To Think Like A Manager for the CISSP Exam.
after which I started watching a few of Luke videos which are extremely good. By extremely I mean I did not find any material which came close to the materials I watched in his videos
This whole process took 2 months by this time I had booked the exam and started thought I should start the mock test
Mock test
I did the boson test was
too technical
good for learning
it makes sure your base is strong (which is important)
Rating
7/10
Helps you become a better person technical and makes sure your base is strong
Then Wanna practice
decent
technical and management focused
this was a mix of technical and management compared to most test out there many were technical focused.
which is why it stood out
from all the articles I notice wanna practice came up a lot and compared to most of the test out there it is supposed to be the best
Rating
6/10
Study Notes and Theory
This was the best and by best I mean nothing from all research came close to it
not only the format of the questions are very close to how it comes in the exam Luke material make you an extremely good
Rating
20/10
My exact Thought throughout the exam
While studying the materials is essential, the actual exam throws curveballs that traditional practice exams might not fully capture.
CISSP throws everything at you at once.
One question might combine three, even four, different security domains.
These weren't quick quizzes.
Each question was a monster, demanding I dig deep into my knowledge bank just to grasp what they were asking.
Sure, there were a few yes-or-no gimmes, but those were rare.
Most questions were complex puzzles requiring me to understand the intricate connections between different security concepts.
Every question seemed to target the exact area I was weakest on. It felt like a marathon where the finish line kept moving further away.
Around the 80 question I thought
why am I paying ISC2 to make my life harder and try and question me on the topics I dont know
I rather just walk out right now knowing I failed (if you think this is funny wait till you read ahead)
but I though ok I know I am failing the exam will give me the areas I know I am weak in
I will continue the exam to get that data
And that is how I continued the exam with the hope I will get to see that graph of where I am weak in
The exam Stopped at 125 questions
I have taken the 2 chance attempt I know where I need to study from were the thoughts in my mind
The walk to the receptionist
I remember walking and collecting my results from her I asked her if I passed or failed she did not tell me but the way she gave me the paper felt I definitely failed and she is trying to be professional
Looking at the paper
I was still in the waiting area packing my items and was too scared to look at my results.
I had a glass of water and sat down to look at the graph which would tell me the areas of my weakness
I could not see any graph
first word I seen congratulations.
my immediate thought was ok nathaniel you given the CISSP exam it was a hard exam get out go home you cant even see properly you need some rest. I walked out of the exam centre disheartened (and if you think this is ironic continue reading)
on the way to the metro back home I tried looking again why did I not see the graph
and it read
if you see the picture you would be able to see the road behind
this is the moment I thought I understood what happened.
ISC2 made a mistake the computer printed the wrong letter
which is ironic given that I know exactly how a computer works and how logic statement work
my very next thought was lets put the concepts what I learnt in CISSP to use
In cyber security there is a concept of non repudiation
basically means one cannot deny a particular event has happened
I took this picture and thought I will send it to 3 different people who are not related to each other (the 3-2-1 back up rule somehow this made sense to me) to make sure ISC2 cannot deny making a printing mistake
and now since they made a printing mistake they cannot go back on their letter with their letter head
Finally with of my friends Sushant called me and said congratulations did I actually understood I passed the exam. (the time 1 hours after walking out of the exam centre)
The next phase was the endorsement phase
now I was fortunate enough to be working with companies since the young age from managing server to development of web application to operations which worked to my advantage
After the exam got caught up with some work but so took me some time but submitted the documents with all work experience with all the clients I worked with and then came the next phase WATING
every day i would open my mail and search for ISC2 and after roughly 5 weeks i get the mail
immediately paid the AMF and got my badge
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