My CISSP Exam Journey

People are usually curious about the CISSP journey and strategy so here is mine

Study Time - I have been looking for this certificate since 2021 but could not keep the study momentum going . I studied the OSG 8th in 2021 and touched 11th hour as well. I strongly started studying 45 days before my exam that was on 5th May 2023 .in terms of hours 2-3 hours daily and 5-6 hours on the weekends.

Resources - I have seen a lot of posts seeking resources some are paid some are free I have added that in the end . So, details of what I used and how helpful it was.

OSG 8TH edition - Must read cover to cover twice of possible 8.5/10. If u go with 9th edition which is the latest one 9/10.(Paid)

https://www.amazon.in/Certified-Information-Security-Professional-Official-ebook/dp/B097NHJK9Q/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=64714380612&ext_vrnc=hi&hvadid=294984600889&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9304059&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=697029074982037315&hvtargid=kwd-817694153691&hydadcr=25397_1900720&keywords=cissp+9th+edition&qid=1686822037&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

11th Hour - Good read during last days 8/10 (Paid)

https://www.amazon.in/Eleventh-Hour-CISSP%C2%AE-Study-Guide/dp/0128112484

Boson - i bought it in 2020 old version its more technical but the sim helped for mock feel and statistics Help u understand your weak area. Also the explanation for the answers helps you understand some concepts. 8/10(Paid)

Learn Z App - This something i would recommend as a best resource once you have finished the osg or any main guide. Use the app questions for building your weak area. It has 2k questions and is handy and worth it. It has a preparedness score mine was 81% and did the mock questions in which i was scoring in 70's in the start and reached 80's towards the end of my preparation. This is a 9/10.(Paid)

https://learnzapp.com/apps/cissp/

Cheat sheet - I don’t know how to thank whoever made this its great resource i think i studied it 10-15 time in my preparation journey and did this in the last minutes as well.9/10 this does not cover 2021 update but its not a big deal. I have dropped the link it has all 8 domains separated link foreach in pdf's. (Free)

https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/cissp-certification-courses/

Peter Cissp cram - Great course on YouTube i did watch it twice.(Free)

https://youtu.be/_nyZhYnCNLA

Cissp pocket prep app - I just bought it to have practice additional questions. The question are quite easy has 1k questions i used to do a 100 question at a time scored in high 70's in starting and high 80's towards the end. 7.5/10. (Paid)

https://www.pocketprep.com/exams/isc2-cissp/

Cybray kelly handerhan Course on CISSP(Free)

Coffee Shots by Prabh used it as reference for my weak area's (Free)

Adam's Q and A posts for CISSP on LinkedIn daily question (Free)

Exam Day

I was very nervous for the exam was not feeling ready. Reached 45 min before did the center formalities in 20 min and started the exam. Honestly I had no clue how I was doing . But what i saw over all most of the questions had two grey choice and the thin line to choose the correct one.

Some key takeaways

• Revision is the key.
• Work on the weak area's as much as possible.
• People say its more conceptual exam but there are a lot of things to remember as well process, steps , cycle's etc also key highlights of each steps. Study them daily , mindmap and mnemonics really help.
• No question bank is as real as the exam don't relay on one resource.