Review: Destination Certification

TL;DR - If you are looking to take your CISSP certification, you won't find better training than with the team over at Destination Certification.

I have done my fair share of courses and certifications over the years. I typically opt for self-study over classroom training because I find that when the material is paced generically to suit a variety of students, you spend too much time on the stuff you are already familiar with and not enough time on the completely new material. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, areas we have experience in and areas which we don't, self-paced training allows you to tailor the course to suit your individual needs.

I knew the CISSP was a behemoth of a certification, so I spent a week or so vetting all the top learning providers, weighing up the pros and cons of each. I wasn't ruling out classroom-based as I thought it would be nice to have the opportunity to ask questions and be surrounded by peers who were also undergoing the same journey I was, though I was still favouring self-paced options as I knew that was how I learned best. I had a shortlist of options but I wasn't particularly sold on any one of them and after speaking with the sales reps, I found it frustrating that they all wanted to say how great their training was, but weren't interested in finding out what my actual needs were. Just as I was reaching the pinnacle of despair, it happened. The Gods of targeted advertising noticed my gruelling efforts and decided to put me out of my misery. The Destination Certification advert came on and for once, I didn't press the skip ads button immediately.

I clicked through to their website and it was as though I had found the holy grail, a self-paced online platform that not only provided a gamified way of learning, it also connected you with mentors and other students to provide both the benefits of classroom learning and self-study. I was eager to find out more and through the website, I was able to set up a call with one of the mentors to walk me through the platform. I went in expecting it to go somewhat the same as the other calls had gone, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I was connected with Lou H. the very next day and right from the get-go, it was clear this was nothing like what I had come to expect. Before we even discussed their platform, Lou wanted to get to know me and understand what my needs were. We spoke about why getting the certification was important to me, what I was hoping to learn along the way and how I was going to apply this knowledge in the future. I wanted to take an aggressive approach with an aim to have the exam completed within a month's time, I wasn't sure if this was a reasonable estimate but after speaking with Lou I was assured that with enough effort it was achievable. He demonstrated how the platform allows you to set your own pace, by plugging in your estimated exam date and the number of hours you intend to work each day it produced a tailored training plan. He proceeded to demonstrate the platform's features and capabilities and we weren't even halfway through the call before I was ready to throw my wallet at the screen and demand my money be taken. Lou kept making sure to refer back to my goals and objectives and demonstrate how best to interact with the platform for my specific use case. It was a done deal, after the call I immediately signed up and was raring to go.

The next step was another call with Lou, we walked through a detailed learning strategy tailored to my individual needs and by the end of the call I had a clear roadmap of how I needed to prepare for the exam. I was ready to go, beginning a journey that would ultimately keep me indoors and away from sunlight for 18 days. The CISSP exam is unlike any exam I have taken before, it does one thing fantastically well and addresses my usual gripe with exams of its kind, it tests your UNDERSTANDING of the material and not just your aptitude for memorization. The Destination Certification team know this all too well, and their material expertly communicates this and solidifies it throughout the entire course. The videos don't just explain what something is or the steps behind a particular concept, but they also explain if, how, why, and when it should be applied. This consistent reinforcement coupled with examples, stories and professional experience of its application truly solidified this throughout. One thing the destination certification team has truly done exceptionally well is achieve the perfect balance, detailed videos that contain all the information you need to know without drowning you in every single possible thing you could know. This balance keeps the focus on understanding and allows you to concentrate on what the exam really wants you to know. The domains are not done in numerical order but instead are covered in a layered way. What do I mean by this you ask? They cover the material so that a foundation is built, the core understanding is there, and then upon this solid foundation, they layer on the detail and nuances you need to know to be able to apply the knowledge.

This is where their expertise make all the difference, they are not just teaching the material, they are educating their students on how to make the most of the material going forward, not just to pass the exam. Sure, I could have just picked up the standard guides and gone through it cover to cover multiple times and I might have passed the exam, but I am certain I wouldn't have found it half as useful or had as much insight into its application as I do now. It is no secret that the CISSP material can be somewhat dry, yet John and Rob do an excellent job of making it as enjoyable as possible without subtracting from the seriousness of the topic, a light-hearted, comical and engaging delivery of material that is quite the opposite.

After a week of being on the platform, I scheduled my exam for the following week, giving myself 11 days to review. Here is where I would usually go over my own notes and go over the training material, rather monotonous but tried and true for me. However, the platform includes a plethora of resources to keep this review process engaging. Practice tests, quizzes, flashcards, and my personal favourite, detailed mindmaps that present and review all the key parts of each domain. After using these additional tools accompanied by my own notes, I truly felt prepared and was even wishing that I had scheduled the exam sooner (Clearly a glutton for punishment). Shortly before my exam, Lou scheduled a meeting with me to talk strategy. We covered some techniques that could be implemented to help break down the exam questions and how to avoid some of the traps and pitfalls. I can truly say that this dramatically impacted my performance during the exam, his guidance was invaluable in solving the puzzles that the exam threw my way and he gave me an understanding as to how the exam would be testing me that I simply couldn't have got from the standard materials. Come exam day, aside from some exam day jitters, I felt confident in my preparation and walked into the test centre knowing that I had truly given it my all. I emerged two and a half hours later having passed at question 125 with a beaming smile and a huge sigh of relief.

I have come away from the exam wanting to scream from the rooftops about how amazing the whole Destination Certification team has been throughout the process and they deserve every bit of recognition. I consider myself very lucky that I happened to stumble across them when I did, because I know that I couldn't have found better training or value for money anywhere else (Believe me, I searched.) I just want to express my deepest gratitude to Lou H. , Rob Witcher , John Berti CISSP,CCSP,CISM,SSCP and the whole team over at Destination Certification for making this as good of an experience as it could have possibly been. I am excited to see how you grow and evolve in the future, and I know you will continue to provide an invaluable service to every student that comes through your door. You can check them out at https://destcert.com/

TL;DR - If you are looking to take your CISSP certification, you won't find better training than with the team over at Destination Certification.