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Forums shoaibfaruqi 06­17­2015 08:58 PM #1

Blogs Junior Member Passed in first attempt, 6 weeks of prep. If I can, then you can too.
Registered Member
I sat for the exam on the 15th of June in Richmond, VA, and passed it. This was my first
Join Date: Jun 2015 attempt. I studied for 6 weeks in total.
Posts: 1
My work experience:
Certifications: ITILF ­ 9 years of total experience, primarily telecom and mobile messaging
­ Out of the 9, 4 years in Customer Support and Operations, 3 years in Deployments and
about 2 years in Solutions Design, Devops, Architecting solutions etc.
­ I currently work as a Cloud Architect for my company. (I am not your regular techie. My
technical knowledge is only functional and barely sufficient)
­ I have worked indirectly and directly within the realm of InfoSec throughout the last 6
years. Its not what I have done primarily, but its something that has been a part of the
Subnet Calculator
work I do.
Netpict
My study resources:
Online Degrees
­ Cybrary videos by Kelly H
Exam Vouchers ­ CCCure CISSP questions (did about 3000 in total, including the new 2015 ones)
Free Magazines
­ Mcgraw hills questions
­ 11th Hour by Eric conrad (read it once about 10 days before the exam)
Topsites ­ Practice exams on Syngress
­ I listened to the Shon Harris audios everytime I was driving. I went through the whole
course audios once. The NYC trip about 13 hours of driving back and forth was a good
time to listen to this.

Study Plan:
­ Watched the video of a domain once to quickly grasp the concepts, then watched again
pausing and making notes.
­ After completion of a domain I did the domain questions from mcgraw hill once while
making notes and then revising the notes and doing it again. I always failed the practice
test in the first attempt but passed it after revision.
­ Once I completed all the domains using the videos and mcgraw hill questions I started
doing the CCCure paid questions of the CISSP domains
­ Started off doing 25 questions per domain (250 a day). Then moved to 50 per domain,
and eventually did 100 questions per domain (once). I made notes (handwritten) for all
the questions I got wrong and also those that I found complicated. I also read about 40%
of the explanations for the answers to the questions. Sometimes I would copy paste the
stuff in a word doc to read it later and get going with the questions.
­ Once I had done the CCCure 100 questions per domain I read the Enric Conrad 11th
Hour once (this was about 10 days before the exam).
­ I did the 2 full length practice exams by syngress in the last week. And also did around
700 more questions from CCCure with the 2015 domains and revised my notes. (The last
week was my slowest week in the prep, and I'll tell you why later).
­ Although I was sitting for the new 2015 exam format I still used the 10 domain prep
material. I feel the change is transparent to the test taker.
­ I listened to Shon Harris audios whilst driving

How I did it:

I've read a few blogs here and there on this website and I found some of them really
helpful. But most of the experiences written here didn't apply to me, for several reasons.
Firstly, I am someone who has a very limited attention span, I lose focus quickly and get
distracted while studying, so reading one of those big massive books was not doable for
me. I want to go on the record and say that I did not buy or use any of the study books
for the CISSP course. I did read 11th hour once, but the book itself was borrowed from a
friend. Secondly, I had to complete this exam in 6 weeks times because this was the only
time I could manage study with a busy work and personal life. I am writing this blog for
those people who are short of time right now and like me are actively searching for a
blog that gives them hope. In the last week of my prep I had to goto New York to attend
a work conference and could manage to study only a couple of hours everyday. I came
back from NYC with 2 days to spare and had big revision plans, little did I know that
things would go south from there. A day before the exam I became sick with diarrhea
$500 off CISSP Boot Camp from InfoSec Institute.
(probably something I had in NYC and the fatigue from the 7 hour drive back) and at 3 ×
93% Pass Rate in the last year. am (around 12 hours before the exam) I was pretty sick and dehydrated. Fortunately a
trip to the pharmacy and a few imodium pills helped me stabilize. So with about 2 hours
of sleep, no revision and a weak body and mind I decided to sit for the exam. I used
Yes, of
every minute I'mthe
interested!
6 hours because I had to take a restroom break every hour. The
exam itself, though long, didn't seem difficult. I personally feel that the CCCure questions
 really helped me through the exam. The exam does test your ability to think like a
manager and its not as technical as the prep material is.

Here's how I think you can pass the exam:

­ Find a reason to pass the exam, the more the merrier. I found my reason 3 weeks into
the prep when my wife told me that it was the 3 of us taking this exam (me, my wife and
my kid). For the 6 weeks of my prep I did not once have to go to the grocery store or
cook a meal for myself. I used to study at work after hours and would come back home
sometimes around 10 in the night. I went to the office to study over the weekends as well
because at home I would lose focus and start playing with my kid. I did all of this because
I didn't want to disappoint them and I saw that they were strugglinh harder for this than I
was. I could not let them down. And if this meant sleeping less, overdozing on coffee and
pushing hard, I was up for it. I could not have passed this exam without the support of
my wife. Period.
­ See yourself succeed even before you start the prep. Throughout the prep, I used to
imagine myself coming out of the examination with a pass and looking at the happy faces
of my wife and son. And eventually it did happen. You have to believe in something other
than yourself, because believing in yourself will not take you the whole nine yards. Right
before the exam I was physically and emotionally torn and believing in my capabilities
was just not possible. I believe in God, but whatever that is you believe in, karma, luck or
whatever, let it give you hope and let it realize your dreams when there is nothing left in
you. If you don't want this really bad, you will not get it. Never lose hope, not even
when you all the odds are against you.
­ The prep material I used is sufficient to pass the exam, because it helped me pass. But
I did it really well, for example I did the videos three times in total, did the mcgraw hill
questions twice etc. I made about a 100 pages of handwritten notes and revised them a
little bit everyday. Just writing things down can help you remember. The exam is really
just an inch deep don't overkill by going too deep. If however you have more time by
all means use other resources. In my opinion it is very hard to retain all the information
for too long, so don't test goals too out in the future. 6­8 weeks is realistic and doable.
­ Work hard when you are at it. If this means turning off your cellphone, not socializing
for a while, not caring a dime about what's on the news and on the TV, by all means do it.
You will not die because of working hard for this exam.
­ If you hit a wall during the prep know that you are not the only one, I did too. I lost
focus during my prep because it was too much for me to handle, my days were too long
and I was burning out. But I got back up immediately because I wasn't doing this for
myself, I was now doing it for my family and I could not let them down.
­ For the test know that the correct answer is usually the one which fixes the root cause,
and not the usually the problem at hand. Techies will fix problems on the fly, managers
follow processes to fix problems and this requires looking at the bigger picture, going for
the root cause and always keeping the value of business in mind.
­ You don't necessarily need to be a native english speaker to pass the exam neither do
you need to be a manager or have read tons of books, certainly those of who have read
more will have more knowledge but if you are sitting for the exam and don't have much
time you can live without it.

Good luck!

Quote

CLICK 06­18­2015 02:22 AM #2

Member Awesome insights..thanks for sharing.. at least i know i'm not the only one with ' very
limited attention span' who spazzes out a lot.. hope to sit through this exam by July..
Join Date: Mar 2015 been studying on and off since March already mostly using the resources you mentioned..
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 87 Thanks everyone who post here as well, i get a lot of tips and insights and confidence as i
prepare.
Certifications: MCP MCSA
Sec+ ITIL
Congrats and thanks again.

Quote

kukku 06­18­2015 07:20 AM #3

Senior Member Congrats...Good note to all who prepare for the exam...

Join Date: Jun 2015

Posts: 126

Certifications: CISSP, PMP,

TOGAF, CEH, CHFI,
ITIL,MCSE, RHCE, 10 x Cisco,
6 x IBM

Quote

06­18­2015 08:38 AM #4
$500 off CISSP Boot Camp
oooorp from InfoSec Institute.
×
93% Pass Rate in the last year.
Junior Member It's f**g great one motivation post!
Thanks man and congrats!
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 7 Yes, I'm interested!
 Certifications: CISSP

Quote

Archon 06­18­2015 10:20 AM #5

Senior Member Congrats. Great write up.

Join Date: Jan 2015

Location: UK
Posts: 174

Certifications: BSc, MSc,

ITIL v3F, MCP, MCDST,
MCITP, MCTS, MCSA, N+,
S+, CEH, CISSP

Quote

!nf0s3cure 06­18­2015 11:06 AM #6

Senior Member Ok, I must be missing something I cannot find CCCure free questions. It keeps taking me
to the paid version? Has something changed?
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Internet
Posts: 158

Certifications: ITIL V3,

Prince2, COBIT, CISA, CISSP

Quote

barhate.rahul 06­18­2015 12:48 PM #7

Junior Member Congrats Buddy !!

Join Date: Nov 2012

Posts: 10

Quote

jt2929 06­19­2015 04:59 PM #8

Senior Member Congrats on the pass and great post! Reading it gave me a little extra motivation!

Join Date: May 2014

Posts: 208

Certifications: Security+,
CISSP

Quote

pramin 06­19­2015 05:17 PM #9

Senior Member Congrats on the pass. Awesome writeup. Glad I'm not the only one that gets distracted.

Join Date: Aug 2013

Location: NJ
Posts: 136

Quote

Stuart Clowes 06­20­2015 09:23 AM #10

Junior Member You have a great family!

Join Date: Jan 2015

Posts: 11

Certifications: CISSP

Quote

Sam_aqua 07­22­2015 06:40 PM #11

Member Fantastic post.. you proved when there is a will there is a way

Join Date: Jul 2015

$500 off CISSP Boot Camp
Location: from InfoSec
Torrence, CA Institute. ×
Posts: 63
93% Pass Rate in the last year.
Certifications:
A+,MCP,CCNP Security,ITIL
v3F,CCSE NGX, CCSA R75 Yes, I'm interested!
 Quote

arghyagoswami 07­24­2015 12:32 PM #12

Junior Member Fantastic post my friend. Yes, I remember when I passed Certified Biometric Professional
Registered Member
Exam, my family supported me right through . I prefer to write things down as I read
Join Date: Jul 2015 so by the time I was prepared I had written 5­6 notebooks of notes .
Posts: 2 Now I have taken a challenge to sit for CISSP, and need to do it very quickly. Your post is
really motivating and enjoyable to read. I will also follow the same.

Quote

NetworkNewb 07­24­2015 04:15 PM #13

They are watching you Gratz! and thanks for the link to the audio files. Already downloaded them and started
listening to them.

Does seem easier to listen to a woman than a man to anyone else? Just doesn't sound as
boring, maybe that's just me being weird though!

Join Date: Feb 2015

Location: Off the grid
Posts: 2,022

Certifications:
A+/Network+/Security+,CCENT,CCSK,GCIH

Last edited by NetworkNewb; 07­24­2015 at 04:32 PM.

Quote

gutbrodj 07­24­2015 04:23 PM #14

Junior Member Congratulations!

Join Date: May 2015

Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 20

Certifications: CISSP

Quote

@bh!4u 07­25­2015 06:04 AM #15

Junior Member Congratulations and many thanks for the motivational post. Much needed with 8 weeks
from exam date
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 12

Quote

freedom777 08­17­2015 04:51 AM #16

Junior Member Great motivational post!

Join Date: Aug 2015 Thank you for your inspiring post. I've read it several times. Studying for the CISSP can
Posts: 21 be very overwhelming and challenging.

Quote

ccnpninja 08­17­2015 10:34 AM #17

Senior Member Congrats on the pass!

Join Date: Feb 2007

Location: Tunisia, North
Africa
Posts: 970

Certifications: a few

Quote

za3bour 08­21­2015 11:36 AM #18

Senior Member Thank you, the post was very motivating for me. I am too planning to take the exam in
around 8 weeks. I have a super busy work/personal schedule and I too found it hard to
read the books. I borrowed a book from my friend (the official one) and found it to be
$500 off CISSP Boot Camp from InfoSec Institute.
overwhelming especially that English is not my first language. ×
93% Pass Rate in the last year.
I've took many exams before but from reading it seems the CISSP would be the hardest. I
am still working on my study plan but your post was very helpful so thanks.
Join Date: Mar 2010 Yes, I'm interested!
Location:
 Al Khobar ­ Saudi Arabia
Posts: 976

Certifications:
BS:Electrical
Engineering,DRE, AMBCI,
MCITP­EA,SA, MCP, CCNA,
Sec+

Quote

freedom777 08­26­2015 03:04 AM #19

Junior Member Congrats on passing your CISSP and thank you for sharing your plan and story.

Join Date: Aug 2015

Posts: 21

Quote

sameoj 08­26­2015 05:51 PM #20

Senior Member Congrats, good write up.

Join Date: Aug 2012

Posts: 186

Quote

justjen 08­26­2015 08:47 PM #21

Member Motivation is key. Congrats on coming up with a plan that worked great for you, in spite
of unexpected events.
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 77

Certifications: CISSP,
GSEC, GCED, GWAPT, GISP

Quote

dragonsden 09­04­2015 09:09 AM #22

Senior Member Way to go in such as short amount of time. Inspiring!

Join Date: Mar 2015

Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 152

Certifications: BA:
Information Systems Mgmt,
CISSP, ECES, CHFI, CEH,
MCSA: Win7, MCITP:EA,
Security+, MCTS, MCPS(x3),
SAIC SAST Level 3

Quote

cisspuser 09­04­2015 05:12 PM #23

Junior Member Awesome, I have similar background and seems i have little more time than you to go for
Registered Member it. Sept 24th is my dooms day.

Join Date: Aug 2015 Congratulation on your success.

Posts: 2
Thank you for sharing this.

Quote

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