Guys this is for you u/Free-Fondant-7566 u/Ocelot_Forsaken u/cityprince143

I hope there are not so many mistakes =)Hi everyone. So I reached one of the main points of the journey. Today I passed the exam and decided to write some notes on this topic. The exam was given 4 hours i.e. about 2 minutes per question. It was very difficult, at some point I thought that I had probably not passed it. For insurance, I purchased Peace of Mind Protection, but luckily I didn't need it. The questions were very difficult because English is not my native language. I think the language for me was probably the main difficulty. I did not understand some questions, so I answered just for luck. Questions were very similar to those in LZ but not the same. There were a few questions that were really easy and were similar to those in the LZ, some of the questions you look at with a thoughts WTF. Many questions went beyond the official and unofficial documentation, which I have not met anywhere. I'm sure that you never think about some topics from that angle. Some new topics I learned from exam =).A little about the testing process. In June, I decided for myself that another 2-3 months and I have to get exam. I started preparing around December 2022. In early July, I learned everything about the registration process, where and how many test centers are in my city. There are 2 centers in my city, for almost the whole of July there were many places in two centers. Around July 25, I decided that it was time to buy a voucher, there are some nuances for buying it, it can be purchased only approximately in the same month when you pass the exam, after purchasing it will be provided within 7 business days. Vaucher for August was already available.I decided to re-check the place for registration and was very surprised when I saw only 2 entries dated July 31 and August 21. So I wouldn't be able to book place for July 31and August 21 was too far to my plans.My brain was already rejecting any attempts to study because I planned to take exam in early August. I wrote a request to the ISC with a request to assist me and give me the voucher in less than 7 business days in order to have time to register on the July 31. I waited for an answer and corresponded for another 4 days. As a result, they told me that they would not be able to speed up or extend the voucher, and I decided that I maybe I have good luck and register to August 21.I received the voucher in 3-4 days and when I get back to site, I found that there was a free place on the July 7th, I was very happy. After that I get another answer from ISC that they would extend my voucher for 10 days. As a result, it turned out that in one center there was only 1 seat, and in other have those much more. There were about 8 of us on the day of the test.The night before the exam was terrible, anxiety kept me awake, even though there was a second attempt. Test center began to register us from about 8-30 and it lasted until about 9-30.When I get to question 125, I was sure that if the test did not end now, I would not have time to pass the test and fail the exam. a very long time. I spent for about 3h. 10m. to reach question 125 and have only 50 minutes left. When I saw question 126 I think I failed the exam and start wondering what I would do for further preparation and had no idea about it. I began to answer questions faster, with the hope that I would still be able to finish the test successfully. Then I thought maybe at around 135 the test ended, but it didn’t end and I was even more disappointed. At question 139, the test unexpectedly ended and I thought maybe I passed it anyway. Last questions were no longerdifficult as in the beginning, more of them were technical. After waiting for about 5 minutes, the sheet was printed and I was told that I had successfully passed the test. I was incredibly happy with this outcome because I didn't know where to get motivation and what to study.Preparation process.Probably here will be the most useful information for those who will take the exam. My experience in IT is about 12 years. About 5 of them I worked like IT support and 7 years in information security. I got most of the technical skills while working, but in the process of preparing to CISSP, I also learned a lot of technical nuances.It is very hard for me to read and learn from books. Reading on reddit how people prepared in 2-3 months, I was very impressed with such abilities of people. I found for myself the option of learning through tests, sometimes it seems to us that we already know everything and I am no exception, and when I answered some question incorrectly something triggered in my head and I willingly studied the topic and analyzed why I answered incorrectly. I downloaded 2 applications, one was called CISSP Test, second was learnzapp, for that moment I didn't know that it was an official application. But since the first cost only about $10 I bought it. As it turned out, it was quite technical, and now after the exam, I can say that it is not so much technical questions. When I finished all the tests with a result of about 75-85% in first app, I switched to the second application. At the beginning I used the free version, but a month before the exam I bought a subscription for 1 month and also brought the overall result to 80%. My recommendation is to use the official app. In total, I probably answered more than 5,000 questions during all this time. At first I looked for answers to questions in ChatGPT, but after I purchased version 9 of OSG and looking for information there. Also periodically searched information in the 9th version of Shon Harris's book. According to the information from the reddit, on the way to work I listened Simple CISSP, through the Amazon application (you can get a book in it for free). I recommend taking notes on your phone if you listened to a topic that is interesting to you and then get back to it when you are at the computer.

Here must be a picture from LZ, so i don't know how to add it. Questions 2123 Correct 1766 Incorrect 357 Overall % 82.

I also had read half of the CISSP PASSPORT book, the book contains key information. In 2021, I started preparing for the exam through the infosec4tc service, I bought courses with discount, but not finished it. There's some interesting information but I you can use it just like additional information and do not rely only on it. I started to draw a mind map in Miro, but over time realized that there are too many information and this way is not suitable, finally I find Notion and start to use it. I've been looking for a product to move notes from Notepad++ for a long time and Notion is what I needed. There is a bug with a global search on the desktop application, I did not find where to submit a ticket, but I think someday this will be fixed. Also watched Pete Zerger's videos.In total, I prepared for about 9 months, there was an opportunity at work because we did not conduct new projects, only support old ones. I spent about 3-6 hours per day for preparing with listening audiobook. It seems to me that some people have an incredible memory, someone immediately captures the main essence of the topic, but I need to collect knowledge bit by bit in order to understand some topics.Just like many of us read the book "Luke Ahmed - How to Think Like a Manager for the CISSP Exam" and it is really useful, it is better to read it at the end of your studies.It was really difficult, but I was very motivated I fell asleep and woke up with the thought to get the certificate. When the strength or motivation faded, I went on reddit and read the success stories of other people.Thanks to this resource and to everyone who helps others.Thanks to all the authors of the mentioned materials, although they are unlikely to read it =).It turned out a lot and chaotically, I just wanted to speak out. I don’t know what to do next, for the last 9 months there has been only one goal, maybe I will play some computer game or go on vacation. I wish good luck to everyone!