Yes, it’s Easy to Pass Your CISSP Exam
You don’t need months of preparation.
“Prior preparation prevents poor performance.” ― James Baker
Planning is important, but you shouldn’t wait till you get 100% ready in order to schedule your exam. In this article, we will go over the essential information you need to know in order to pass your exam.
Why get a Cybersecurity Certification?
Your background doesn’t matter, it's about where you are going.
Cybersecurity jobs are the most difficult to fill by employers due to the high demand. A study done by ISC2 showed that cybersecurity professionals have a 0%–5% unemployment rate.
Why Start With CISSP
CISSP or Certified Information Security Professional is the gold standard of cybersecurity certifications because it summarizes all the areas that you as a cybersecurity professional need in order to prove your skills and evolve your career.
All You Need To Know About The CISSP Certification
(ISC)2 CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) covers 8 domains:
- Domain 1. Security and Risk Management
- Domain 2. Asset Security
- Domain 3. Security Architecture and Engineering
- Domain 4. Communication and Network Security
- Domain 5. Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Domain 6. Security Assessment and Testing
- Domain 7. Security Operations
- Domain 8. Software Development Security
Once you finish your exam prep, Schedule your Exam within 4–6 weeks, do not wait months to do it.
After passing the exam, you need to go through a few more steps to get your golden Certified Information Security Professional Title.
- Prove that you have five years of experience in IT, including two years in two of the eight CISSP domains.
- Get endorsed by a certified CISSP.
- Agree to the (ISC)2 Code of Ethics.
- Pay your first certification annual maintenance fee.
Get ready
There are multiple resources you will need to make your preparation smooth and efficient. I will list the traditional resources everybody recommends, then the must-have materials and tools. But, the difference will be in the series of articles I will be publishing to help get through this like a sprint not a crawl on hot sand in the middle of the Sahara.
Study Resources
- Study Books: like the Official (ISC)2 Student Guide or the CISSP All-in-One Guide.
- Test Books: CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests
- Videos: like the CISSP Cert Prep on LinkedIn Learning
Study tools
- Notebook: Paper notebook or electronic notebook (OneNote, Notion, Evernote, etc.)
- Apps: Nowadays, smartphones are omnipresent in our lives, so why not take advantage of this and get some useful apps on your phone like the Official CISSP Study App and the Practice Tests App.
- Flashcards: You can use active recall for efficient learning and memorization. Flashcards will help learn faster and strengthen your weakest areas.
- Practice tests: It is not a key success factor in your certification prep, especially if you are using the ISC2 mobile apps or flashcards. But, in case you are looking for a solid practice exam, you can get the one from Boson for $99, or some free ones like on Netwrix’s blog or Skillset.
However, the must-have materials are the study book, the flashcards.
Before we start
It is only 8 domains, we will master them together and get you ready with less effort, I just need your dedication.
We will prep in a layered approach and use active recall. But first, let’s make sure you are all set.
- Start by getting the required materials to start the prep.
- Set up 30 minutes per day to study and go over the flashcards.
- Set up 60 minutes once a week to do the practice tests.
Let’s Go
The preparation will take 4–10 weeks, and depends on your background. For that, the plan will be based on 10 weeks (One Domain per week, then some practice). If you have enough experience in cybersecurity, you can challenge yourself and do it in 4 weeks.
Start your weeks by reading one domain per week. On the last day of each week, go over the flashcards, then exam practice tests for that specific domain.
After finishing the eight domains, take a week to daily practice the exam tests.
Now, you can schedule your exam.
Once you finish your prep, and score well on the practice tests, you will gain confidence and strength.
So don’t wait long and schedule your exam.
