**How Aniket Cracked his CISSP without reading a book**
Biggest gift of the year to myself on the edge of the Christmas eve. Very glad and thankful to God that I could fulfill my goal set for 2022.
I would like to share my study approach and recommendations, hope it may help someone who is preparing for the exam.
– Around 6 Months (4 months for first failed attempt and 2 months for the 2 nd ):
I did not read a single book. All video based learnings but I made sure that I go deep and take handwritten notes. If I am not able to get the concept, I googled/YouTube it and checked how few concepts may work in real life where I had no experience. Handwritten notes are invaluable.
Disclaimer: Not reading a book may not suit everyone, I would strongly recommend doing what suits best for you. Videos works best for a lazy guy like me.
Luke Ahmed, My mentor : Study notes and theory. Best platform to study and get your concepts clear. Used it for 3 months in full on study mode. Loved it.
Kelly Handerhan's CISSP training from Cybrary: She’s so good with her training material. Very good course to solidify CISSP concepts.
Mike Chapple: LinkedIn Learning. You may want to start with this one. Great material covered.
**Free YouTube training videos
*CISSP Exam Cram Full Course - Almost 8 Hours (https://lnkd.in/dw5V4X2n)
*Destination Certification Mind map videos - (https://lnkd.in/dNFZfnS9).
*Kelly Handerhan's Why you will pass the CISSP – (https://lnkd.in/dPpMBfTu).
PRACTICE questions:
*CISSP Official Study Guide SYBEX 9th & 3rd Edition. Used willey to get web access for tests
*Around 2100 Practice Questions. It was almost like reading a Sybex book twice.
* Boson’s 750 questions by reading detailed explanations for each answer irrespective of whether its right or wrong. I think this was a gamechanger for me. GOLD.
* Thor’s Hard questions. 500 questions, Such quality questions which makes you think twice.
* Luke Ahmed's Real Hard Questions, Almost pulled my hair out with his SO hard questions. Absolutely prepares for you mentally for D day.
*Think Like a manager Book by Luke Ahmed Highly recommended. It's a wonderful book which helped me to change my technical thought process to think like a manager
* Prashant Mohan’s The Memory Palace. Wonderful quality material for a lazy guy like me. By the way, I used ONLY his 145 pages document for reading purpose. Rest all video learning.
* Prabh Nair's CISSP COFFEE SHOTS – Covered twice. Absolute GOLD.
* Destination Mind map by Rob Witcher
**Dedicate yourself for this mission.
*Try to get a study partner to discuss at least weekly about the progress. Helps immensely.
*Time Management is really crucial in the exam, So book the exam and try n focus during those 4 hours when close to the exam. For example, if the exam is scheduled at 8am, start sitting for studies and questions on the same time daily so your brain is trained to focus during that time on a daily basis.
*Go for more practice questions. 3 to 4k questions are good enough I believe, if done with proper explanations and understanding. If found any weak areas, watch videos again or read it in books.
*Book your exam when you feel your are scoring 65-70% on an average, it will make you study harder to push yourself to go beyond 70-75%..that’s when you increase your chances of passing.
*Last but not the least, always expect the unexpected in the exam. No matter how much you
prepare, you will feel the exam is brutal, so focus on concepts rather than getting the answers right.