Last day strategy#
I had a clear objective of what I wanted to accomplish before exam day. Time was not on my side, so I went “full cram mode” and applied myself.
Exam practice#
I had a plan for the day before the exam. I wanted to finish 8 exam mode tests in QE, that way I should have seen all the questions in the engine. Then do the last CAT exam, bringing the total to 4 CAT exams done. Call it superstition, but I liked how those numbers sounded in my head.
I find exam mode very difficult, harder than the CAT exam. My scores fluctuated between 56 and 77 across the 8 tests. My theory is that the engine throws questions at you that haven’t been seen yet, which means you can get hammered on the topics you’re weakest at. There’s no way to know for sure, since exam mode doesn’t generate graphs with any useful detail.
The last CAT test went well score wise. However, I did catastrophically on Domain 3, which made me very nervous. I found it confusing how I could get a 1000 score while failing many questions from one single domain. Confidence went down, but I told myself not to get too much in my own head and trust the process. Buckle up and move on.
Syllabus review#
To review the whole syllabus I decided to watch the Destination CISSP Mind Map videos while populating the mindmaps by hand on my iPad. This was time consuming, but I think it was crucial for refreshing concepts and, more importantly, looking at the big picture and getting a holistic, end-to-end overview of how all the concepts are intertwined. After many hours and a lot of wrist pain (when was the last time you ACTUALLY wrote with a pen… for hours?) I finished the series.
Mindset videos#
Lastly, I watched Kelly Handerhan’s how to pass the CISSP exam like a pro and CISSP is a MINDSET GAME - here’s how to pass videos. This videos reiterate on how to approach answering questions and how to develop that “gut feeling” when picking the correct answer.
And with that, I did everything I could to prepare for the exam. Alea iacta est
Exam day#
What can I say about the exam? It was the hardest exam I have ever taken in my life. It was also the exam I prepared best for in my life. I passed at 100 questions with about 50 minutes left on the clock. I felt I was answering questions very fast, particularly the ones I was not certain about. Here’s the thing: I was uncertain about at least 60 questions, and of those, 40 or so I had absolutely no idea whether my answer was correct, since any of the options could have been right. The QE engine teaches you to be comfortable with that level of uncertainty. And I guess it did work… Utter relief, state of bliss.
Lessons learned#
Looking back at everything, here’s what I would do differently if I had to do the whole thing again:
- Review what has worked for other people and pick a method that suits you. I really liked Autumn Skerritt’s post, but I didn’t follow the Anki cards method myself. I’ll explore that for my next adventure.
- I would use digital materials only. Makes searching and correlating things way easier. Peter Zerger book is great.
- Start doing 100-150 questions in a row to build stamina and mental strength sooner. QE is your best ally.
- Keep the mind maps at hand when studying a topic and always keep the big picture in mind.
- Get comfortable being extremely uncomfortable reading things you don’t fully understand and develop a “gut feeling” for picking the right answer.
My last words: have a plan, stick to it, trust the process. You will pass the exam. If I managed to pass it, so will you.