Hi Michael
Overwhelmed is certainly the word of choice - I think this is a common thing
:)
I recently passed the CISSP exam so I'm happy to advise you on the methods I
used to study for the exam. My studying was mainly book based although I
used various websites for clarification and expansion on certain subjects.
The books I used were;
- Official ISC2 CISSP Study guide - Very detailed
- Shon Harris all in one CISSP
- CISSP for dummies
I won't review these books as their are plenty of sources for this already.
I do recommend the dummies book - its very basic but is great for skimming
over to summarise topics and remember key terms. Using this, and the other
two for the meaty stuff helped loads.
I, like you used cccure heavily as well as the various study guides on the
website. I took the advice that you should be getting ~85% at pro to feel
confident. I wouldnt use this as a sole marker though - only you will know
when you are ready. My advice is when you understand, truly understand the
subject matter you are ready - rather than just 'knowing' the stuff.
My technique was frequent, yet casual studying at home and at work. First I
thing I bought was a notebook, kinda reminded me of school. I started at the
first domain and read through each domain, cross-referencing against the
other books. The CISSP for dummies is very brief, but this is the good thing
about this book. It literally "mentions" terms, which can be expanded on in
other books. So for each chapter I'd make notes on the various areas of that
specific domain - these notes were compiled from all 3 books. I'd then
proceed through the other 9 domains.
Some days I'd read for an hour, others 15minutes. The trick was (for me) to
keep the information flowing and keeping it fresh in the mind. All the time
I was doing sample quizzes from cccure, again making notes on stuff I wasn't
sure about. I'd then google it later on or look it up in the book. After
2months of this, the pad was pretty much full - I'd then focus on drilling
down the notes even more - focusing on the bits I wasnt too hot at (notably
law/ethics and BCP). These were the areas I focused on. The domains I was
familiar with (due to experience) I tended not to bother with 'as' much -
obviously I studied but not half as much as the other domains.
If you've got a few books, leave one at work, one at home and one by your
bed. Sounds a bit extreme, but by doing this I could pick it up open it at a
random page and take some stuff in for 10mins. Its surprising how much
springs back when you see a familiar word in a cccure question.
I've done quite a few exams, admitedley vendor specific - but the main trick
I use is to keep the information fresh in my mind and don't let off the
throttle. If you're sitting in traffic or taking a stroll, go back through
the stuff in your head until it's second nature. Its crazy how I much
sticks, stuff I didnt think would.
Overall it took me approx 6+ months to study for the exam, although previous
exams and work encompassed a couple of the domains. Like many others have
said I wasn't over confident before or after the exam. Relief is the word of
choice I think :)
Cheers
Joe
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