I’ve been “studying” for my CISSP on and off for about 2 years. On and off being mostly off, and mostly “studying” by putting the same exam cram video from Youtube on in the background while I do something else, over and over. As we go into the summer months, I’ve had a bit more time on my hands than usual, and I’ve started to take it more seriously. I’ve set a date for my exam, and I’m specifically allocating time to reading through the official CISSP book from ISC2 and taking a few of the official practice tests.

I started as the book recommends, I took a practice test to baseline my knowledge and identify what areas I need to work on most. I took this about 8 months ago, and got around 75%. A passing grade in this practice test is an 80%, so I still have a little ways to go before I take the test. Then, I just started reading through the book in order. I take notes occasionally, but it’s mostly just knuckling down and reading the book. I’ve always had pretty good retention for anything I read, so this is a workable strategy for me.

I’ve taken a couple more practice tests, again from the official ISC2 study materials, and I’m now regularly passing. I passed my CCSP several years ago, and I felt about as prepared for that as I feel now. I feel pretty confident in my ability to pass this exam, but we’ll find out if my confidence is warranted when my test date rolls around!