There is currently Peace of Mind Protection offering (Risk transfer indeed). This make you committed to take the exam on the certain date. Usually the promo is in monthly basis, and if you failed, you can do another try within next month without repay the whole exam fee. See detail here.

Reflecting

Know the Rhythm and Timing. Reading would be sluggish for me when confront the long and lengthy question. Lucky for me that there’s not much words play that I need to consult thesaurus department. I was nervous and rushed through the first half, fearing I wouldn’t finish in time. Practicing timing and knowing when to move on strategically is crucial. Stay calm!

Inch Deep Is Not Enough. I was mistaken in thinking that knowing things “miles wide and inch deep” would suffice. I’d advise going deeper. Spend more time understanding the technical concepts, their use cases, how they work and how they won’t work. You will need more than an inch.

Understand the Terms and Context. Know the right terms and its context help in exam. There are lots of specific definitions of word use in CISSP. Contrary to the industry, we may use lot of terms interchangeably. For the exam, just stick to ISC2 definitions, context, and explanations. If I know the definition or meaning better, it surely helps eliminate distractor choice. Here is the ISC2 glossary for reference.

Random Tips! 

Just Answer the question! I don’t see “think like a manager/CEO question” sort of stuffs much. The principle is just answering the flipping question tend to work better. There will be questions that bedazzled you. All you need is strong rational and pick what make/doesn’t make sense and logically check again if it is really answer to the question. 

Know your learning style and stick to it. Some methods work, while other does not. I am a visual learner, so whatever I can visualize, I can remember better. I am not a fan of mnemonics (unless it is spicy and controversial one).  

Materials 

In no particular order

Official Online Self-Paced (Paid). Link here. I paid for the 90-day version to minimize the cost. I also applied 20% discount code as a ISC2 member. Not much recommended due to its randomness of lessons arrangement (aka. Adaptive). The videos are red from the scripts. Not useful to recapture and emphasis crucial point for exam. Its compliment Official ISC2 Textbook (7^th Edition) is not so lengthy, suitable for grasp the idea of each domain. Downside is it is time limited so the book will cease soon. I understand this very updated book is only available through the course.

LearnZapp (Free). Just use the free version and used it primarily for its small chunk questions during commute and snack break. 

DestCert App (Free). Use only free plan. Good explanation but I find app a bit buggy to navigate the quiz so end up didn’t use that much. 

Official Study Guide (10th ed.) (Paid). Link here. Not a fan of 21 domains. I like 8 domains! I can only skimmed. There are a lot off-topics narrative which good to know for professional and work but they may distract and overload for an exam. Test bank bundled is great. Got discount from ISC2. I am ISC2 member so I got 50% off practice test books and study guides with Wiley.

Quantum Exams (Paid). Brutal and excruciate. I use 100 questions at a time and love the way they deliberately write the questions. Test your understanding in those processes especially what would happen first, next, now, later, best, most, least, etc. Remind you to verify if you really answer the question. 

Free YouTube and material that people usually mentioned here (Free).

• Pete Zerger Exam Cram Full Course. Pete’s is one video long so it is better that you can download and replay offline or connect to TV without hassling with playlist much. PDF files are gems! Use it for recap. Repeat this a couple of times.
• Destination Certification Mind Map 2023. Surely good. But there are 30 videos, quite difficult to maneuver in YouTube playlist. And there are quirky stock video clips insert from time to time which distract me too much. Repeat this a couple of times. Apart from YouTube, there are domains summary in their website, come in handy to review all 8 in a flash before sitting in.

Do not stick to only one source. Learn different taste of question bank. Relearn with different instructors/books/summary help a lot. Too much complexity can lead to overlearning and overkill, while being too simplistic won’t prepare you adequately.

Learn from others

I found this sub on reddit. There are lot of stories shared both joy and bitter. You can appreciate everyone contribution to support and help exam candidates. 

I hope my experience is helpful to anyone preparing for the exam. Thanks!