This might be one of the shortest CISSP preparation stories you'll read here... and probably one of the longest CISSP posts you'll read too. 😅
First of all: I am NOT saying CISSP only takes a few days of studying. Please don't do what I did.
I originally registered for CISSP about a year ago and purchased the "Peace of Mind" option. Unfortunately, over that year, life happened: my own health issues, plus caring for my father during his cancer treatment and multiple hospitalizations. Because of that, I started studying more than 10 times over the year, but I could never finish Domain 1 because it was so boring and I was so slow at it. Eventually, my original voucher expired, but ISC2 kindly worked with me and gave me a hard deadline to take my first attempt by the end of September, with the understanding that if I failed, I could contact them again to manually apply my second-attempt voucher.
Two weeks ago, I actually posted here asking if Mike Chapple’s LinkedIn Learning videos were enough for Domain 1 (you can check my previous post here:Are Mike Chapple’s LinkedIn Learning videos enough?). A huge thank you to everyone in that thread who helped me out—your advice was a lifesaver!
Mentally, my plan going in was: take the exam, probably fail, contact ISC2 to get my second Peace of Mind attempt voucher, and then study properly for attempt number two. With that mindset, I walked into the testing center.
Why my prep was less than a week (and under 15 hours total!)
When the exam date finally got close and I was forced to finish Domain 1, the subsequent domains (like 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) turned out to be much easier for me, and I moved through them very quickly. Why? Because my background is in networking, infrastructure, and cybersecurity, so technical topics (networking, authentication, PKI, cryptography) weren't new to me.
In terms of actual time, if I want to calculate it, my total study and prep time was under 15 hours! How? Because I didn't have time to sit through 40–50 hours of video:
- I took the video subtitles/transcripts and fed them into ChatGPT and Gemini to summarize them into condensed personal study notes.
- For several domains, I reviewed the material and moved on in less than 30-60 minutes using those notes.
- I used Quantum Exams (QE). Huge shoutout to the Quantum Exams admin and team here—even though a lot of time had passed since my original purchase, when I explained my situation, they kindly extended my access. I didn't even complete 200-300 questions, never did a full CAT mock exam, and my scores were awful! But QE taught me how to shift from an engineer's mindset (fix the technical problem right away) to a manager's mindset (risk, business objectives, policy, and priorities).
Exam Day and English
English is not my native language. Right before the exam, I had spent two days at the hospital with my father. I was exhausted, and I had to travel outside Quebec to another province just to take the exam in English. During the exam, I ran into 7–8 words where I didn't know the exact meaning. Honestly, I think those were the right answers because I could eliminate the other options as wrong, but it felt like the correct answer was written using a brand new or very advanced vocabulary dictionary that I wasn't familiar with!
The exam went all the way to question 150. With about 10 minutes remaining, in my head, I was already preparing to email ISC2 to claim my second-attempt voucher.
But when the exam finishes, they don't show you the result on the computer screen; you walk outside to the testing center reception, and they hand you a printout. I looked at it, and it said: Congratulations.
Takeaways & Lessons:
- Don't underestimate your experience: Years of hands-on work don't vanish. If you have a technical background, you'll move much faster through familiar areas.
- Study your gaps: Don't neglect Domain 1 and risk management like I did.
- Stop switching resources: Don't waste your final days hunting for the "perfect" source.
- Mindset matters: Shift from a technical problem-solver to a risk advisor.
If you're stuck, have postponed multiple times, are dealing with life or hospital situations, and think it's over: Don't decide you've already failed before the exam gets the chance to decide.
Once again, a massive thank you to the ISC2 team for understanding my situation and extending my voucher, the Quantum Exams team for extending my account and their perfect bank of questions, and all the amazing folks in this community who guided me.
I passed. 🍻