How Priya Cracked Her CISSP Exam!

To all the moms out there considering the CISSP exam—you can achieve it! I have 20+ years in Technology out of which 10+ years are in Cybersecurity. I have had number of Cybersecurity roles such as leading Security Awareness, Chief of Staff for CISO, Program and Project Management. Despite holding CRISC, PMP, GSEC, and GISP certifications, the CISSP remained elusive until I set a firm deadline.

I studied over a period of 4 months – of course I was working full time, taking my daughter to activities, handling the social calendar at home, cooking and taking Thanksgiving and Holiday breaks. Make a realistic plan and try to stick to it! I gave myself 3 months (divided 2-3 domains per month) to study the:

• ISC2 CISSP Official Study Guide

• Destination CISSP

• Luke’s Videos (Luke’s videos on Kerberos, Certificates, Federation, Firewalls was amazing and the concepts are embedded in my head!)

• How to Think Like a Manager – Luke Ahmed

I spent majority of my evenings in Jan just taking practice exams and refreshing my weak concepts. I watched the Kelly Handerhan’s video on Why you will pass the CISSP. It was motivating. For practice tests, I used:

• ISC2 CISSP Official Practice tests

• Boson

• WannaPractice

• Quantum Exams (used it during the last week. It is much harder than the actual test – so do not get demotivated!)

My exam was on a Tuesday. I took the Friday and Monday off from work. I refreshed my concepts (I had made cheat sheet for each domain) and took a practice test each day. My exam was at 8 PM. I reached the center 45 minutes earlier, prayed, did a 10 minute meditation and listened to motivating songs on my drive in like – Champion – Dwayne Bravo, Girl On Fire – Alicia Keys, Roar – Katy Perry and some spiritual music. I told myself I got this and I visualized seeing Congratulations. I have taken number of exams in the past but it has been a while since I took such an intense exam! Passing this exam was my personal goal. I felt that I was being judged for not having CISSP certification. So, I took up this challenge!

The exam started 40 minutes late since one of the proctors could not come and they had to get another proctor. I started the exam – I was answering logically and I maintained my calm. The questions really assessed your concepts and thinking like a manager with a strong technical concepts understanding is critical. I tried to maintain the speed of 1 minute per question – hindsight I would have given myself more time. When I was at 60 questions, I realized that I was taking more than a minute per question. I tried to go a little faster but at the same time reading the question carefully. When I reached 100 questions, I had plenty of time left but the exam stopped and brought me to the survey. It felt surreal that the result of all the hard work was here. I was hoping for the results on the screen but had to end the exam and step out.

I went to the front desk – saw a printout. The lady did not have any expressions on her face. I took the result and saw “Congratulations” – I was speechless! I went to the car called my husband and wept with him. I called my parents and my daughter – it was very emotional. My family stood by me throughout this journey and they were so proud of my hard work and achievement. This was also a teaching moment for my girls that hard work pays off. I wish you all well in this journey. It is not easy but nothing good worth in life comes easy.