I took the CISSP in 2004 with two friends from work. I failed and they both passed. Here’s why-

In 2001 I took my first IT certification test- Cisco’s CCNA. I had heard this was a difficult exam but didn’t have an opportunity to actually talk to someone who had taken it. Because it was my first cert, I was very scared and nervous. I had absolutely zero confidence in my ability to pass it. Fortunately, I was also leaving the Marine Corps and was even more scared about being unemployed.

I paid a friend cash and he let me use his credit card to order a CCNA book and register or the exam. I studied for about a month, going through what I would describe as an “academic fight or flight” scenario. I was reading the book every chance I got, more than was probably healthy. I could do hexadecimal conversions in my sleep and subnet during breakfast.

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