How I passed my CISM in the first attempt

by | Apr 23, 2021 | Blog

After a month of passing the exam, i finally got my certificate today.

Ricardo Sanchez Marchand

To be CISM certified you need to:

  1. Pass the exam
  2. Prove that you have the experience.

Of the exam: 

There is a new exam way of doing things. Before it was only 3 or 4 times a year and huge exams. Now you can book it online and do it anytime you are ready. They were 150 questions IMO easier than the question bank. At the end of the exam you see a “passed” but you are not allowed to take any screenshot or anything. 1.5 weeks later I got an email inviting me to apply for the CISM.

So how did i pass my exam it:

  1. First plurasight videos, where ok but not wow. I would not recommended them. I watched them at 2x speed and since they were free im not complaining.
  2. Then i read the books of Phill Martin (very recommended) https://www.amazon.com/Essential-CISM-Updated-Review-Manual-ebook/dp/B07BV44LDB and https://www.amazon.com/Essential-CISM-Updated-Review-Manual-ebook/dp/B07BV44LDB
  3. And the the official question bank of ISACA “CISM Review Questions, Answers & Explanations Database” (super recommended, they were great). I love these since they question engine was great. I was not ok with some of the questions/explanations because im sure they were wrong and/or were just opinions but most of them were very good.

Timewise, was around month and a half.

Application: 

After finishing the exam is when the wating begin. I filled a pdf where i listed my background and employement history. After you pay 50 euros in the webpage and then you apply manually in another page. I think this was harder than the actual exam, there are no information online on how to do it and they took an extra month from my application to my certificate.

Conclusion

Im glad that I passed, I think that was easier than CISSP and if you have the background and CV this is a good way to obtain a good certificate for your CV. Learning wise i think i learned a lot. Talking about the application process was very dissapointing, not just because they took a lot of time (A LOOOOOOOT) but because their system is still very “manual” and very poory documented. If they are giving training and certificates in technology you would imagine that they would be better. Also everything was paid. Exam, questions, application, membership, etc. That pluss your yearly fee. So, very american company in that way.

At the end I think is worth it because i learned a lot but they really need to improve their processess because they are shit. 🙂