I’m a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) accredited trainer and usually once a year I give an official training class on how to prepare and pass the CISA exam. I’m teaching that class this year, instead delivering a course on AI, but I thought it would be good to put my thoughts down on how to prepare for a certification. I don’t know how many posts I will make on this, hence the question mark.
Do Your Research
Back when I was taking the SAT to get into college here in the United States, we were told something important: don’t guess. For the SAT, there was a penalty for a wrong answer. If we couldn’t reasonably narrow down to two choices, we were advised to just leave the question unanswered. That was important to understand because many tests don’t penalize you for incorrect answers. They only care about how many correct that you get. Part of getting a higher score on a test is understanding how the test works and what it covers. So part 1 is about doing your research. Here are the things I want to make sure I have answers for as I prepare for an exam:
- What are my options for taking the test, on-site and virtual?
- What are the rules for taking the exam? What am I allowed to bring?
- How much time do I have to complete the exam? Can I go back?
- How is the test divided up/scored?
- What materials are freely available vs. what do I need to purchase?
When, Where and How?
The first two items are all about taking the test and understanding what I’m in for with regards to the test taking environment itself. If you’re thinking about taking a test in person, try to contact the testing site and get an idea of what the environment is like. Even better would be if they can let you come down and take a look for yourself. Not every testing center is the same, hence the reason you call ahead. If you have accommodation requirements, verify beforehand that the site can meet them. Also, map out and drive the route to the testing site, especially if you can do it at the same time of date as you’d be traveling for the test.
If there is a virtual testing option (or that is the only option), investigate what you need to do to take the test. The test could require special software. The testing provider could require you to turn on your webcam and scan the room beforehand, ensuring the room you’ll use meets certain requirements. And in most cases, you’ll be required to leave the webcam on during the whole time you take the test.
Understanding the Test
The next two items are focused on the test itself. Knowing how much time you have is important. Most testing guides tell you how much time you have and how that averages out per question. The last thing you want to do is get stuck at the start of the exam and burn up all your time, causing you to rush through at the end. Knowing how much time you have, especially averaged out per question, can help guide you in pacing yourself.
Another important thing to know is if you can go back to questions and especially if you can mark questions to go back and answer after you’ve gone through the questions the first time. Just because a test is by the same organization doesn’t mean the rules are the same across all exams. If you don’t realize you can’t go back and you skip questions, then you’ll be in for a rude shock when you get through the list.
Finally, understand how the test is structured. For instance, there are 5 domains for the CISA exam and each domain and they aren’t equal with respect to the test. ISACA provides the percentage of questions each domain has for the test. While you likely won’t be able to track the questions during the exam, understanding how the test is broken down is something that you should use during your preparation. I will cover that in a later part.
Know What You Have to Work With
There are a number of materials out there for most exams. Some of it is free and some of it you’ll have to purchase. Some may be covered by subscriptions and other training options you already have access to. For instance, O’Reilly, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight are three options that a lot of folks have access to, but those aren’t the only options.
If you have to pay for resources, check the reviews and recommendations. The last thing you want to do is pay good money for a terrible resource. Back in the heyday of certifications, there was a lot of material out there. Just because it’s a reputable publisher or a reputable author doesn’t mean it does a good job of preparing you for the exam, especially if there are have been updates to the exam.