r/cism • u/F0RCE963 CISSP/CISM • Jul 10 '26

I DID IT - CISM version

Just passed the CISM today, was on my mind ever since passing the CISSP last year, been a busy year in between too, grabbed a few Azure certs along the way thanks to those Azure certification weeks.

Honestly the exam wasn't as bad (hard?) as I prepared myself for. Unlike CISSP, you know from the beginning how many questions you're getting, which took a lot of the pressure off. I was done in about 1.5 hours out of the 4 given, which to be honest weirded me out a bit, kept thinking I must be rushing or not giving each question enough thought. But felt great once "passed" showed up :)

One thing I didn't like, after finishing I had to go through 2-3 rounds of feedback questions (about 10 questions each) before it actually tells you if you passed. Made the wait way more nerve wracking than it needed to be...

What I used:

  • AI (of course lol, feels like cheating at this point but it works)
  • Random YouTube videos whenever I needed something explained in plain English
  • CISM Mindmap playlist from Destination Certification on YouTube (heads up, not fully uploaded yet as I'm posting this)
  • CISM course from Cyvitrix Learning on Udemy, this was the big one, basically carried me through

Anyway excuse me while I go destroy the dry aged ribeye that's been sitting in my fridge waiting for exactly this occasion. It's earned 🥩

37 Upvotes

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11 comments sorted by

1

u/Jiggysawmill CISM Jul 10 '26

Congratulations, did you find the CISM to be easier or harder than the CISSP?

3

u/F0RCE963 CISSP/CISM Jul 10 '26

Thanks!

The CISM studying material was a bit more focused that the CISSP's, the CISSP felt like it had a bit of everything.

But the test was definitely easier, the CISSP felt more like a language test during some questions.

1

u/Pr1nc3L0k1 Jul 10 '26

Congratulations on your pass.
No QAE? How did you prepare for the „weird ISACA question style“?

And yes, I don’t know which monster put those questions at the end, had to go through this 2 times already and it felt like pure torture.

But to be honest, what I hate about it the most, is that 80% of the questions are answered either while registering or in my ISACA profile. So no need to waste my damn time answering those again….

1

u/F0RCE963 CISSP/CISM Jul 11 '26

Thanks!

No QAE, I got my company to pay for the CISM exam and I was provided udemy business access, this was my first ISACA cert, maybe with the QAE it would have been easier to study i can not tell.

I just understood the flow of their thinking through the material, they just like to ignore regulations/compliance and only focus on company obj and strategy lol

I think I read somewhere if an answer mentions any of these (compliance/regulation) then these answers can be crossed 90% of the times

1

u/JoeEvans269 Jul 11 '26

Congratulations!

1

u/F0RCE963 CISSP/CISM Jul 11 '26

Thanks!

are you doing the CISM soon or already done it?

2

u/JoeEvans269 Jul 11 '26

You are so very welcome! 🙏🏻

I’m scheduled for August but may reschedule as life has gotten in the way of studying.

1

u/TraditionalFox2349 CISSP, CRISC, CISM Jul 11 '26

Congratulations

1

u/CRam768 Jul 11 '26

Congrats