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Very often there are messages posted on different CISA / CISM groups
by various people asking for guidance and tips for preparing for the
CISA / CISM exam.
I would like to provide some inputs for the CISA / CISM exam.
Note: The views expressed here are my personal views and not necessarily those of any organization or
association, I am working or worked for or associated with. The points are based on my personal
experience and you would need to tailor them as per your work experience, educational background and
suitability. Every individual is different and would need to have a self designed plan for the exam. The
following points would be helpful in designing that plan and preparing for the exam.
3. CRM – HOW MANY TIMES YOU NEED TO READ IT: I think reading it once
thoroughly and then again for weak areas or revision should be sufficient. If a
person is good at one reading and grasping everything in first effort then that
would suffice. In short read it to understand and not for the sake of reading.
If you read a topic once and don’t understand then try reading again and still
if you don’t understand look for other reference materials. Reference material
other than CRM should be used as reference if required for clarification and
cannot substitute the CRM. There are many good books in the market but
from the exam point of view they may not be required for thorough reading in
entirety. Referring them only if required for specific topic would be a good
idea.
5. REGULAR STUDY AND STUDY PLAN: For me a regular study of 1-2 hours
daily for 2 months before the exam and for 10-12 hours a week before the
exam helped me a lot. Remember this is not a kind of exam that you can wait
for last week when you would take a leave from office for study. I suggest
one must go through the CRM domains and sub topics and ISACA question
bank at a very initial stage, get a feel of the preparation required and identify
the strengths and weakness and then prepare a schedule accordingly. You
might need to sacrifice some of your time from your routine activities.
10. MAINTAIN RIGHT SPEED IN THE EXAM: During the exam maintain the
speed. Don’t run too fast in haste of completing the exam and don’t lag
behind by spending more tome than what is required. You have 200 questions
and 4 hours. A good approach is to break this into a target of 50-55 questions
per hour. After every hour you can check your speed and adjust accordingly.
Its good to take a 1-2 min break (just relax on your seat) after each hour and
then continue.
Hope these points would be useful to you in preparing for the exam.
Wish you all the best for your exam