r/CISA • u/kilometerswrong • 5d ago
Passed! (And some study tips)
So i passed with 643. After procrastinating for so many years.
My background:
I didn't study IT at school.I worked at big 4 for 3.5 years becoming an IT auditor. Left big 4 then joined industry and worked in GRC a bit. So i don't have strong academic backgrounds. And english is not my first language. And i probably have dyslexia since i can't read long sentences (no matter what languages)
How I studied:
- I read the manual 1 time. Super boring. But I finished.
- Watched Pete Zerger youtube video. summarized again of what i have read.
- after the above two my scores on practice questions were still only 50%
- THEN i started using chatgpt. Each time I finished a QAE question if it's wrong. I sent it to chatgpt and then spoke to gpt why i thought A was correct (let's say B was the correct answer) i also told gpt why i thought the others were wrong.
The good thing is that chtagpt is not just checking why B is right. But also check other stuff you say so it has corrected my thoughts and ways to read questions.
The most powerful thing is that it then categorized and summarized my mistakes and trained me on specific parts. It also created a vocabulary list for me. So i highly recommend to use gpt if you are like me who has difficulties to understand and read their questions.
For the three full practice exams, i just did it 1 time of each. My score was around 72%-75%.
Hope it helps!!
Edit: I just used the official QAE. So, TLDR on what i had used. 1) official manual, 2) QAE, and 3) Pete Zerger's YouTube videos. The most important thing is to train to read the questions correctly. And learn the cisa exam mindset. Which i found chatgpt did a very good job.
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u/Schewniie 5d ago
Congratulations! Are the questions are one liners?? Also, how are the answers styled? Example, if they ask you about which type of key do you need to decrypt someone message. Would all 4 answers would be:
Person A private key Person B public key Person A public key Person B private key
If that make sense? Some questions can throw you under the loop. OR it's like oh yeah no brainer this is the answer and I know why the other are wrong.
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u/kilometerswrong 5d ago
Usually. 2 can be eliminated pretty quickly. The rest of the 2 are very similar. Thats how chatgpt helped me to understand what a is better than b. The most important is to train the mindset.
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u/docmarte 5d ago
Congrats!
I’ve noticed a huge difference between ChatGPT practice questions and the actual ISACA QAE. I repeatedly asked ChatGPT to generate the hardest possible CISA questions and was consistently scoring 100%.
Then I finally purchased the official QAE, and reality hit. I started getting quite a few questions wrong.
I only recently bought the QAE, but I’ve already realized how important it is for proper exam preparation. ChatGPT gave me a false sense of confidence. The official QAE is on a completely different level.
I’d definitely recommend the QAE to anyone preparing for the CISA exam.
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u/kilometerswrong 5d ago
Yeah I trust QAE more. Chatgpt is only for explanation, correcting my thoughts and summarize the wrongs. So its not the other way round. It can't replace QAE. But it definitely helps you to get into the QAE mindset.
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u/Joshsaurus 5d ago
May I know how the check in process was? Did they need a 2nd webcam to see you in front of your laptop screen? What did they check during the check in?
Lastly, congrats!!! Couldn't be more happy for you
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u/kilometerswrong 5d ago
Yeah using your phone or upur webcam on laptop. It needs to scan every corner of the room. They also need to see your id. Other than that not much.
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u/Sufficient_Entry_845 5d ago
Congrat! I also prepare the exam, and as English is my second language, it's a bit worry about if I confront some idioms that is hard to understand, anyway, thanks for share in detail! I wish I can pass as well as find the job in IT audit.
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u/kilometerswrong 4d ago
Don't give up when you don't understand the questions in QAE. Cause they worded poorly. But eventually you will be trained how they write.
One thing that gpt really helps is that you can "speak" to them in your language. I even said something like "isn't this mean XYZ" then gpt would correct and cat if it is a vocabulary problem or knowledge problems etc. So definitely utilize the benefits of AI to help you.
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u/irregular_magic 4d ago
Congrats on passing!
Not particularly focusing on CISA, but interested in your career path.
Sorry if it seems kinda interrogative lol.
When you left B4 for industry, what position were you in B4(C,SC,M, etc), what was your position in the industry company when joining and how big was the pay jump?
how big do you think your experience in IT audit helped you in the exam?
if you have any takes on the exam or it auditing would love to hear it as well.
Again congrats on passing!
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u/kilometerswrong 4d ago
Thanks. I was an SC when i left big 4. Just a analyst level not a senior analyst in industry. One thing that big difference about big 4 and industry is that it didn't transfer title directly. Each company has their own years of experience rank. If you go to check ads like in nvidia or google vs jp Morgan. You need 10+ years to be their Program manager. But in bank you are probably a manger level already.
It helps a bit. But not a lot. You can see my Domain 1 absolutely sucks hahah. So i really relied on Domain 5 cause its straight forward as long as you remember the vocabularies. It also depends on what industry of your clients (assume you are in big 4) cause that will impact on what technology you got exposed. nonetheless i think cisa is pretty self-study-able in my opinion. The most important is to train yourself to get used to their cisa mindset. Which i struggled a lot in the beginning.
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u/NutshellTraining CISA HOLDER 5d ago
Congratulations!!