Well, the CISA test saga has come to an end. I took the test on Saturday and will receive the results of the test in ten weeks. You would think that for a pseudo-technical certification that ISACA would have the technology to return the results more expediently. Unlike the CISSP test, which I found to be pretty easy, this test was no cakewalk. Unfortunately for me, there weren’t a lot of technical questions and the business process questions were very subjective. As such, there were some questions were all of the presented answers seemed reasonable. Since I already have a highly-regarded, industry-recognized professional certification, the CISSP, I will more than likely not take the CISA test again, whether I pass or fail. I am just not willing to pay $300 to take a grueling 200-question, four-hour test ever again. I’m done. |
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By the way, I eeked out a passing score of 79. I am now a CISA and a CISSP!
Do you have the CD of exam questions
None of the 700 questions on the CD are on the test…wouldnt it be nice to find a copy of the 2004 test itself
how long after the exam did you get your email telling you, you passed?
Seven weeks–it’s a pretty long wait. Good luck.
Hello, I have passed the exam with a score of 82 this year. The highest in our chapter was 84 (Hyderabad, India), dont know how good these scores are when compared internationally. But can you tell how your position has improved after qualification? I am a fresher as far and am looking to my first employment. Thank you.
oh ok
Thanks for the reply.
Hari Krishna.
Hari, I am actually not a good person to ask. Since I was already performing large scale information systems audits prior to getting the certification, my position didn’t change much. However, I will make manager in my firm this year partly because of my CISSP, CISA, and CISM certifications.
82 (scaled) is a good score. But in the US, I have met people who scored as much as 95. I passed this year. Btw, if you got your CISA certification then look for a job with some of the big 5(4) firms. Passing the exam without any experience is a tough deal and you have done well.
hey Fabian,
Thanx,and sorry I wasnt checking ur site. And yes, I am on the Job hunt. Just started. Got an interview in Deloitte the day after, something do with Risk and Internal controls. And have applied to PWC as well. Am actually surprised at how wide is CISA, and the areas are quite new to me completely. I still am confident of doing well. Luckily for me I also did SAP financials and also know a few security tools, so am hopeful of getting a decent job. Still am a bit worried on the experience front.
well thats it,
will keep u posted on how things turn up.
A parting question, can you point me to resources that talk about Audit Risk, the Risk management process and the various steps in it?
Thanx again
Good day
Hari.
Hello all. I recently took and passed the CISSP and sit for the CISA in June. I welcome any and all hints, tips or tricks to help me pass the exam. Also, what is the best way to get IT Audit experience? I’m currently a Network Engineer with a Telecom carrier.
i am new to this exam i dont even know what the questions look like. please i need idea of what to do to pass this exam. if you are a cisa can you please share your experience on what i can do or books to read. thanks.
Hi Eman,
I have passed the CISA 2005 exam with a score of 81. I heavily relied on the CISA study manual and the 650 questions and answers CD, none of these questions came in the real exam but they really did help as it got me familiar with the style of questions that would come up in the exam. I also glanced through COBIT it will give you a good idea on IT controls. However, I must note that I work for the Big 4 and I have around 2 years experience in IT auditing which was of big help to my passing this exam…all the best :)
can somebody send me the cisa questions or any other materials of use.
Hi guys and gals,
I am preparing for CISA, for Dec/07. I have bought CISA Review Manual 2007 and Q&A 2006 from Isaaca. Any tips from CISA holders?
Thanks,
Sarah
hi,
I’m sitting for this Dec 07 CISA exam and its my 4th time!!!!!
First I got (61) then (63) and then 359 (scaled, June 07).
Somebody pls guide…..i’m 18 yrs.
Hi
Can anybody give me question and answer set for CISA 2007
Thx
I took the CISA this Dec and even after lots of experience in IT auditing and substantial study for the test… I have no idea if I passed or not. About half the questions I know I got right. but the other half it seemed there were always two answers that would be reasonable. So much subjectivity and sometimes just poorly worded questions make it a very hard exam. Anyone attempting this should know going in that it’s not going to be easy.
BTW, I used the question banks from ISACA, exam matrix, and I paid for the Certifiedinfosec material as well.
I took the exams this Dec,have no idea of how i perfomed.does anybody know how the exam is scored?
Any body got CISA pass/fall e-mail notification as yet for the Dec07 exam
The December 2007 results wer just sent out. I was not sure how it was going since like others I felt as if many questions had multiple correct answers. I passed with a 636 so I am glad that is over.
The December 2007 results were just sent out. I was not sure how it was going since like others I felt as if many questions had multiple correct answers. I passed with a 636 so I am glad that is over.
I have not received my CISA Dec07 result yet. kevan, which country you are at?
I have not received my CISA Dec07 result yet. kevan, which country you are at?
Hey i just got the results for the dec07 exam i got 620, anyone knows what that stand for percentage wise? i past since i have 9 years experience in IT (not auditing), lots of questions rely on real life IT experience and there are lots of terms you should know from the manual. if you study less then 2 months for it with no experience dont expect to pass it…
Does anybody know the percentage of those passing the CISA exam. I am considering taking the test, but I would like to know how the odds are. It’s a 500 dollar exam.
i passed! well, after failing twice.. most of the questions are really subjective, i’ve encountered a lot of questions, in which the choices appears to be correct, the passing rate from what i’ve seen from prior years would be roughly 50%.
Hi All,
I took the CISA test in SFO on 14 June 2008.
The test is very, very subjective. It is not based on any real-life experience that I am aware of.
I purchased the over-priced study guide from ISACA. It was not useful. The questions were worded differently from the test. The questions in the study guide was worded more objectively. The correct answer can be dissected. The questions in the test were subjective with very little information. I felt I was prepared.
I await the results in 6-8 weeks.
Same feeling about the subjective questions / answers. Based on the sample test questions I took, I would say it’s like half of the questions, I am not sure if my answers were right or not. No clue really. To many questions I felt there are at least 1 more (or more) good answers. Even in the tests I took before, sometimes the correct answer was explained in a way that didn’t really satisfy me, I felt like in many cases I could give a similar plausible explanation for another of the answers, too… I guess it’s the same thing with the exam questions, too.
I worked about 6 years in IT now, support kind of work mostly with networks/servers; vulnerability assessments, antivirus systems etc. as far as IT security is concerned.
No clue how I performed, guess I’ll just hope and see.
I also took the last CISA Exam (June 14, 2008).
I’d say the questions were pretty much tricky – as they’ve always been. I really do hope for the best though as I put in quite some effort in preparing for the Exams.
Cheers All!!
I passed the June 2008 exam with a score of 512. Although it’s a bit low, I’m happy with the result.
I passed June 2008 with a low score of 512. Having said that, I’m very happy.
I also took the CISA Exam(June 14,2008).
Just got the result via email.Fortunately i have passed it with a score of 637.
I am already a CISSP with 6+ years of Information Security and Data Center Experience.The exam was tricky ( not in technical terms) but it require thorough reading and some experience . You cannot tell any thing about the result until you receive it :)
I wish every one best of Luck
Also got the results notification email. I passed with a score of 531. Happy :-)
I have also passed CISA June 08 with score of 618
711 \0/
Congratulations for all of you who passed! I failed with 416 points, and unfortunately weakest points came from my strongest areas (audit process, governance). This was my first try and I believe last too. Anyway, I got the learning points out of the process and I’m glad about it! I don’t have IT technical experience at all so in that respect I felt the test was very difficult! ;=)
Got my results by email yesterday. I passed with 543. Work Experience will be huge factor in determining your grade. I am an internal auditor with 2+ years experience, mostly operational audits, not too many IT audits under my belt. If you are considering doing this exam purchase the 700+ Review questions on CD and read the manual of course. The exam questions will be trickier but the questions will help you focus. You will not know how you did when you finish the exam because the questions are extremely subjective. Good luck to all of you
I got a 310 on my CISA? how can this be? I prepared by going to class and doing the questions in the book. someone please shoot me!!
Hey guys, This is Anil from new Delhi, India. I have also got through the exam with 606, in the first attempt. Could anybody shed the light on the scores. Whats the highest score for June 2008.
Is the scaled score important or just passing the CISA exam is enough. Would the employers look at the scores objectively.
Employers do not care about the score you get on the test whatsoever. They only care that you have the certification. At our firm the certification is used to enhance and supplement your existing work experience in the field of IT audit.
Hi, I passed my CISA with a score of 662. How does this rate overall?
I am thrilled!
For your information: total possible score is 800, minimum passing score is 450.
Hi All,
I passed with 575. I have an IT experience of 7 years, with less than 2 of it IT security related.
I’m just glad it’s over. Worst exam ever. :)
Did anyone not pass like me? This is my 2nd time trying.
I passed my CISA with a score of 812! ~~
Woody Simons, how is that possible? Quote from isaca.org:
The CISA exam consists of 200 items. Candidate scores are reported as a scaled score. A scaled score is a conversion of a
candidate’s raw score on an exam to a common scale. ISACA uses and reports scores on a common scale from 200 to 800. A
candidate must receive a score of 450 or higher to pass the exam. A score of 450 represents a minimum consistent standard of
knowledge as established by ISACA’s CISA Certification Board.
True. 812 is out of the scoring range.
I passed with an even 700 though. If you look at the way the GMAT is scored, a 700 is in the 90th percentile and a 750-800 is in the 99th percentile. so an 812 would be in the 110th percentile (or something like that!)
True. 812 is out of the scoring range.
I passed with an even 700 though (1st time taking test). If you look at the way the GMAT is scored, a 700 is in the 90th percentile and a 750-800 is in the 99th percentile. so an 812 would be in the 110th percentile (or something like that!)
I pass with 463 !! I was a history major working for a non-profit. I have no IT experience and this is my first time passing CISA. I’m very excited !! Hoohoo!
I scored 610. My lowest score was 491 on BCP/DR. I did not prepare well for that domain. I would have scored higher.
I’ve been working in the audit field for 10 years and the CISA exam is no cakewalk. I’ve failed 3 times already in the past 4 years. I am hoping that Dec 08 will be my final time.
Does anyone know how to calculate your percentile given your total scaled score?? If so, please help by posting information here.
Will we get to know our percentile score when the results arrive by postal mail? The email only contains the scores, and not the percentiles.
passed with 656. scored lowest on the “easiest” sections (DR). I did not spend much time on the DR material figuring it was the most straight forward. However, they made all the DR questions extremely tricky. I am really just an accountant pretending to be an IT auditor, but have 11 years experience & CIA, CMA, CFM, MBA.
I passed the CISA despite having low scores (380 and 256) on Protection of Information Assets and Lifecycle, service, support. How would I apply for the certification?
Took the exam in London. Spent two hours on the 200 questions. Passed on 606. Would sitting there another two hours have improved the score? In my opinion, no. You either know the material, or you don’t. I am a financial services internal auditor working in investment banking, comparatively recent starter in the IT audit field (3 years experience).
yes, agree with previous post. i only spent about 2.25 hours taking the test. i quickly went back through, but changed only two answers (though I was tempted to change many more). i think the 4 hour time limit is deadly – meaning it allows you too much time to second guess yourself. go with your first instinct and answer each question one time and one time only.
Passed with a score of 556.
I’m happy I’ve put that project behind me now.
Cheers all!
I am studying for the December 2008 CISA. Can someone offer me some tips for passing? I have 4 yrs auditing experience. I do not like standardized tests though. I don’t care for high marks, just enough to get me over the hurdle.
I have 13 years of IT experience, including:
a. Software Development & Design
b. Software Testing & QA
c. Design Documentation, SRS creation etc
d. Test Plan and Test cases creation
e. Management of Software Projects
f. Program Management
g. Managing IT infrastructure of an organization
h. Setting into place procedures for backups etc.
What I don’t have is Audit experience. Do you think that with my above experience, I fulfil the requirements for a CISA certification? (I have passed the exam, FYI)
The best bit of advice is to:
1. Attend a review class at your local ISACA chapter
2. Review the CISA Review Manual 2008
3. Go through each and every exam question on the CD sold by ISACA
4. Understand the reasoning behind each and every wrong answer to give.
Just do these things and you’ll pass no problem.
Passed CISA exam!!!!!!!
Did you already received the official score letter (by postal mail)? I haven’t it received yet.
I took the June 14 2008 exam and passed with a score of 637. The criteria for applying the cert says “Information Systems Auditing, Control,
Assurance or Security”. I have 6 years of security experience and am also a CISSP, however I am not sure if this suffuces the CISA cert criteria. Can someone let me know please.
I passed in 2007 but am not motivated to get CISA certification.
I decided to remain as a developer. I am MCP in .net. Auditing is boring to me.
I passed the June 2008 exam, and I should receive my CISA certification in a few weeks. I have 13 years IT experience and 2 years auditing experience. I am working in a low paying government auditing job now, and I will be looking for something much more lucrative. Any suggestions for who is interested in hiring CISA’s?
Congrats to everyone who passed.
Can you guys share your studying materials and tactics.
Also does anyone have any reviews about these guy?
certifiedinfosec.com
I passed June 14 CISA with a 681, just received my certification congratulations today.
On study tactics Sikander, you asked about certifiedinfosec.com
Overall I would say this is the most valuable tool. Only thing I don’t like is that the questions asked are exactly what is in the course, verbatim, so it gets a bit redundant, but it makes you learn it. Allen Keele puts out a great product.
I have had a hard time finding a job as CISA certified auditor. Does anyone know where I can get good leads? Thanks!!
jobless-where are you located. i know a very agressive headhunter who specializes in placing IT auditors in NE Ohio (metro Cleveland area).
In my experience you will have a better result with CISSP. I have both CISSP and CISA. The CISA is like a ‘rider’ on your car insurance. It enhances the experience, but you still need the basic coverage.
This is my opinion, your mileage may vary ;)
jobless — The best place to work with a CISA are the Big4. They will surely hire you.
I took the June 2008 and ended up with a 731 with two sections scored at 800 even. I’m in the USA. My lowest was a 680 or something.
If you have the experiance like they say you should and take this stuff seriously, then this test is very easy to pass. Read their material cover to cover and understand it. Do the questions and understand them. BTW: I have my CISSP too… That one is probably easier to STUDY to pass. The CISA I think requires better judgement, which comes with experiance.
Hi, I am appearing for CISA(Dec ‘08) for the first time. Can any one plz let me know which study material would be better for the same, ISACA or Sybex or certifiedinfosec.com or any other….
please guide the materials to study for cisa exam on dec 08…HELP!!!
Is being an IT Auditor the same as being a Quality Assurance(QA) Tester?
I have got over 5 years experience in systems analysis and design, software development and customization of financial systems. Do you think doing the CISA exam will help me get a better job and pay. Do i need to have audit experience?
@Sentari….. Very good man… I sat the exam in Dec 08 and score 712… Was your score highest in the world?
Some people have wondered how to convert the raw score to a percentage of questions where you selected the correct answer. I’m not sure if this is possible since the score you receive is weighted; that is, a correct answer in Protection of Information Assets weighs much more than a correct answer in some of the other categories. As I recall, the same is true for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. I’m an auditor and passed the exam (June 2008) with relatively little IT experience using Exammatrix (basically just answering all the questions and reviewing some of them twice), reviewing the ISACA questions, and using a valuable textbook entitled CISA Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide (relatively inexpensive at $37.79) that has quite a few sample questions on a disk that comes with the book (as well as questions at the end of each chapter) and text that I found easier to comprehend and more succinct than the other souses.
Waiting for the result. I thing it will be released next week. Best regards.
Just got word today. PASSED baby!
passed with 655. i am thrilled :)
Passed!! the test was relatively easy for me. Though I initially thought I was strong in SDLC, i managed to score the least in that domain.
Got the result of June 2009 exam. Cleared it…. :-)
Passed June 2009. Got a 250 in SDLC, thankfully i was very strong in all of the other areas.
Passed June 2009 with 584 points. Finishing test in 2,5 hours – when not sure with answer I believed in intuition.
can anyone from india who has passed the exam provide me guideline on how to pass the CISA exam ? Also what is the pass percentage of people passing the exam.please if possible can someone give me their contact number ?
I cleared my CISA on my first attempt woohooo… Also congratulations to all who have passed.
For new ones it only requires a little dedication. I used Sybex CISA Study Guide, its a great book to get you started and most importantly you will need the set of practice questions from ISACA. You should also read CISA Review Manual as it is considered the bible for this exam, but in my opinion the book is very bland. You need to hit your head with the book to stay awake to go through it :)
Best of luck to all the future aspirants.
Hi all, How did todays’ exam go btw!?,well did my part..fingers crossed now!;)…felt like most of the questions had more than one correct answers!..nd some questions were cheeky!.did you guys find that 2?
And by when can we expect the results to be posted or be made available online?
Thank you!
I didn’t think the test was that bad. A lot of questions were really tricky. But if you broke them down and subtracted the wrongs answers it seemed clear. But I wont know until they mail me the results. Sitting for four hours straight to answer 200 questions, urgh.
Funny thing a lot of the after market books I bought on the CISA exam. Well they covered things that weren’t in the exam.
Odd thing they say you cant bring in beverages. But if you brought in water bottle with a cap, that was ok.
Hey,
Gave the test in Karachi. I was amazed to see that atleast 30% of the questions were from the practice tests I had done.
But the test was a bit tricky. I didn’t get time to go through my answers, which worries me when I think about it.
But I’m relieved that its finally over. Had the best nap in months yesterday! :D
Hi Abhilash,
Yes I did feel the same.
I am an IT security professional with about 7 year’s experience. I hold certificates such as SCJP, CISSP, ITIL V3 Foundation and ISO 27001 L.A.
I have almost spent 4 months preparing for the CISA exam.
I did find CISA exam neither easy nor difficult. That having said I am not too sure whether I will pass. There were about 25-30 questions where you could easily eliminate 2 options but the other 2 options seems to be confusing.
I completed answering the 200 questions in about 3 hour. The remaining time I spent revisiting those 25-30 questions. Out of these 25-30 questions, I modified my answer for at least 6 of them. So now I am very anxious about the outcome.
The results should be typically published in 8 weeks from the exam date. You should be receiving an email regarding the same.
Thanks
Hi Mr. Ali Hassan!
I read you did cisa isaca test in karachi, i did it also in dec2009. you wrote that aprox 30% of the questions from your test were from the practice tests. could you pls send this test to me cause i think i’ve failed once again and need more studing aid?
thnx! 1tfun@gmx.at
I am sitting on egg shells waiting for the test results.
When I looked at my resume after reading all the CISA manuals, I changed to use the same verbage as in the book. I have actually gotten more hits. Putting CISA on it will really make it shine.
I just got a email from ISACA about the exam. When I saw I got the email I started to hyperventilate and scrolled down and saw my score was 454. The passing score is 450. Wow I just squeaked by, BUT I DID IT.
Doing the happy dance now.
Oh my God, its result time already! I’m hyperventilating!
Where are you from mate?
And how did your exam go? What were you expecting before the result?
Congrats! :)
I am in Boston Ma, USA.
The exam was intense but not hard or easy. I had studied 6 hours a day for 2 months. To tell the truth the best book I found is the CISA review manual along with the sample test Q&A. In hindsight I should have concentrated on that book.
I was expecting to either fail or pass by a few points. To prep for the exam I took a lot of nootopics vitamins with some Ritalin and Xanax.
Now I want to move to back to LA and get my old apartment on the beach back. I will be styling again. WOOO HOOO
Hey,
Passed here too! :D. Got a 521.
Karachi, Pakistan here
Screwed up due to over study and lack of sleep on the last day. This whole wait was really gruesome and I’m glad its over! :D
Now I’m gonna kiss this job goodbye. Yee Ha!!
Hi I just got my result. I passed the exam with a score of 521. I wish everuone the very best.
Hello,
Congratulations for who passed the exam. I received my score today, it is my first attempt, and I passed with a 593 score. Actually I prepared so well for the exam and I really expected a much higher score, however, I’m glad I passed. Good luck for anybody looking to take th exam. By the way, despite lacking good organization the CISA review manual is the only resource that covers the exam content entirely, and the questions database from ISACA is great too.
Hi Ali Hassan,
Can you please tell me which materials you used? Thanks!!
I passed with a score of 538. I think exam was tougher this time. 5 people i know didnt make it.
Karl and Bismark,
Study material, questions provided by ISACA.
First to all to all my homies who passed, how many times have you read that email saying you passed? I have lost count!
Here is how I passed it and what I would suggest.
I started out with an after market book and they suggested reading more then one book to give you a different over view. I read 4 of them plus the CISA review manual. The vast majority of the after market books are horrible. They make you drill down on information the test doesn’t cover. The CISA review manual is so dry and intense and is not an easy read.
So I would suggest first reading “all in one CISA exam guide”. This is to get your head into that mode. It is the closest to the CISA review manual but written with a better flow. When you take the practice test at the end of each chapter, the questions you got wrong make a note of them. Now create what I call a brain book. All the questions you got wrong look them up in the book and write them down in your own words. Now dive into the CISA review manual. Also get the test CD and review Q&A from ISACA.
Also another book that is half way decent is “CISA exam secrets” by Mometrix media. It is a cliff notes style book and it gives test taking strategies.
Realistically I was reading 70 pages a day and a 100 on a good day. After around 30 minutes I would get up pace the floor and take a few deep breaths.
Hope this helps.
Got my results yesterday. Passed. Only used the Cannon study guide. Took notes. Did questions after each chapter. 45 total study hours over a 1 month period. Have staff audit experience only. The night before exam, reviewed notes and had a delicious steak dinner. The secret to passing is chewing slowly so you can savor each flavorful bite – no steak sauce necessary.
Just kidding about the steak dinner… I really suggest the Cannon book. Audit work experience will definitely help. All the technical stuff (IT related) you can learn from the book. Make sure to do lots of questions because it will prepare you for “the most, the least, the best, etc.” type of questions in the exam. Good luck.
Well wyfod being an auditor helped you. I assisted with audits at my last company but wasn’t familiar with the terms. Also I get test anxiety really bad. I might know the subject cold but during a test I freeze up. So I study so much that it takes over my mind and all I think about is the subject. Of course getting a prescription for Xanax worked wonders.
Seeing at the cost of the test is $415 to $595 and is only offered twice a year I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. If I had failed my career would have been put on hold.
I do agree taking a lot of practice test really helps out.
Edward, congrats. My audit experience was with a public accounting firm. It might have made the difference. However, I also want to give credit to my brain.
What can I do?
I passed the test and asked my X company to sign off that I did do auditing and security for them. They wont return my phone calls or emails. And to think before the layoff they said they would help me out.
Hey Edward,
Would love to discuss the situation with you in detail. Ad me on Skype so that we can talk. My ID is alihmemon
I just got off the phone with ISACA. They said the person who signs off on you does not have to be your supervisor. Just someone that worked with you and can verify that you did security or auditing.