Preparing for a certification exam can be quite challenging, but a strategic and disciplined approach can help position certification candidates for success on exam day.
One of the best ways to prepare for success is to learn from the experiences of other members of ISACA’s professional community. Below, see top tips from ISACA certified professionals on what worked best for them on their path to attaining ISACA credentials.
Become a Teacher
“Over the past 12 years, I have delivered numerous certification boot camps. When preparing for an exam, I have used the ‘Teach it to learn it’ technique with my trainees and myself.
“Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.’ This principle is at the core of mastering complex subjects like cybersecurity, risk and governance.
“True mastery comes when you can teach a concept without notes, using real-world examples that make sense to others. After covering a topic, don't just move on; explain it to someone else. Break it down in a way a non-expert could understand. If you're studying risk assessment, you can walk a colleague through evaluating a third-party vendor's security posture. If reviewing access controls, use an analogy: imagine a hospital where doctors, nurses and admin staff need different access levels to patient records. If you stumble, it's a sign you need to dig deeper.
“Consider forming a weekly study group with practitioners from different backgrounds and bring diverse perspectives to case studies. A security architect, privacy officer and IT auditor will interpret the same principle through various lenses – precisely what you need for the nuanced exam scenarios.” - Maman Ibrahim, CISA, CRISC, CISSP, ChCSP, CLP, CSTP
Zero in on Study Materials, Tactics and Timelines
“For every exam I have taken, I have followed the same process. I obtained the official Review Manual and the Review Questions, Answers & Explanations Manual. The Review Questions, Answers & Explanations Manual was my primary source for studying. Not only does the manual provide helpful and relevant content, but it also provides you with an understanding of how the questions are asked on the exam. Words you will become especially familiar with in the questions are ‘best’ and ‘most.’
“To prepare for the exam, I divided the questions in the Review Questions, Answers & Explanations Manual across three months, tackling 70-80 questions weekly. For each missed question, I reviewed the explanations and referred to the Review Manual for further clarification.” - Laura Zannucci, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CDPSE, SBS CyberSecurity Audit Manager
Take a S.M.A.R.T. Approach
“Preparing for certification exams demands a SMART approach – specifically, the SMART framework, introduced by George T. Doran in his paper, There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management Goals and Objectives, stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. For example, a Specific goal might be: ‘I aim to earn the ISACA CISM certification.’ A Measurable goal could be: ‘I intend to achieve a score of 90% or better on the ISACA Questions, Answers & Explanation (QAE) practice tests before the exam.’ An Achievable goal might look like: ‘I will dedicate 60 minutes, three times a week, to studying ISACA CISM materials.’ A Relevant goal could be: ‘I will finish the CISM Review Manual within the next 90 days.’ Lastly, a Time-Bound goal might be: ‘I will begin studying for the ISACA CISM on January 1st and pass the exam by July 15th to support a salary increase at my current job.’ Adopting the SMART method can significantly boost your likelihood of success in obtaining your next ISACA certification.” - James “Jim” E. Lamadrid, CISSP, CRISC, PMP, GIAC, Cybersecurity Consultant
Understand Why an Answer is Wrong
“ISACA certification test takers must spend time analyzing and reviewing the questions, answers and explanations database pertaining to the specific certification exam. Studying the sample questions for the exam not only provides the test taker an overview of the type of questions they will encounter during the exam, but it also exposes them to the different concepts that could be tested in the exam. In addition to looking up the correct answer key for every question, it is very important for individuals to go over and understand why one of the other options was not the answer. This allows individuals to better understand specific topics and get accustomed to the pattern of the exam questions.
“From a timing perspective, test takers must plan to review the questions and answers database well in advance (at least a month prior to the exam date). This review helps individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses and allows sufficient time to go back and revise certain concepts that they are not clear with. Further, spend the last few days prior to the exam again revisiting the challenging domains to build clarity and confidence.” – Varun Prasad, CISA, CISM
Take Practice Tests
“My top tip to be successful on ISACA certification exams would be to take practice tests and exams from an accredited training organization. Regularly practicing exam questions through the preparatory phase was key to my success. ISACA’s self-provided QAE (Questions, Answers and Explanations) database is a great starting point in trying to understand the format and to get the feel of the exam questions. Simulating a real exam environment with timed practice tests can help boost confidence and calm your nerves for when it is time to take the actual test.
“These tests can also be beneficial if you already have some experience or educational background in the respective field. Taking a few practice tests as a first step on your preparation journey can help in identifying your strengths/weaknesses in areas that are tested in the exam. This way you can build a study plan to cater to your specific skillset and focus more on the domains you struggle with.” - Poonam Gupta, CISA, CRISC, CISSP
Turn to Your Chapter for Support
“Attending the local ISACA chapter’s exam boot camps can be a game-changer for candidates’ certification preparation. Besides being a more affordable option, especially to the fresh graduates that have just started working, these boot camps provide structured, instructor-led sessions that cover key exam domains, clarify complex concepts, and offer practical insights from experienced professionals. Engaging with a local chapter also gives candidates access to a network of peers and mentors who can share exam strategies and real-world applications of ISACA’s frameworks. Additionally, the instructors for these boot camps would often be utilizing the latest study materials and practice questions tailored to the exam’s latest updates, not to mention each instructor would often be sharing pro tips of their own, their experience and exam answering tips, too. Most of the attendees of the boot camps may end up forming informal study groups themselves to support each other.
“From these boot camps, candidates can identify the topic areas which they are still not proficient on and allocate more time to further review those topics. Perhaps some of the key concepts were misunderstood, so the candidates could revisit their notes or even talk to colleagues or friends that have practical experience in that area to enhance the application of the concepts.” - Goh Ser Yoong, head of compliance, ADVANCE.AI, and member of the ISACA Emerging Trends Working Group
Be Extensive and Intensive
“The strategy to prepare for a certification exam should be both extensive and intensive. For the extensive approach, it will be helpful to become a habitual reader - meaning regular reading of cybersecurity, risk, technology and associated topics coming from ISACA and other reputable sources. This helps to reinforce the context and use cases connected to ISACA certifications. The intensive approach is targeting the specific certification exam and preparing to its curriculum and exam requirements utilizing official study materials. With this multi-faceted approach, success in certification exams is very likely.” - Ravikumar Ramachandran, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CDPSE, CCSK, OCA-Multi Cloud Architect, CISSP-ISSAP, CC, SSCP, CAP, PMP, CIA, CRMA, CFE, FCMA, CIMA-Dip.MA, CFA, CEH, ECSA, CHFI, MS (Fin), MBA (IT), MBA (Ops.Mgmt), MBA (IB), COBIT-5 Implementer, Certified COBIT Assessor, ITIL 4 -Managing Professional, TOGAF 9 Certified, Certified SAFe5 Agilist, Professional Scrum Master-II, OCP-Cloud Architect, OCP-Gen.AI, Chennai, India
Timing Matters
“Mental preparedness is just as important as technical knowledge when preparing for an ISACA certification exam. I learned this the hard way. I failed my CISA exam twice because I wasn’t mentally ready, and a similar challenge can happen with other exams. When I was mourning my brother, I struggled to focus, which reinforced the importance of being in the right mindset before taking a high-stakes test.
“Additionally, I found that passing the CISA first gave me a strong foundation that made the CISM much easier to tackle. Starting with CISA built essential knowledge and confidence for me before I moved on to other certifications.” – Gaelle Koanda, CISA, CISM, cybersecurity professional for BAE Space and Mission Systems