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Finally passed my ISP exam after two failed attempts — here's what worked

by Nicole F. 502 views3 replies
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Nicole F.OP
May 27, 2026

So I just got my results back yesterday and I finally passed the ISP certification. Took me three tries over about 14 months, which was honestly embarrassing to admit out loud, but here we are. The first two times I went in pretty confident — I've been in security sales for six years — and both times I fell apart on the ethics and professionalism sections. I just assumed my field experience would carry me through.

What actually turned things around was being more systematic about it. I spent about six weeks using an ISP practice test bank to figure out exactly where my weak spots were instead of just reviewing chapters I already knew. The gap between "I understand this conceptually" and "I can answer exam questions about this under pressure" is real, and honestly humbling.

The ISP study guide I ended up using broke down the competency domains in a way that matched the actual exam weighting, which my previous prep materials didn't do well. Anyone else retaking this or prepping for the first time? Happy to share more specifics on the areas that tripped me up.

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Chris D.
May 27, 2026
Congrats on passing! I'm currently 8 weeks out from my scheduled exam date and the ethics domain is killing me too. It's not that the concepts are hard — it's that several answer choices feel equally correct and you have to pick the "most" right one. My ISP exam tips from a study group I joined: always defer to ASIS guidelines when two answers seem valid. That framing helped me on practice questions.
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Ravi S.
May 28, 2026
Three attempts is nothing to be embarrassed about — the pass rate on this one isn't great and most people underestimate it coming from field roles. The fact that you diagnosed the problem and fixed your prep strategy is exactly the right move. Good luck to everyone else grinding through it.
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Preethi N.
May 28, 2026
Curious which competency domains you found hardest besides ethics. I keep hearing the business operations section surprises people who come from a purely operational background. I've got solid incident response experience but I'm worried about the strategic and financial management questions. Did those show up heavily for you, or was it more the people-management side of things?

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