I am interested in obtaining an I/T audit certification.

I'm assuming that the CISA is the most highly recognized certification for I/T auditors. Not sure what others exist.

If any body has achieved this, I'm interesting in the difficulty level of achieving this certification. I'm curious about the format of the test, among other things. I'm also curious if this is highly recognized in banking as a very positive thing.

Is there a place to obtain a sample of an old test to see what it is like and how much studying I would need to do.

I have passed the CPA (15 years ago though) so I've studied for a test of this magnitude but don't want to spend too much money in study material and tests if it is either beyond me or if this certification is not recognized that much in the banking world as I don't anticipate going anywhere else.

Thanks for your input.

I did not take the exam but my Audit VP did. It's a one day test that lasts for about 4 hours that covers 125 questions. He used software purchased from ExamMatrix for $560. The CISA certification is highly recognized in the banking world. We hired an outside firm to do our IT Audit this past year who has a CISA on staff. With the increasing reliance on technology, which will continue to grow, this certification is extremely important and is very rare. You can go to exammatrix.com and try out a free trial. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I'll give that web site a try.