Hard, harder, OSCP exam. Yesterday - or rather today - I got the OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional) exam behind me. Within a 24-hour window I had to break into several servers (Windows/Linux) and gain privileged rights. A CISSP or CISM exam of a few hours is a walk in the park by comparison. The OSCP is definitely more difficult and harder. For the other exams you can prepare by learning efficiently; with the OSCP what counts is experience, knowledge and skill.
I think I got the exam behind me successfully: every server taken over, the report written and handed in. The official result should be there in the next 2-3 days.
If you want to get into penetration testing or have a strong interest in hacking, I can only recommend the course. But you should bring a lot of time with you. The lab that is provided is very large and extensive. Many evenings and Sundays are gone in no time. The 40 CPE (40 hours of continuing education) officially creditable for CISSP & Co are rather a joke - a multiple of that effort is far more realistic. In return, you can then - rightly - be proud of the OSCP credential you have earned.