Security + in 3 days

Justthetip

Hi guys,

New here...

Test is on Wednesday. I am a nervous wreck. Ill take some practice tests and get 90+ on them. Others ill get a 70. Ive read the Gibson book three times, read all the examcrams available and have a pretty good knowledge of the material. Im literally studying on average 12 hours a day (for about a month now.) I work full time too. My issue is once I take a test I have the questions memorized already so retaking the test is a bad assessment of my knowledge. I think ive run out of practice tests. LOL.

I do not know what to expect. Any advice? Thanks.

Rocket Impossible

I think you're over doing it. Take a break and let the information process. Don't study the night before, drink a beer and watch a movie. I had the same problem with the practice tests. If you are looking for some fresh study materials, I found the flashcards on Daril Gibson's website helpful.

fuz1on

I just passed it last Tuesday. Just make sure you understand the fundamental concepts of secure (inter)networking and to read each question carefully to understand what they want you to answer. Darril Gibson's book is really good - it's really all you need. Go over your 'weaker' topics in the hours before the test and you should be good to go. Don't stay up late the night before or stray from normalcy. Good luck!

thatguy67

@Justthetip

I take it this is your first certification exam. I don't know if you can do anything about "losing it" to Pearson VUE, lol, just have to grind your teeth and get it over with. It's normal to be nervous but it's not bad, they will take your ID (leave all stuff in your car like phone, hat, sunglasses, etc...otherwise you'll just have to put it in a locker). He will walk you through the testing process and you might have to watch some tutorial about the test-taking process, not sure. There might be another test-taker in the room with you, you will have a divider. You'll have a timer on the screen so you don't get surprised. I will say that when your results are loading, it's the longest 5 seconds I've experienced in a long time....

The Security+ exam isn't super demanding, I think if you've been studying that much you should be fine.

Justthetip

HI guys,

Thanks for the tips. Yeah I think I am pretty ready to go. I took the practice test on here and got a 74.. but there was a lot on there that I didnt read about at all, and reviewed so I should be good.

This is my first Certification "test", but I do have a Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security, so a lot of this stuff I already knew (but it wasnt this detailed). The Grad cert was more hands on (which i liked a lot more). My issue I guess is I am unsure of how in depth I should go in each topic. What do they expect? Are there a lot of "trick" questions/answers?

Thanks again for the advice everyone. Ill post my results here.

ewright27

Good luck! I'm taking it tomorrow, and am still only pulling mid 70s on Transcender practice exams.

H3||scr3am

Best of luck to you both I plan to take this one next month.

Cyberscum

GL2U! You will knock it out

Justthetip

Passed. I got an 841! Not too shabby lol.

fuz1on

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

Not shabby at all! Congrats man!

Justthetip

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

Thanks man. Yeah I was so nervous after I submitted the exam. The worst part was I didnt even get more score until after the survey.. lol.

nachodba

Congrats on the pass!

OfWolfAndMan

Justthetip wrote: »

Thanks man. Yeah I was so nervous after I submitted the exam. The worst part was I didnt even get more score until after the survey.. lol.

I know exactly what you mean! Took the A+, got to the end, and the test was like "Nope, not yet. Let's ask you a few questions irrelevant to your answers before we give you the score!"

dewey hafta

Nice. Congrats. What's next for you?

dewey hafta

Nice. Congrats. What's next for you?

Justthetip

Thanks.

I am most likely going to take the Network+ (backwards yes I know). I was thinking about maybe CISSP or CASP. Not sure though.

H3||scr3am

congrats on passing

Plantwiz

Justthetip wrote: »

HI guys,

Thanks for the tips. Yeah I think I am pretty ready to go. I took the practice test on here and got a 74.. but there was a lot on there that I didnt read about at all, and reviewed so I should be good.

This is my first Certification "test", but I do have a Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security, so a lot of this stuff I already knew (but it wasnt this detailed). The Grad cert was more hands on (which i liked a lot more). My issue I guess is I am unsure of how in depth I should go in each topic. What do they expect? Are there a lot of "trick" questions/answers?

Thanks again for the advice everyone. Ill post my results here.

You really should focus on knowing/undestanding the objectives rather than overdoing practice questions. This is about your skill in the field, not how well one can memorize test questions.

Easy to understand your a bit nervous regarding certification exams, after all, a pass or fail is our own self-check to the knowledge we have about a topic, but understand, very intelligent folks here have failed an exam or two over the years...it happens, particularly in the higher level certs. The point is to learn and grow as an IT pro not be a paper cert collector.

You'll do just fine. Light review over the objectives, review any topics you do not understand, rest, and pass your test on the day.




EDIT - see this comment is too late, but the advice remains. Focus on learning, not memorizing banks of questions, you want to be an asset in the field, not a robot.

Rocket Impossible

Congrats!

Justthetip

Plantwiz wrote: »

You really should focus on knowing/undestanding the objectives rather than overdoing practice questions. This is about your skill in the field, not how well one can memorize test questions.

Easy to understand your a bit nervous regarding certification exams, after all, a pass or fail is our own self-check to the knowledge we have about a topic, but understand, very intelligent folks here have failed an exam or two over the years...it happens, particularly in the higher level certs. The point is to learn and grow as an IT pro not be a paper cert collector.

You'll do just fine. Light review over the objectives, review any topics you do not understand, rest, and pass your test on the day.




EDIT - see this comment is too late, but the advice remains. Focus on learning, not memorizing banks of questions, you want to be an asset in the field, not a robot.

I have 7 years in the field, and thats all I really have....practical experience. I was concerned that the test would be too much "book knowledge" and not enough hands on experience.

I agree with your statement though, theres one thing to know the material to pass the test and theres another to actual be able to apply it.