Passed GCIH yesterday (80% Score)
Hello, all i finally passed the GCIH. after 2 failed attempts and 6 months of hardwork. i finally did it.
I got a 85% passing score. First, i want to say thanks to everybody for helping and with giving advice.
I do see the point of building your own index.
The bottom line is – building an index is a complex way of FORCING you to read all 5 books and getting the information in your head. Copying somebody else's index and only using that will not help.
unless you are a highly experienced IT professional and already know these concepts very deeply and not a novice like me. you will fail!!!
It is very important to review the info, get it into your head.or have a very strong idea of where the answer to a question is in the book is.
For example, I got a question about “chroot” – and I honestly had no idea of where it was in the book. But pretty much everything else I knew where to find the answer quickly. many answers however were fairly easy.
It is important that everybody studying for the GCIH build their own index.
Also – I made the mistake of putting TOO MUCH INFO into the index and I had to simplify it.
Basic words, ideas, concepts, definitions, tools, words go into the index…abstract concepts and all that belong in notes.
But here is the trick….it is very important…to have a way to remember the info and memorize certain ideas, facts and abstract concepts. And Index (atleast for me) was not enough for that.
I don't have a photographic memory.
When taking the exam yesterday. I hardly referred to my index. In all honesty, I only flipped thru it maybe 3-4 times.
I’m not promoting the use of out-dated exam **** off the internet - because only using that is no way to prepare for this exam. alot of that stuff is out of date, some of it isn't but - the truth is -
i needed something to help my brain store the info.
But only having an index is not enough to pass this exam either in my view for a novice.
I realize that many of you guys who work in the I.T. security industry and maybe have a decent grasp of the concepts discussed in the GCIH.
I think I heard a guy say – that he went into the exam without an index and just skimmed the pages and did well.
I’m a novice to the I.T. industry. I have a Comptia Security + certification, and I just graduated from college with a Bachelors in Information Systems.
But the truth – I’m still learning. And so for many of you, the GCIH is possibly a review session. So basically I thought to myself.
“damn…it would be nice if for each section of each book, there was quiz questions on each aspect of the section and its sub section…”
So while looking at exam **** with a software called “Visual Cert Exam Editor” – I got the idea of creating my own customized quizzes based on each section that i read.
But as you can imagine it took me forever to do this. I must have created atleast over 800 quiz questions broken up into sections . I studied for this exam for 6 months. But part of what took me so long was… Reading thru and understanding everything and then realizing that I needed a more simplified index and to build up my customized quizzes for each section of each book.
below is screenshots of my customized quiz question i developed based on what i read
[ REMOVED IMAGE ]
Also – there is a summary. Of each book online. It’s out of date..but the general overview is good to have.
So – it helped me get thru the practice GCIH.. But even with this idea – there were still some question which forced me to flip thru the books and FIND the answer.
But certain question were faily easy because I had seen similar questions that I developed myself and practice questions off the internet, exam ****, and anywhere I could find and download practice questions and find out where in the book certain question refer to.
So – came in to the test more than ready.
So...if anybody here studying for this - has questions...don't hesitate to PM me.
I got a 85% passing score. First, i want to say thanks to everybody for helping and with giving advice.
I do see the point of building your own index.
The bottom line is – building an index is a complex way of FORCING you to read all 5 books and getting the information in your head. Copying somebody else's index and only using that will not help.
unless you are a highly experienced IT professional and already know these concepts very deeply and not a novice like me. you will fail!!!
It is very important to review the info, get it into your head.or have a very strong idea of where the answer to a question is in the book is.
For example, I got a question about “chroot” – and I honestly had no idea of where it was in the book. But pretty much everything else I knew where to find the answer quickly. many answers however were fairly easy.
It is important that everybody studying for the GCIH build their own index.
Also – I made the mistake of putting TOO MUCH INFO into the index and I had to simplify it.
Basic words, ideas, concepts, definitions, tools, words go into the index…abstract concepts and all that belong in notes.
But here is the trick….it is very important…to have a way to remember the info and memorize certain ideas, facts and abstract concepts. And Index (atleast for me) was not enough for that.
I don't have a photographic memory.
When taking the exam yesterday. I hardly referred to my index. In all honesty, I only flipped thru it maybe 3-4 times.
I’m not promoting the use of out-dated exam **** off the internet - because only using that is no way to prepare for this exam. alot of that stuff is out of date, some of it isn't but - the truth is -
i needed something to help my brain store the info.
But only having an index is not enough to pass this exam either in my view for a novice.
I realize that many of you guys who work in the I.T. security industry and maybe have a decent grasp of the concepts discussed in the GCIH.
I think I heard a guy say – that he went into the exam without an index and just skimmed the pages and did well.
I’m a novice to the I.T. industry. I have a Comptia Security + certification, and I just graduated from college with a Bachelors in Information Systems.
But the truth – I’m still learning. And so for many of you, the GCIH is possibly a review session. So basically I thought to myself.
“damn…it would be nice if for each section of each book, there was quiz questions on each aspect of the section and its sub section…”
So while looking at exam **** with a software called “Visual Cert Exam Editor” – I got the idea of creating my own customized quizzes based on each section that i read.
But as you can imagine it took me forever to do this. I must have created atleast over 800 quiz questions broken up into sections . I studied for this exam for 6 months. But part of what took me so long was… Reading thru and understanding everything and then realizing that I needed a more simplified index and to build up my customized quizzes for each section of each book.
below is screenshots of my customized quiz question i developed based on what i read
[ REMOVED IMAGE ]
Also – there is a summary. Of each book online. It’s out of date..but the general overview is good to have.
So – it helped me get thru the practice GCIH.. But even with this idea – there were still some question which forced me to flip thru the books and FIND the answer.
But certain question were faily easy because I had seen similar questions that I developed myself and practice questions off the internet, exam ****, and anywhere I could find and download practice questions and find out where in the book certain question refer to.
So – came in to the test more than ready.
So...if anybody here studying for this - has questions...don't hesitate to PM me.
Comments
I'm taking SANS training SEC504 in May so I'll contact you once I begin my studies. I'm pretty excited about it.
Sure - whatever i can do to help. i made many mistakes in my initial study. i approach it very wrong. but it paid off in the end once i learned from my mistakes.
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What did you do this time differently?
like i said. i didn't try to just take notes and have a oversized index.
index is good for basic words, tools, and ideas...
but the very abstract concepts - you need to a creative way to help yourself remember little details.
so as i said. i created my own customized Multiple Choice quiz questions for every aspect of each section.
but it took FOREVER for me to do this. i know i created at-least 800 or more questions.
so the combo of a more simplified index, quiz questions to help my mind go "click i remember that.", and a good summary. helped alot.
so the first 20 questions were a challenge - but it got real easy as i progressed thru the test. i finished early. with an 30 mins to spare.
vs. on my 1st two attempts i felt rushed and i didn't have enough time.
for any other GIAC exams - this is my study method.
So my review session goes like this.
I take out book one. i read about (Identification) - then - i quiz myself on what i just read. but doing the Index and deciding what was too detailed to go into my index was very very tedious.
once my index and quiz question were complete. i had 5-6 days left.
so basically imagine reading every section, along with mini-quizes and taking little notes just to make sure i know everything.
but the crazy part - half of the stuff i created - i didn't even use. I hardly opened my index. i did it 2-4 times. some things i knew very easily because i had drilled it so much. maybe i over-drilled. other things i knew where in the book the answers were - i just had to flip there to find it. there was alot of page turning for me during the test.
but other things were very simple - because i had it memorized very very well. my self-made Mult. Choice quizzes really helped me.
i suggest anybody who is studying this use this method who is novice to the 504 class. i really wish i had did it last year. i would've passed it the 1st and or 2nd time.
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If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it. - Epictetus
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When going through your practice exams for the test - did you find the questions to be similar, easier, or harder than the real exam?
I am interested in GCIH certification but not sure how to get started and which books are must read. I will be grateful if somebody can guide me through.
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Proverbs 6:6-11Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep, So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler And your need like an armed man.
We have a thread on this topic, it is stickied in this forum.
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This is going to sound harsh, but I believe this one reason it was so difficult for you. These exams are not for novices. The CEH is a good introduction to the tools mentioned in the GCIH course. And I didn't see anything in your post about lab or practicing what was in the books. This helps to reinforce the material, and you are likely to remember commands you have been using.
I am interested in GCIH/GCIA reading/learning, can I somewhere buy the books. I will be grateful if somebody can help/guide me.
Congrats
I am studying for my GCIH exam but my course material is for 2011, Could I pass exam with this or I have to read newer version?
Wow your notes look far better than my pile of sticky notes and index cards
Do you still have the 800 practice test that you created? Can I get a copy?
You know I was thinking the same thing when I read this, what a great resource to share. True a lot of the questions may be dated, but I think there value in sharing them. It's too bad bkhayes hasn't posted in over two years, so he's unlikely to see these posts any time soon.
This is where preparation pays off, one could say it was a huge waste of time to create an index they didn't use on the exam, but the process of creating the index is what allows you to remember the material and not need the index you created for the exam.
Maybe the next time bkhayes will post something again when it's time for recertification of his GCIH.