Passed SSCP - Thoughts and advice

Mide

So I've been going through my IT career without any certs, but when I started looking at Fed jobs, these seem to ask for certs right up front, so I looked at the SSCP to get myself cleared through DoD IAT I and II.

Resources:
1) SSCP Systems Security Certified Practitioner All-in-One Exam Guide by Darril Gibson
*Includes 2 tests: (One on the CD and one that can be downloaded from a link via the CD)

2) CBT Nuggets SSCP Videos

3) Trainsignal SSCP Videos

The Test itself:
I thought that the test was fairly hard in that there were many questions that I had to logically guess for the answer. Even if the test was open book or candidates could reference notes, it wouldn't have helped. This is where actual work experience comes in...you tend to just try to cancel out the wrong answers and take a guess at the "best" remaining options. The practice quizzes in the AIO book were super easy, so one can't be expecting questions like this on the real test. The 2 practice tests were helpful, but the real test was much more difficult. They pretty much take a simple concept that is covered in the AIO book, but then make the answers as intricate as possible to make it harder. Additionally there were many questions that were totally not covered in the AIO book so you'll either know the answer from experience, guess well, or miss it.

Advice:
The 2 video sets I watched didn't help much. I would only recommend watching them if you have no experience in the subject matter at all. If you do, the material will be repetitive and isn't really worth your while. The Trainsignal videos were good in that it describes "how you're supposed to work in IT security", but the information wasn't too helpful for the goal of passing the test itself. More time should be invested towards reading.

My advice would be to read the book (front to back), read it a second time (taking down notes), go over notes and make sure you know and understand all of the information on it, read the book a third time, then take the test. Before the test go over notes, but heavy memorization did not help. It was totally a concept test in that you understand what's going on or you don't.

I'm sure that if I go for the CISSP in the future, what I'll do is have multiple sources (books) and read them all. Practice tests help a bit, but the main goal is to learn the same ideas from different sources so that you'll understand things better and from different angles. Hope this information helps.

H3||scr3am

Congratulations on passing your SSCP! Best of luck in your career transition, and perhaps your CISSP in the future