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So glad that's over - Passed Yesterday
Here is my obligatory post regarding the test.
Background
I have worked in IT now almost 19 years and I'm not 40 yet. The past 8 years have been Security based (this helped a lot). Before that it was standard System Admin stuff. Five years ago I took the test after a bootcamp and only 3 years of security. I scored a 572.
Current
Since then I've wanted to take the test again but haven't had the drive to push it. Some recent changes in my work environment prodded me to try again. So on January 24th I started reviewing again. My goal was to review one domain a week, and then use the last week as a full review of all domains. IE: Domain 1 - Week 1. Domain 2&1 - Week 2. Domain 3&2&1 - Week 3. You get the point. However, after week 7 I was at a point where I knew I could go ahead and finish Domain 8-10 within a week (Physical/Law/BC&DRP). That would provide me 4 weeks of full review. Glad I went this route.
Study Material
For me personally, I'm not a person who can sit down and read, then read some more, and well... read again. I will fall asleep. I relied on Video and Audio mostly. Don't get me wrong. I read most of Eric Conrads book and his 11th hour I read the last two days before the test. Regardless here is what I used:
Shon Harris Audio (and the quizzes)
CBTNuggets
Cybrary.it - Great stuff IMO. I went through all the videos on the last week before the exam.
Eric Conrads 11th Hour and Study Guide
Shon Harris AIO - only the questions. Never read that book... couldn't. Which is funny because I have 4 copies of it (different versions) that I have accumulated over the years via funding in the sector I work for.
Transcender Questions
CCCUre Questions
Eric Conrad Practice Exams
Total Tester
My Personal Tips
- a healthy meal is good. And by healthy I mean good carbs and fruits/vitamins.
- Don't panic. Out of the first 20 questions, I flagged 15. Stay the course and pace yourself... which leads to my next tip
- Take a break(s). At almost two hours in I took a break. My brain needed a reset. Make sure you have another healthy, good carb snack to refuel with.
- I took a second break when I was done initially. All the questions I wanted to review I wanted to review after a 5 minute break. I flagged a good 30+ questions. I changed probably half of them and finished the exam with 1 minute to go before the 6 hour mark.
- Read the questions SLOWLY. One word can make it, or break it.
- There will be "fluff" information within questions. Identify it and ignore it.
- Try your absolute best to eliminate 2 of the 4 answers. I found this happening to me often. I knew two answers were just out in left field and had no right being listed. The other two answers would make me read the question again and look at the wording.
Good luck.
Background
I have worked in IT now almost 19 years and I'm not 40 yet. The past 8 years have been Security based (this helped a lot). Before that it was standard System Admin stuff. Five years ago I took the test after a bootcamp and only 3 years of security. I scored a 572.
Current
Since then I've wanted to take the test again but haven't had the drive to push it. Some recent changes in my work environment prodded me to try again. So on January 24th I started reviewing again. My goal was to review one domain a week, and then use the last week as a full review of all domains. IE: Domain 1 - Week 1. Domain 2&1 - Week 2. Domain 3&2&1 - Week 3. You get the point. However, after week 7 I was at a point where I knew I could go ahead and finish Domain 8-10 within a week (Physical/Law/BC&DRP). That would provide me 4 weeks of full review. Glad I went this route.
Study Material
For me personally, I'm not a person who can sit down and read, then read some more, and well... read again. I will fall asleep. I relied on Video and Audio mostly. Don't get me wrong. I read most of Eric Conrads book and his 11th hour I read the last two days before the test. Regardless here is what I used:
Shon Harris Audio (and the quizzes)
CBTNuggets
Cybrary.it - Great stuff IMO. I went through all the videos on the last week before the exam.
Eric Conrads 11th Hour and Study Guide
Shon Harris AIO - only the questions. Never read that book... couldn't. Which is funny because I have 4 copies of it (different versions) that I have accumulated over the years via funding in the sector I work for.
Transcender Questions
CCCUre Questions
Eric Conrad Practice Exams
Total Tester
My Personal Tips
- a healthy meal is good. And by healthy I mean good carbs and fruits/vitamins.
- Don't panic. Out of the first 20 questions, I flagged 15. Stay the course and pace yourself... which leads to my next tip
- Take a break(s). At almost two hours in I took a break. My brain needed a reset. Make sure you have another healthy, good carb snack to refuel with.
- I took a second break when I was done initially. All the questions I wanted to review I wanted to review after a 5 minute break. I flagged a good 30+ questions. I changed probably half of them and finished the exam with 1 minute to go before the 6 hour mark.
- Read the questions SLOWLY. One word can make it, or break it.
- There will be "fluff" information within questions. Identify it and ignore it.
- Try your absolute best to eliminate 2 of the 4 answers. I found this happening to me often. I knew two answers were just out in left field and had no right being listed. The other two answers would make me read the question again and look at the wording.
Good luck.
Comments
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papadoc
Member Posts: 154
Congrats! Good advice on the break. Take it. You have plenty of time for this exam. If one has performed the correct "marathon" training before the exam, you should be able to get through the first leg, of answering all of the questions and performing a first pass in about 3 hours, 30 minutes. Time may vary depending on your work experience in the domains and studying. I highly advise all test takers to take a break at question 100. I felt very comfortable with continuing to plod ahead, but the break really helps to clarify things. -
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JohnnyBiggles
Member Posts: 273
Congrats! I took several breaks too.... every 50 questions I stopped and closed my eyes for a minute or two, and after the first 150 I took an extended break. I was so worn by then that I had to stop for a full break again around 200. Thought I'd make it but my eyes couldn't and I was hungry and only had water to drink. Had to go hydrate. Made it through though but it was tough! Congrats again... very satisfying, isn't it?! -
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the_Grinch
Member Posts: 4,165 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congrats! I agree about the break. I took one when I hit question 201 and when I came back I was thought man I should have done that earlier.WIP:
PHP
Kotlin
Intro to Discrete Math
Programming Languages
Work stuff -
Optionssuccessrealm
Member Posts: 104 ■■□□□□□□□□
Congrats on the pass! Looks like Cybrary is starting to show up quite a bit for this. I'm incorporating it into my schedule also, as of today.
When I sit for it in June, I'm definitely planning to give my brain a "closed-eye/relax" break at 50 mark(s), then a "get up bathroom/water/snack" break at 100 mark(s).
At least that's the plan, for now. Again, good job! Now relax....
