GSEC Advice - Failed Exam

SecurityTechGirl

Hello all,

I just recently took my GSEC and got a failing grade of 70%. I am planning on retaking the exam within the 60 day waiting period and continuing my study habits. I didn't know if any of you had some advice that I could take in hopes of passing my retake exam that I am going to schedule.

I studied by heavily indexing the books, highlighting important information, and listening to all of the audio (while exercising and doing routine housework). I found that if I listen to the audio and take notes while listening I absorb the information better so I am going to go through all of the audio again and try to do that for each segment.

I am hoping to buy another practice test in order to test my ability on the exam. I was passing the exam up until the last 15 questions and I panicked and that is what hurt me I believe.

I know my weak spots as well so I am going to study harder on those sections in the books.

Anyone have any advice for someone very raw to the field and hoping to get this cert under her belt?

JoJoCal19

Are you sure that you are absorbing the information through listening? If you did that once and you didn't pass, I would recommend focusing on reading through the book, not just the slides but all of the text underneath. Not taking notes again either. But just reading through the text and and thinking about what you just read, trying to visualize the concepts it talks about. I passed with an 88 and that was with getting absolutely killed in the Linux questions. I decided to skip the audio files completely and focus on reading.

j.petrov

What were your scores on the practice exams?

The GSEC is pretty tough due to the sheer volume of information covered and the technical details asked on the test. In addition to the indexing I also did tabs in the books specifically for topics so if something was not in my index I could quickly find it via the tabs. I ended up scoring a 93% on the final, with about an month and change of studying after completing the class. Study your weak areas and give it another go.

TechGromit

SecurityTechGirl wrote: »

I just recently took my GSEC and got a failing grade of 70%.

What were your practice test scores like? They are good aids to see where you stand in how prepared you are the the test. Unfortunately when you retake the test they do not provide you with anymore practice exams, but I found that Security+ practice tests are of some value, since they cover a lot of the same material, just at a higher level.

Robicus

How much time did you have remaining? If you are good about time management, then there's no reason why you can't look up the answer in the respective book.

Also, did you ever take a scheduled break? Sometimes getting up, stretching, and taking a deep breath goes a long way. You were super close. I'm sure you'll pass it next time!

wolf9081

SANS is offering a no cost training opportunity for women trying to get into Cyber Security.
Here is the link. https://www.sans.org/cybertalent/immersion-academy/programs#womens-academy

TechGromit

wolf9081 wrote: »

SANS is offering a no cost training opportunity for women trying to get into Cyber Security.
Here is the link. https://www.sans.org/cybertalent/immersion-academy/programs#womens-academy

That's not what the link says, it says if you pay "Full Tuition payment", you will be offered a job. San's courses run over $5,000 each, your looking at a 12k to 15k investment. It's not free.

SecurityTechGirl wrote: »

... listening to all of the audio (while exercising and doing routine housework).

I listened to the audio tapes too, but I found if I did someone else I would tend to tune out what he was saying, it just became background noise. I found I was able to focus more on what he was saying by following along in the books. He gives a lot of good advice that's not in the books. Some of his ideas for securing companies systems are very good.

twodogs62

Be sure and read every detail in books. That is where test questions come from.
highlight, underline new words or items that would look like test questions. Make tabs, indexes.
know 3 books really good. Meaning you won't have to look up or if you do need to lookup, you know exactly where in book material is there.
Other 3 books have good indexes on.
don't rush test but also watch clock.
Take break they give you. You were close so keep studying.
try to get another practice test if possible.
study material you felt weak at.

i understand what you mean on lectures. They are good and help push you thru the mass amount if material.

wolf9081

TechGromit wrote: »

That's not what the link says, it says if you pay "Full Tuition payment", you will be offered a job. San's courses run over $5,000 each, your looking at a 12k to 15k investment. It's not free.


TechGromit: I am in the Veterans Academy now and it is no cost. The link is correct and states "In return for full tuition payment, Academy participants offered employment by sponsors agree to an anticipated minimum of two years."

The Full Tuition Payment is paid for by the sponsoring company, your cost is nothing but time and the commitment to work for the sponsoring company for two years.

brchap

Actively reading (or listening) is a much better approach.

This is a technique I learned about just before my junior year of high school, and I literally doubled my GPA. When you read something (or listen to something) stop and think about about how the information could be reworded into a test question or made into a flashcard. Then, do it. Write down the question... or create the flashcard. Then, go over your questions and flashcards on a regular basis.

Slowing down and fully processing the information can make a big difference for some people. I know it's A LOT of information to cover, but if you really want to have a solid foundation in Infosec, it might be a worthwhile sacrifice.