Just finished 4 certs in 4 months
sammen89
Member Posts: 11 ■□□□□□□□□□
As a personal challenge of mine, I wanted to finish the year strong with "4 certs in 4 months" (September to December) and did it!
1. CHFI (Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator) - added credibility to my work transition into routine host analysis/forensics
2. GICSP (Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional) - work in a sector where this is valuable
3. CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) - just finished a Vulnerability Analysis master's course, so wanted this to finish it off.
4. CIW Web Security Associate - ran out of money
, so took a stab at this and enjoyed it, although no marketable value
Watched tons of videos (Cybrary, ITPro.TV, YouTube) and read all the books cover-to-cover (minus the CIW exam) to get trained up.
These certifications have already helped me get an edge on fellow employees that might have looked similar until now.
1. CHFI (Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator) - added credibility to my work transition into routine host analysis/forensics
2. GICSP (Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional) - work in a sector where this is valuable
3. CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) - just finished a Vulnerability Analysis master's course, so wanted this to finish it off.
4. CIW Web Security Associate - ran out of money
, so took a stab at this and enjoyed it, although no marketable valueWatched tons of videos (Cybrary, ITPro.TV, YouTube) and read all the books cover-to-cover (minus the CIW exam) to get trained up.
These certifications have already helped me get an edge on fellow employees that might have looked similar until now.
Comments
How long did you study a day? What is your typical study session like?
Congrats!! Well done
*Bachelor's of Science: Information Technology - Security, Master's of Science: Information Technology - Management
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Er?
To be fair to the OP, I passed the CHFI and CEH each with a month of study. The books were REALLY small and they are pretty much entry level certs. I never took the specific CIW cert he took but I took a few in college as part of WGU and they never took more than a month to study. The ones I took I felt are pre-entry level. Can't speak to the GICSP though. I have zero experience with that cert.
I think it's doable for at least 3 out of the 4 certs he named. Plus I have no idea what his experience level is or even without it, if he's just sitting at home studying full time. In my personal experience, I was always able to knock out entry level certs within 1-2 months of beginning my studies. I slowed down with the professional and expert level certs though. CCNP #1 took me a year. CCNP #2 took me about 9 months if memory serves me correctly.
Blog: www.network-node.com
Stop acting like a douche. Just because you don't think you can do 4 certs in 4 months, doesn't mean he used **** to pass. Then after everyone ignores your post and you post a second time to remind people of your first post just blows my mind.
I would like to be more confident and finish my CCNP R/S with an average of 2 months for each module. Let's see how it goes
Kind Regards.
2015 Start WGU (Feb) Net+ (Feb) Sec+ (Mar) Project+ (Apr) Other WGU (Jun) CCENT (Jul) CCNA (Aug) CCNA Security (Aug) MCP 2012 (Sep) MCSA 2012 (Oct) Linux+ (Nov) Capstone/BS (Nov) VCP6-DCV (Dec) ITILF (Dec)
Not meaning to be negative in any way, but i'll be 100% honest with my thoughts. How much have you actually taken from it? There's a part of me that wonders how much you've actually learned. For me, when I pass an exam/cert, I like to have got as much as possible from it. If I was to get 4 certs in 4 months, i'd probably gain very little knowledge overall, because i'd only be concerned with getting answers correct to pass, rather than understand the underlying concepts.
I feel like it depends on the persons experience. I took A+ (both exams), Network+, BCNE, CCENT, and CCNA all within a month. I lucked out and got some expiring vouchers for free. The only exams I really even studied for were my A+ exams. All of the networking certifications fell in line with work. Albeit they are kind of entry level exams. I had been doing networking for 2 years prior to taking them. Watching CBT Nuggets almost everyday for 2 years lol. White board discussions in the office every week. I think there are different circumstances that OP may not have disclosed, particularly experience.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbrumley
Goals for 2020: OSCP [] eCPPT[] eNDP[]
So if you have the experience, passing exams quickly shouldn't be a problem. I passed the 2003 MCSE exams in 2 months and I frequently take 2 exams in a day. The best I have ever done is pass 3 Microsoft exams in a week. They were beta exams, so no concerns about braindumping.
"I PLAN to fail!" - No One Ever
I believe the Network+, Security+, SSCP, and Computer Science background set me up with good fundamentals to be successful in this goal. Additionally, I've learned that 90 mins a day of uber focused studying (no distractions) is better than 4 hours of highly distracted on/off studying.
Now back to focusing on my Masters in CompSci (GT).