Military/DoD: Skillport a legit study tool or nay?

thaiguy314

Hi everyone,
pretty new to the forum but I love it already. It's a wealth of information. Great place to pick brains and everyone (at least 99% of everyone here) is super friendly and always willing to share their hard-earned knowledge. Always wondered and figured this would be a good place to get a baseline: For anyone military/contractor/govt who has to do skillport to get a voucher to take cert tests, how would rate it as a study tool? If I couldn't get access to books or training courses, do you guys think it'll give you a legitimate shot at passing certs like Sec+, Net+, CASP?

I only have my Security+ and I was able to pass that through Skillport and an Army course. I'm going to go for my Net+ next which I'm not worried about since a good amount overlaps with Sec+ but out of curiosity, was wondering for higher level certs like CASP, CCNA or CISSP do you think this alone could give you a decent shot at passing?

Phileeeeeeep651

I've used it to supplement some of my studies doing ICND1 and 2. Thought the practice exams helped as an extra resource. I'm not sure about using it as a primary resource though, I've found some of the courses to be lacking.

devilbones

I used it to pass my CISSP.

spicy ahi

I've used it to supplement my studies, particularly when I couldn't access my primary resources (CBT Nuggets, Safari Books, etc.) I've never found any of the material to be of any use as a stand alone resource, so I'm amazed you could pass Sec+ with it. Kudos! With that said, I don't think anything beyond the CompTIA triad will be sufficiently covered by Skillport. You're better off getting access to Safari Books Online through the DoD libraries. They have a ton of books and even a few videos. I used the Cisco Official Certification Guides there in the past to earn my CCNA and CCNA Security as well as my CISSP. It's also my go-to resource as I start my Linux journey.

advanex1

No, you're not going to pass certifications with it as your only point of study unless you already have plenty of prior experience. There's a reason why no one takes it seriously.

mistabrumley89

I hated the requirement of Skillports to get a voucher. They are very boring. I don't really like them and will always recommend another source to study from.

As far as being able to pass an entry to mid level exam... Possibly...

thaiguy314

Phileeeeeeep651 wrote: »

I've used it to supplement some of my studies doing ICND1 and 2. Thought the practice exams helped as an extra resource. I'm not sure about using it as a primary resource though, I've found some of the courses to be lacking.

Yeah, I've only gotten my Sec+ but finally got a new job that's more conducive to providing an environment that'll help me study for certs but all I've ever done is skillport courses and Army cert boot camps. Was wondering if just skillport was feasible.

devilbones wrote: »

I used it to pass my CISSP.

Oh wow. Did you use anything else?

thaiguy314

Thanks for the input everyone. I guess I won't even bother trying to learn from it and go back to just flying through the test to get the voucher then worry about learning from the study materials you guys have been recommending

spicy ahi wrote: »

so I'm amazed you could pass Sec+ with it. Kudos! .

haha trust me, I think it was more the two-week Army Sec+ boot camp that helped me pass than skillport itself though it does help get basic information across... in the most insanely dull way possible, haha.

mistabrumley89 wrote: »

I hated the requirement of Skillports to get a voucher. They are very boring.

I do too. They are insanely boring and right now there's a backlog in vouchers. The turn around time used to be 10 business days to get your voucher but now I'm going on 3 weeks since I submitted my net+ stuff and haven't even gotten back so much as an email. I'm just hoping to retain a fraction of the stuff I studied by the time I get my voucher.

bpenn

I loved using the Air Force E-Learning portal to get free access to text books. If anyone is AF I highly recommend doing that.

JockVSJock

Skillport is ok. Its a bit outdated for Linux as my manager had me do all of the Linux training which covered stuff like Token Ring, PPP, XFree86. Stuff in my mind that is pretty outdated.

thaiguy314

bpenn wrote: »

I loved using the Air Force E-Learning portal to get free access to text books. If anyone is AF I highly recommend doing that.

I'm an AF contractor so I have access to the AF e-learning. I'll look into it.

JockVSJock wrote: »

Skillport is ok. Its a bit outdated for Linux as my manager had me do all of the Linux training which covered stuff like Token Ring, PPP, XFree86. Stuff in my mind that is pretty outdated.

I haven't used for anything outside of CompTIA certs and CEH. I think the only thing they keep track of on there is what's on DOD 8570 otherwise I think you're right, everything just falls to the wayside.

alan2308

advanex1 wrote: »

No, you're not going to pass certifications with it as your only point of study unless you already have plenty of prior experience. There's a reason why no one takes it seriously.

You can say the same about any video series. But you should never rely on any one source of material.

advanex1

alan2308 wrote: »

You can say the same about any video series. But you should never rely on any one source of material.

Sure, but it's especially true when it comes to skillport.

DDStime

bpenn wrote: »

I loved using the Air Force E-Learning portal to get free access to text books. If anyone is AF I highly recommend doing that.

This, also fedvte is a great site