SYO-401 Disapointed

Welp, I just took my SYO-401 test again.......Fail! The first time I took it, I made a 722. So I went back and studied for another month. I took it again today, felt pretty confident, and made ~550. Livid! How the hell do you almost pass a test, study for another month, then fail it by WAY worse than you did before. This test is a scam. Nevertheless, my job requires it for some reason. So they can still keep taking my money until I get fired.

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braaaaaap

And I misspelled disappointed. Awesome!!!!!

Ertaz

What resources are you using? Darril Gibson's book and practice exams are your friend.

cyberguypr

Also curious on the resources used, your background, etc. I understand you are upset but calling the test a scam is just unfair.

636-555-3226

Ditto Gibson's book. That's all I used to pass back in the day. What areas are you struggling with the most?

braaaaaap

I read Comptia's SYO-401 second edition twice. I read Darril Gibson's book and took those practice exams. All of which was great stuff. I learned quite a bit. I have only been in the field for about a year, but figured I knew enough to pass this exam. Especially after studying that hard and talking with some of the people that have passed the exam. I've talked to people that just read the bullet points in the comptia book and passed. I've also talked to experts who failed and barely passed.

It is fair to call it a scam. They have somehow made it a requirement for thousands of peoples jobs, charge over $300 per exam, then make some of the questions really quirky to try to trick you into thinking it's something else, make some "best answer" questions more than one best answer, fail 1/4 or more of the people the first time, and make another $300 for a retake. Then, for further studies, they give you a generic area of the questions you missed.

636-555-3226

CompTIA didn't make it a requirement for anybody. If your boss decides you should have it, that's his problem. If the US Govt decides you should have it, write your local congressman

Believe it or not, $300 per exam is still a "cheap" rate for InfoSec certs. ISACA's going to run you $500+, GIAC's going to be $1000+ ($5.5k with training). Not sure what ISC2 is up to at this point...

Of course the questions are tricky. If you want a flat-out fact-based only question go take a Microsoft cert. "Thinking" tests don't judge your ability to regurgitate facts, they test your ability to take those facts and apply them.

Best answer questions suck, yes, but life isn't clear cut. As with most things in life, you get multiple options in real life, many of which are correct to varying degrees, but one of those paths will always be the best out of many.

They can't tell you the specific question you missed as well as the specific answer because then you could just go share it with your friends or sell it online. Sure, maybe you yourself won't do that, but believe me when I say there are dozens of other people who willingly would.

I know failing sucks, but look at it as a path forward with something to build on. You know how the questions are phrased and what kind of thinking-skills they're trying to test. In your future studies look at the materials through that lens.

IvyVlad

Sorry for the upsetting news :[

3rd time is a charm right! Don't give up & keep strong!
Rooting for you, You got this

Ertaz

braaaaaap wrote: »

I read Comptia's SYO-401 second edition twice. I read Darril Gibson's book and took those practice exams. All of which was great stuff. I learned quite a bit. I have only been in the field for about a year, but figured I knew enough to pass this exam. Especially after studying that hard and talking with some of the people that have passed the exam. I've talked to people that just read the bullet points in the comptia book and passed. I've also talked to experts who failed and barely passed.

It is fair to call it a scam. They have somehow made it a requirement for thousands of peoples jobs, charge over $300 per exam, then make some of the questions really quirky to try to trick you into thinking it's something else, make some "best answer" questions more than one best answer, fail 1/4 or more of the people the first time, and make another $300 for a retake. Then, for further studies, they give you a generic area of the questions you missed.

Bro, I get the frustration. Sec+ isn't easy unless you've been doing this a while. It is very nuanced for what the industry considers an entry level cert. How were you scoring on your practice exams?

You aren't dumb and they aren't evil scammers. In fact I respect the fact that you are going after this the right way, avoiding **** and buckling down on the material.

alfred06

it maybe the time got you?. I suggest you purchase the voucher with FREE retake. that way you'll be confident walking in the exam. good luck.

Also like people said. Darril Gibsons book is awesome and try CBT Nuggets they have 7day trial should be more than enough to watch all Sec+ videos.

blueteamtech

Agreed, Professor Messer has great content.

AndersonSmith

I understand the frustration, but it really is unfair to call it a scam just because you didn't pass. Look at how many jobs require certification and re-certification/continuing education in those industries. Think about everything from EMTs to cosmetologists to accountants, etc. The IT industry is no different. The reason these exams add value to your resume and to your worth is because there is some difficulty to them and not just anyone could go into the exam room and pass a test. Plus, it's graded by their system so an instructor couldn't pass you based on bias or just by saying "Well I see where he was going with this" or something similar. Take your time and continue to study. Good luck!

danny069

I took the SY0-301 but if the SY0-401 is anything like that, which it seems it is, you really have to know your stuff to pass. By taking it a second time, you may see a lot of new questions and even some you had the first time, do you plan to take it a third time? If you had passed, would you have still called it a scam? I know the first time I took the first A+ exam I didn't really know much about computers just what I was studying in the training program, I failed the first time and passed on the second. Sure I felt defeated the first time, but if you want to succeed don't give up or make any excuses. It is a test of your fortitude.

Remington1872

It took me three attempts to pass this test. Maybe you had an off day when you went the second time? I know I had to expand what I was studying after the first fail, was using Mike Myers book, and there was one question that the answer was not even in the book I was studying.

The questions for me, especially on the third attempt, were hard and really pushed me. I wold say the resources already suggested would be the way to go. You have to keep trying though do not give up.

scaredoftests

I flunked the first time (600) and then used Darril Gibson's resources. I passed the next time with a 800.

bigdogz

To OP:

What are your weak domains?
As you know you did not receive the same exam and the questions are weighed different for each exam.

crplhood

Click the blog link in my signature, go to the study aids on the latest post, enjoy.

adrenaline19

I understand where you are coming from. When I took the Net+ exam, it had plenty of questions on it that weren't in the study guidelines. I'm lucky I had studied the A+ objectives too. My advice is, study up on Net+ material as well as Sec+ questions.

Jlhines1982

Best advice I can give, understand the material. I've seen so many people rely on practice test memorization, brain ****, etc.. They never seem to do well. If you come across a topic and you don't feel like you could discuss that topic on a basic level with an expert, you probably need to put more study into that topic.

I was sent to bootcamp for work, 4 days of instructor/self study, take test Friday morning. 852.

It's really not a difficult test.......if you know the material. The problem is it's a lot of material. Don't get caught up on certain things, know your ports sure, but don't put all your focus on ports. Try and get a broad and strong understanding of all of the topics covered.

nisti2

Wowww Great notice!!

Congrats!!!

shochan

I studied for 9 months - I wanted to make sure I passed this baby! it was too expensive to just go in there & fail it the first time! Buy the Professor Messer notes for $10, totally worth it. I also used the CertMaster practice questions, which I thought helped me remember the massive amount of content. I purchased the CompTIA bundle, which was the exam voucher, a retake voucher, and the certmaster questions approx. $375. Keep at it, but study till you are sick of studying it, because whenever you do KNOW the material the test questions will come easy.

Elegyx

Jlhines1982 wrote: »

Best advice I can give, understand the material. I've seen so many people rely on practice test memorization, brain ****, etc.. They never seem to do well. If you come across a topic and you don't feel like you could discuss that topic on a basic level with an expert, you probably need to put more study into that topic.

I was sent to bootcamp for work, 4 days of instructor/self study, take test Friday morning. 852.

It's really not a difficult test.......if you know the material. The problem is it's a lot of material. Don't get caught up on certain things, know your ports sure, but don't put all your focus on ports. Try and get a broad and strong understanding of all of the topics covered.

This so much. I was relying on practice test questions/answers the first time I took Net+ and failed. Actually studied and understood the material (even if it's not on an expert level) and passed with a 799. KNOW the material you're studying. Don't just take practice tests and remember answers to questions.

Goteki54

braaaaaap wrote: »

I read Comptia's SYO-401 second edition twice. I read Darril Gibson's book and took those practice exams. All of which was great stuff. I learned quite a bit. I have only been in the field for about a year, but figured I knew enough to pass this exam. Especially after studying that hard and talking with some of the people that have passed the exam. I've talked to people that just read the bullet points in the comptia book and passed. I've also talked to experts who failed and barely passed.

It is fair to call it a scam. They have somehow made it a requirement for thousands of peoples jobs, charge over $300 per exam, then make some of the questions really quirky to try to trick you into thinking it's something else, make some "best answer" questions more than one best answer, fail 1/4 or more of the people the first time, and make another $300 for a retake. Then, for further studies, they give you a generic area of the questions you missed.

It's far from a scam. If you employer requires you to have that certification, then that is an employment requirement not a CompTia requirement. The problem isn't with the cert, the problem is that for some reason you are having a problem passing the Sec+ exam to get that cert. So with that said, did you go over the sy0 401 objectives and made sure you understand each objective? I used Daryl Gibsion's book along with Professor Messer's video. Besides the performance based question, the multiple choice questions are written in a scenario format which throws off some people, because they are expecting the questions to be worded like on practice tests. Just take your time and read through the questions carefully and don't put pressure on yourself.

DatabaseHead

Can you take another security exam in the place of Security +? Might be worth considering if you job is on the line.

rogelio31

CompTIA CertMaster is a powerful training tool if you like repetitive reinforcement. What I found perhaps most useful was a better sense of the syntax or context of the exam questions. CertMaster is NOT a test simulator or exam, it is clearly a study or review help material. SY0-401 VCE As a broad brush through the content, I found the tool useful. My main objection to CertMaster is the lack of preparation for the simulation and scenario questions.

Aldway007

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adrenaline19

Can we please get a mod to ban the **** spammer?

scaredoftests

I agree with #adrenaline19. No forum for you!

ITSpectre

LOL take the OSCP CASP CISSP or any higher certification.... its NOT a scam. its the beginning route to infosec. Most jobs require it and many should.
What resources did you use?
When I took my sec+ I used darril gibsons book and professor messer

LordQarlyn

I've heard before that IT certifications are a racket lol, I don't believe that, especially when it comes to higher level certifications, some which involve degrees of vetting and verifications. Sure they cost money, it's an investment in yourself. Companies and hiring managers do look for certs, and having the right certs will open doors.

If you failed an exam twice, look into your study approach. Myself, my ADHD makes it challenging to focus on reading books and I don't retain as much by that method anyway. My best approach is taking practice exams, when I get a question wrong writing out the question, the correct answer, and if present, the explanation. This engages me in the course material and I retain more. Try other approaches, and most importantly, don't give up.

mgeoffriau

necro thread bumped by a spammer