Thought I had failed...

cbdcbd Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
in Security+
My confidence was pretty high these past few days. Today, I went in the test room feeling good about taking this exam. Just as others have mentioned, I was quickly knocked off my 'high', due to the complexity of a lot of these questions. I had not gone through 10 questions before already assuming I was going to fail. I needed about 15 more minutes, at least, to complete this exam comfortably. I spent a lot of time analyzing the questions. I had skipped the sims so I could do those last, but had to rush through them and had about 3 seconds before finally making my last 'tic'. I went through 7 sims in less than 10 minutes. My heart was beating incredibly fast. I just knew I had failed.
I zoomed through the survey simply clicking on anything just to get done with this hell. I'll be damned...it showed 'pass'. I got a 781. I placed my hands on my head in disbelief.
Although I was feeling good about this exam earlier in the week, I still had a lot of anxiety leading up to today. My last cert was for Network+ in 2007 and I don't remember feeling half this nervous. AND I had a free retake as backup for the SY0-401. Very glad it's done with. I'm definitely going to maintain CEUs to prevent taking this again.
  • 4 months of studying - I realized my study habits were very unorganized for the 1st 3 months and I would not retain knowledge for more than a few days. At the beginning of August, I went through Darril's book one page at a time, using One Note for note-keeping, which was a great help. I used a little bit of Messer's stuff and come CBT Nuggets as well.
  • I don't have any Sec experience. I've been in Desktop Support for 12 years with only A+ and Network+ (2006-2007)
  • LONG questions with lots to analyze to ensure you find the key words to answer the question precisely.
  • Several BIA scenarios and Risk-related questions. Just a few on PKI I feel it touched a bit on everything, overall.
No idea what I'm going for next. My company is moving out of the area next spring, so I'm building up my resume. I feel like I can go in any direction at this point. I know I'm done with Desktop though. I do get paid well for my title, which is why I stayed for so long. I will probably have to take a pay cut for my next role and start from the bottom. I have no sever experience.
But thanks for reading. Study your butts off! I salute the folks that breeze through this exam!
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Comments

  • CertifiedMonkeyCertifiedMonkey Member Posts: 172 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congrats! Having to take the survey before you can see your results is torture. icon_lol.gif
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  • cbdcbd Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
    CertifiedMonkey wrote: »
    Congrats! Having to take the survey before you can see your results is torture. icon_lol.gif

    Thanks bud. Very true. :)
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  • thomas_thomas_ Member Posts: 1,012 ■■■■■■■■□□
    I always answer a question, even if I decide to skip it and come back to it, in case I don't have time to come back to it. I took an exam where I didn't leave an answer and almost didn't have time to return to it.

    On the long questions I usually skip to the last sentence to find out what they are asking and then go back and read the rest of the question. This makes it easier to figure out what details are important and what details are not.
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  • cbdcbd Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
    thomas_ wrote: »
    I always answer a question, even if I decide to skip it and come back to it, in case I don't have time to come back to it. I took an exam where I didn't leave an answer and almost didn't have time to return to it.

    On the long questions I usually skip to the last sentence to find out what they are asking and then go back and read the rest of the question. This makes it easier to figure out what details are important and what details are not.


    Those are great tips and I should done just that.
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  • nisti2nisti2 Member Posts: 503 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats on your pass!!!

    We are on the same boat, my last exam was like 2007 with Server+, and my last year was not working in IT area, so I had to review everything, I'm planning to take the exam on the coming days.

    Thanks you for sharing your history!!
    2020 Year goals:
    Already passed: Oracle Cloud, AZ-900
    Taking AZ-104 in December.

    "Certs... is all about IT certs!"
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  • cbdcbd Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
    nisti2 wrote: »
    Congrats on your pass!!!

    We are on the same boat, my last exam was like 2007 with Server+, and my last year was not working in IT area, so I had to review everything, I'm planning to take the exam on the coming days.

    Thanks you for sharing your history!!

    Thank you, and good luck to you!
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  • BerkshireHerdBerkshireHerd Member Posts: 185
    CertifiedMonkey wrote: »
    Congrats! Having to take the survey before you can see your results is torture. icon_lol.gif

    Amen to that
    Identity & Access Manager // B.A - Marshall University 2005
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  • scaredoftestsscaredoftests Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
    I think it is torture as well having to take a survey before you find out if you passed a cert test.
    Never let your fear decide your fate....
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