Pass gcia 92%
I just completed the 3 hour 50 minute grind that is the GCIA exam. I must admit I am pretty excited. I finally feel like I belong in the security world now.
I took SEC503 in August at SANS Virginia Beach and then got married the next week and went on my honeymoon, so I needed some extra time to prepare.
I began by re-reading all the material, slowly, making sure I really understood what was being conveyed. It's super easy to just glaze over and miss important information. This worked well for me because I am the kind of individual that learns well from reading. Judy Novak does a good job of presenting information so it isn't too dry.
I then began creating my index in Excel with the Topic, Brief Description, Page # format and did each book like that. Reading through the books slowly also helped me remember where information was.
I did find this site https://malwarejake.blogspot.com/2015/05/packet-analysis-practice-part-1.html that really helped me practice decoding hex packets and interpreting the information. I think this is one of the most valuable things I did while studying.
I took one practice test with my index a week before the Exam and then re-studied my weak areas and added to my index. I scored and 83% on this practice test.
The testing experience was very good, I really like the testing center I use they are very professional and always have materials and space for me to work.
After the first 30 questions my score indicator read 100% and I thought is was broken. After 45 questions i finally missed one and it went to 97%. It was very hard not to lose focus knowing I was doing so well.
I took one 4min break half-way through to pee and get some water. I didn't want to loose my roll from too long a break.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the professionals on here for providing their resources and suggestions for this exam. It was most valuable. Please feel free to ask for any suggestions if you are taking this exam. I would be glad to help as others have helped me.
I took SEC503 in August at SANS Virginia Beach and then got married the next week and went on my honeymoon, so I needed some extra time to prepare.
I began by re-reading all the material, slowly, making sure I really understood what was being conveyed. It's super easy to just glaze over and miss important information. This worked well for me because I am the kind of individual that learns well from reading. Judy Novak does a good job of presenting information so it isn't too dry.
I then began creating my index in Excel with the Topic, Brief Description, Page # format and did each book like that. Reading through the books slowly also helped me remember where information was.
I did find this site https://malwarejake.blogspot.com/2015/05/packet-analysis-practice-part-1.html that really helped me practice decoding hex packets and interpreting the information. I think this is one of the most valuable things I did while studying.
I took one practice test with my index a week before the Exam and then re-studied my weak areas and added to my index. I scored and 83% on this practice test.
The testing experience was very good, I really like the testing center I use they are very professional and always have materials and space for me to work.
After the first 30 questions my score indicator read 100% and I thought is was broken. After 45 questions i finally missed one and it went to 97%. It was very hard not to lose focus knowing I was doing so well.
I took one 4min break half-way through to pee and get some water. I didn't want to loose my roll from too long a break.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the professionals on here for providing their resources and suggestions for this exam. It was most valuable. Please feel free to ask for any suggestions if you are taking this exam. I would be glad to help as others have helped me.
Comments
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the_Grinch
Member Posts: 4,165 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congrats! I see a lot of companies asking for this certification so I think you are setting yourself up well.WIP:
PHP
Kotlin
Intro to Discrete Math
Programming Languages
Work stuff -
JoJoCal19
Mod Posts: 2,835 Mod
Congrats and amazing score! Put me to shame hehe. I got by with like 3 points to spare.Have: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, eJPT, GCIA, GSEC, CCSP, CCSK, AWS CSAA, AWS CCP, OCI Foundations Associate, ITIL-F, MS Cyber Security - USF, BSBA - UF, MSISA - WGU
Currently Working On: Python, OSCP Prep
Next Up: OSCP
Studying: Code Academy (Python), Bash Scripting, Virtual Hacking Lab Coursework -
jamesleecoleman
Member Posts: 1,899 ■■■■■□□□□□
Congratulations!!!
Soo when you took this exam, there was an actual percentage score on there? I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly. If so, I've never heard or seen of that before... kinda cool.Booya!!
WIP : | CISSP [2018] | CISA [2018] | CAPM [2018] | eCPPT [2018] | CRISC [2019] | TORFL (TRKI) B1 | Learning: | Russian | Farsi |
*****You can fail a test a bunch of times but what matters is that if you fail to give up or not***** -
E Double U
Member Posts: 2,233 ■■■■■■■■■■
jamesleecoleman wrote: »Congratulations!!!
Soo when you took this exam, there was an actual percentage score on there? I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly. If so, I've never heard or seen of that before... kinda cool.
GIAC is very cool. Gives you a score update every 15 questions.Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS -
FillAwful
Member Posts: 119 ■■■□□□□□□□
E Double U wrote: »GIAC is very cool. Gives you a score update every 15 questions.
I found this has an interesting effect on my test taking, I felt the need to rush towards the end just to get it over with, or maybe to not look through the books on a question where I have narrowed down the answer. -
E Double U
Member Posts: 2,233 ■■■■■■■■■■
I found this has an interesting effect on my test taking, I felt the need to rush towards the end just to get it over with, or maybe to not look through the books on a question where I have narrowed down the answer.
Same here!Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS -
quogue66
Member Posts: 193 ■■■■□□□□□□
I have never looked at my score during a test. I was always worried that it would mess with my head. The only time I ever glanced at the score was at the end of the exam and only the skipped questions remained. I looked at the score to see if I really needed the questions to hit a certain mark. -
FillAwful
Member Posts: 119 ■■■□□□□□□□
Wow. That takes a lot of discipline. I was checking the score every 15 questions. I also rarely skip question or flag to come back to them. I like to just charge the test with an "I either know it or I don't" attitude.I have never looked at my score during a test. I was always worried that it would mess with my head. The only time I ever glanced at the score was at the end of the exam and only the skipped questions remained. I looked at the score to see if I really needed the questions to hit a certain mark. -
lostsol
Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
Congrats! I take a similar approach for studying with indexing everything.
