GSEC Practice Test Gives-a Way
I recently passed the GSEC Exam. It is not my first GIAC certification.
I will say that while walking out of the door I thought, that exam was hard. Then I though it wasn't hard it was just long. So, I am torn between the two. It is mentally draining to sit in front of a computer for hours at a time. Yes, you can get a break but here is my logic to not taking a break:
-Obviously you have to answer the skipped questions prior to taking a break.
- I didn't know the answer to the questions that is why I skipped them. So, you have to answer the questions that you might more than likely get wrong just to hurry up and take a break.
- I prefer to get the exam over with.
So, I have never taken a break during any exam, nor do I plan to do so. This is how I approached this exam and others:
-If it takes me more than a few index flips and page flips I skip it. Have I spent 5 minutes on a question and eventually found the answer, yes, Yes, I have. But, I would not make that a habit. That is something I did maybe 4 times. But, I would not make it a habit. It's one of the questions where you know you heard or seen the answer but just can't seem to find it. But you know it's in the book somewhere. The good part about the course is the books. The separation of Windows/Linux sections/books really narrows down the focus. I am making this up. If you are looking for Risk and you can't find Risk in your Index, if you find Threat in your index you will more than likely find Risk. So, being familiar with the terms and course with missing material can lead you to the right answer if you forgot to index it.
- If I skip a question, either it was not in my index or I have no idea what the answer is.
My suggestions:
-I know I got probably two of the first three questions wrong. I could not find the answer to save my life.---- Then after about question number 10 I realized my index was not in alphabetical order. It was 75% in order and 25% let me do a A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K L, M ,N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Z, Y down my pages and hope I stumble upon the key word I am looking for.
You have to be able to manage your time. I took my exam at 0900. So, I had wake up 2 hours prior to the exam. So, I was not sleepy. The computer lost internet connectivity at around question number 100. After about 30 minutes we were back up and running. I told the proctor I hope it never comes up because I thought I failed. He said I could come back tomorrow and the exam would be where I left off at. So, if you decide to go kicking network cables around it won't help. So, half an hour later I was back at question 100'ish. If you did the material you can 100% of the time eliminate 2 answers. That's a guarantee. This Cert is good for job boards. It lights up indeed like a Christmas tree. I would suggest it IF your company pays for it or your finances are in order. I would not go in dept to take this course.
I paid for this practice test. So, please give me a reason why YOU want it. Here are my scores:
Practice Test 1: 72
Practice Test 2: 81
Exam: 83
I think the exam was harder than the two practice tests. At the end they asked me to be a member of something but my head was hurting and it still hurts but I clicked the box for yes whatever you want and ended the exam. It can't be the advisory board because I thought you needed a 90%. I don't know what it was I clicked yes and ended the exam. I forgot.
Good Luck.
I will say that while walking out of the door I thought, that exam was hard. Then I though it wasn't hard it was just long. So, I am torn between the two. It is mentally draining to sit in front of a computer for hours at a time. Yes, you can get a break but here is my logic to not taking a break:
-Obviously you have to answer the skipped questions prior to taking a break.
- I didn't know the answer to the questions that is why I skipped them. So, you have to answer the questions that you might more than likely get wrong just to hurry up and take a break.
- I prefer to get the exam over with.
So, I have never taken a break during any exam, nor do I plan to do so. This is how I approached this exam and others:
-If it takes me more than a few index flips and page flips I skip it. Have I spent 5 minutes on a question and eventually found the answer, yes, Yes, I have. But, I would not make that a habit. That is something I did maybe 4 times. But, I would not make it a habit. It's one of the questions where you know you heard or seen the answer but just can't seem to find it. But you know it's in the book somewhere. The good part about the course is the books. The separation of Windows/Linux sections/books really narrows down the focus. I am making this up. If you are looking for Risk and you can't find Risk in your Index, if you find Threat in your index you will more than likely find Risk. So, being familiar with the terms and course with missing material can lead you to the right answer if you forgot to index it.
- If I skip a question, either it was not in my index or I have no idea what the answer is.
My suggestions:
-I know I got probably two of the first three questions wrong. I could not find the answer to save my life.---- Then after about question number 10 I realized my index was not in alphabetical order. It was 75% in order and 25% let me do a A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K L, M ,N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Z, Y down my pages and hope I stumble upon the key word I am looking for.
You have to be able to manage your time. I took my exam at 0900. So, I had wake up 2 hours prior to the exam. So, I was not sleepy. The computer lost internet connectivity at around question number 100. After about 30 minutes we were back up and running. I told the proctor I hope it never comes up because I thought I failed. He said I could come back tomorrow and the exam would be where I left off at. So, if you decide to go kicking network cables around it won't help. So, half an hour later I was back at question 100'ish. If you did the material you can 100% of the time eliminate 2 answers. That's a guarantee. This Cert is good for job boards. It lights up indeed like a Christmas tree. I would suggest it IF your company pays for it or your finances are in order. I would not go in dept to take this course.
I paid for this practice test. So, please give me a reason why YOU want it. Here are my scores:
Practice Test 1: 72
Practice Test 2: 81
Exam: 83
I think the exam was harder than the two practice tests. At the end they asked me to be a member of something but my head was hurting and it still hurts but I clicked the box for yes whatever you want and ended the exam. It can't be the advisory board because I thought you needed a 90%. I don't know what it was I clicked yes and ended the exam. I forgot.
Good Luck.
Comments
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johndoee
Member Posts: 152 ■■■□□□□□□□
Addition:
I have not opened the books or watched a video in about 3 weeks. I figure it should not take anyone on earth 6 months to go through the material. Nor, do I feel that need to read 6 books multiple times. Do whatever works for YOU! Like they say, either it's in the index, you know it, or you don't. I have not rode a bike in years but I am sure I can jump on one today and not fall.
It was several questions where I was like am I taking the GSEC or CISSP exam. -
E Double U
Member Posts: 2,233 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congratulations on the pass!
As you can see from the certs I have, I don't need the GSEC myself. But I have a new colleague in the SOC that I would like to pass this on to to introduce her to GIAC.Alphabet soup from (ISC)2, ISACA, GIAC, EC-Council, Microsoft, ITIL, Cisco, Scrum, CompTIA, AWS -
TechGromit
Member Posts: 2,156 ■■■■■■■■■□
I recently passed the GSEC Exam. It is not my first GIAC certification.
Congratulations. While I didn't feel this certification exam was that tough, it's certainly long and there's a lot of material to absorb.So, I have never taken a break during any exam, nor do I plan to do so.
I took my GSEC straight through as well, but on my last GREM practice exam, I had to take the break, I had to go so bad, it was beginning to interfere with my concentration.The computer lost internet connectivity at around question number 100. After about 30 minutes we were back up and running.
While I've had questions that took as long as 5 seconds to load the next one, I never lost connection during an exam. I really think we need to start reviewing the testing centers. This will allow others to avoid Testing centers with lousy track records of equipment problems and hopefully either force them to fix there issues or put them out of business.This Cert is good for job boards. It lights up indeed like a Christmas tree. I would suggest it IF your company pays for it or your finances are in order. I would not go in debt to take this course.
It's a pretty good cert, but I still think the GCIH is better.Still searching for the corner in a round room. -
johndoee
Member Posts: 152 ■■■□□□□□□□
E Double U wrote: »Congratulations on the pass!
As you can see from the certs I have, I don't need the GSEC myself. But I have a new colleague in the SOC that I would like to pass this on to to introduce her to GIAC.
PM me your email or account ID. -
j1mgg
Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
Hi, Congrats on the pass.
I also just try and power through to the end without taking a break. If you took both mock tests, can I ask how you have got a spare, can these be picked up by other means than the two you get when purchasing the exam, or from getting off someone else, and do they have an expiry?
Thanks
Jim -
johndoee
Member Posts: 152 ■■■□□□□□□□
Hi, Congrats on the pass.
I also just try and power through to the end without taking a break. If you took both mock tests, can I ask how you have got a spare, can these be picked up by other means than the two you get when purchasing the exam, or from getting off someone else, and do they have an expiry?
Thanks
Jim
You receive two practice tests with any course purchased:
1. You can purchase another.
2. They can be distributed from one person to another.
3. Yes, everything expires with SANS. Videos, Practice Tests, and Exams. The only thing that does not expire is the books
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train2fight
Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
If anyone has an additional practice test Id greatly appreciate it.
