Advice on upcoming Security + Exam

BriskNerd

Greetings,

I am scheduled to take my CompTIA Security + exam this Friday.

I am extremely nervous taking this test, My last CompTIA test was 901 902 A+ over a year ago. I have been studying since March, attended a Security Boot Camp, purchased Darril Gibson Security+ Book, Total Tester (scoring 76%-80%), and Utilized Cert Master Security + on CompTIA's website.

Any advice on how I can prepare for the simulation portion of the exam?

People who recently took the exam , how many simulations did you have?

People who recently took the exam, what practice tests/study materials were worded similar to the actual exam?

Thank you for your time!

mmcabe

I took the test three weeks ago. My simulations were far and away the easiest part of the exam. I had two of them. Darril Gibson's online content was good preparation for these.

As far as what was worded similarly...not too much. Maybe MeasureUp. But if you retain all the knowledge you gained from Gibson and read each question very carefully, you should be fine.

Captain_Deadpool

Be confident??? best advice i was given going in.

Make sure you save the simulations for last.

Darrel Gibsons content is legit as well.

davec8080

mmcabe wrote: »

I took the test three weeks ago. My simulations were far and away the easiest part of the exam. I had two of them. Darril Gibson's online content was good preparation for these.

As far as what was worded similarly...not too much. Maybe MeasureUp. But if you retain all the knowledge you gained from Gibson and read each question very carefully, you should be fine.

I agree that the simulations are easy compared to the rest of the test. If the multiple choice were level 8 difficulty, then the simulations would be level 3 on the difficulty scale of 1 to 10. I agree with the general advice to skip the simulations, do the multiple choice, then go BACK to the simulations though. Even though the sims are easy, they are also time-consuming. It throws you off your rhythm to do them first, as then you feel rushed on the multiple choice questions. You have to proceed at a pretty good clip to not run out of time. But there is a natural rhythm to the multiple choice questions, making it easier to judge your pace for the whole exam if you do the multiple choice questions first.

The best tool to prepare you for security plus is a darril gibson android app (might be available for IOS, also). The practice tests in the android app are the best (most realistic) in terms of covering material on the actual exam. Just be aware that the practice tests are a little easier. So don't sit the real exam unless you are honestly getting 90% ish on the practice exams!

To the OP, I would say...you should be aware that 401 is signficantly easier than A+ 902. IN fact, A+ 902 covers much of the material on Security+, as well as questions on Network+. I'm not the only one who thinks security+ is easy compared to network plus or (902) in particular. I have many friends who have tested all three, and concluded that security+ was the easiest of the (four) exams.

What stuck in my mind while preparing for security+ is that anybody with management experience would be probably 75% prepared for security+ without even studying. If you look past all the technical jargon in the questions...a lot of them boil down to...how are you going to MANAGE this situation? From there, any decent manager would probably be able to guess the answer...even if their experience was just managing a retail clothing shop.

YEs, there's some technical stuff thrown into Security+ as well. But 902 is a much more "technical" exam, and much harder to prepare for...as it covers a lot more material...

What I'm trying to say, and not doing so very efficiently...

Anybody who passed 902 should not be nervous AT ALL about testing for 401, if they put the same amount of effort into preparing for it...
(you'll probably get a higher score on 401)

TheComputerPlumber

Did you Pass???

TheComputerPlumber

I'm studying myself just got done with Darril Gibson's book SY0-401 I'm planning on taking it before the retirement date. I just purchased the deluxe bundle in case I fail. Which includes the Certmaster and a retake. Been studying it since this morning about 25% done so far. I took the sec+ 401 and failed in Dec of 2015. I cannot remember much of what kinda of questions were on it. How accurate is Certmaster and Darril Gibson to the test in comparison? I was using Skillset(free) sy0-401 advertised on this site but that threw me way off from what I learned in Darrils book. I plan on also using Darril's online content that I purchased for the sims and practice test. Another site i was looking at was exam-labs.com sy0-401 i seem to know more on there then both the cert master and the skillset. Maybe it has to do with the way the questions are worded. Also scored 100% on the sy0-401 practice test offered on CompTIA's website. But I highly doubt the question on the test are as easy as that was in terms of the simplicity of the wording.

BriskNerd

mmcabe wrote: »

I took the test three weeks ago. My simulations were far and away the easiest part of the exam. I had two of them. Darril Gibson's online content was good preparation for these.

As far as what was worded similarly...not too much. Maybe MeasureUp. But if you retain all the knowledge you gained from Gibson and read each question very carefully, you should be fine.

Thank you !

BriskNerd

TheComputerPlumber wrote: »

Did you Pass???

Unfortunately, No.
612/750 . I retake 6/14

BriskNerd

mmcabe wrote: »

I took the test three weeks ago. My simulations were far and away the easiest part of the exam. I had two of them. Darril Gibson's online content was good preparation for these.

As far as what was worded similarly...not too much. Maybe MeasureUp. But if you retain all the knowledge you gained from Gibson and read each question very carefully, you should be fine.

I agree the simulations were the easiest part of the test. I only had 2 sims. How many did you have?

scaredoftests

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