Sec+ Vs. MS exams

rjpaw

Question for those of your who took this test: In comparison to the MCSA tests (290, 291, etc), how difficult do you feel the test (sec+) was.

I took a practice test from the CD that came with Exam Cram, and Did very well (though found a few things I need to study up on), but the test seemed almost "easy" to me. Last thing I want to do is go into a test environment over confident and come out sucking my thumb!

Webmaster

The Security+ topics are basic concepts, something you can learn from a book, and MS exam questions are typically more complex than CompTIA exam questions so compared to MCSA 2003 exams (70-292 in my case) I'd say Security+ is very doable. Compared to other CompTIA exams, I don't think many people will label Sec+ easy. That's mostly because the exam is a bit odd and includes some ambigious questions. The material itself is easy to learn, if you have the right study material. Exam cram 2 is good, but you will need additional resources (depending on how much you know from experience and other education of course) to become fully prepared. I would't underestimate this exam based on the practice questions in the exam cram book.

rjpaw

I've seen too many people get burnt by using the "I'll just study the practice test" method of learning. I also took the Sec+ class, and have the book from that, and I'm using the Exam Cram to augment. I find it's a good review book for me anyway. The tests I find helpful for highlighting my weaknesses, but hte first test I took didn't show much.

I took the practice again, and got a more humbling score. Guess it was the luck of the draw on the questions. But at least it gave me a better understand of the areas of my weaknesses.

Slowhand

Another thing to remember, when comparing different types of tests is this: CompTIA tests are vendor-neutral. That usually means that if you study, you'll learn the material, and in turn, will be able to pass the test. (Basically, the tests are a bit more common-sense, than some.) When you're dealing with a company's tests, like MCSE, CCNA, or even the Apple Admin tests, you're faced with an interesting situation. There's the right way, the wrong way, and the company way.

This is true for just about all vendor-specific tests. A friend of mine has failed an Apple test, simply because he answered the questions as he would solve the problems in the real world, not as Apple "recommended". The same has been told to me by a networking instructor, just about everyone fails their first MCSE exam mainly because they use common sense to answer the questions, and that's not always the "One Microsoft Way". (Those of you who have been to Redmond will appreciate that joke. LOL)

Trailerisf

Slowhand wrote:

The same has been told to me by a networking instructor, just about everyone fails their first MCSE exam mainly because they use common sense to answer the questions, and that's not always the "One Microsoft Way". (Those of you who have been to Redmond will appreciate that joke. LOL)

I can attest to doing things a certain way that is 100% logical, yet I get the question wrong. In my world, you don't rely on the end user to do things. (I can send out 10 emails and the same people will ignore it everytime)