Confidence gone.

Hi all,
Havent posted in a longggggg time. Last March I took the sesurity+ exam at the personal cost of over 300 euro, I failed it by one or two questions and as a result felt very bitter about the whole thing as I literally ripped the sybex book apart cover to cover. There is no way I am going to hand over a load of cash for the same thing to happen again, anyone else ever gone through this?

Cheers and happy xmas.

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Turgon

ger the man wrote: »

Hi all,
Havent posted in a longggggg time. Last March I took the sesurity+ exam at the personal cost of over 300 euro, I failed it by one or two questions and as a result felt very bitter about the whole thing as I literally ripped the sybex book apart cover to cover. There is no way I am going to hand over a load of cash for the same thing to happen again, anyone else ever gone through this?

Cheers and happy xmas.

In this climate no one can afford to fail tests. This is one of the reasons the **** sites prosper, that and the peer pressure to keep up with certs. Don't go there. Get some advice on some ligit practice tests for this one and put some serious time in with them. Also get some advice from the others on here about a second book. Some buy in from the employer to give you some works time to prepare would be helpful too. I hope this is the case. If employers want skilled employees it's unrealistic, inefficient and unfair to expect them to be overloaded on their personal time to continually prepare for all these tests after a full day at work.

NinjaBoy

ger the man wrote: »

...anyone else ever gone through this?...

While the only Comptia exam I failed was the Linux+ beta, I have had to take certain MS exams up to 3 times before I passed and that can add up financially.

But I stuck with my routine and passed in the end (one or two I did give up on though).

My advice would be that if you want to gain the credential, use more than one study resource (eg two books, a CBT and a practice exam set).

Other than that condolences on the fail many moon ago...

-Ken

ger the man

Just seems very unfair when you know you put the work in.

Pash

ger the man wrote: »

Just seems very unfair when you know you put the work in.

I don't want to seem like I am kicking you when you are down. But you didn't put the work in because you failed. I failed on my first attempt as well and a little over a year later I passed. I even did a Juniper cert in-between and found the time In what was a busy year for me at work to do my full preparation.

As Turgon said It is unfair for work places to demand certifications from employees with no allowances of time (full day at work and shed loads of overtime) but it inst uncommon. In terms of skilled employees.....well certifications don't mean skills as we all know, but learning up to now what I have I can honestly say about 95% of it has had real world application.....if that means anything.

You can post on here about how unfair it is you failed this test in March or you can post on here what you have done to better prepare for it next time, nobody want's to pay out the test fee in this economic climate....but some of us have to. I can help you by saying, get the curriculum for the 2008 edition of the exam, put it in excel in a nice formated format, and then make a schedule of it, what you have learnt, what you are weak on etc (kind of like a Revision Plan).

Good luck.

Nakeja71

You will pass in 2010. I have forseen it

janmike

I failed But, before taking it again, I studied in Linux, Cisco, a little programming and did a lot of Google searches. I had the Sybex book and the Syngress book. I took an online course about business security, which included computer crime, and disaster recovery, and legal approaches to all security. I focused a bit on the actual forensic work involved in computer crime investigation.

Y'see, Security+ has a lot of material from a lot of different aspects of network and PC security. So, it takes a really big-picture view. And, the exam only scratches the surface of a whole specialty.

Of course, nobody can tell you what to pursue or how, and advice is free. That is what I had to do to really get the idea--and I enjoyed it. I am not saying you have to go into that depth, and it takes time to do it. I agree with Turgon not to give in to peer pressure.

Darril

ger the man wrote: »

Hi all,
Havent posted in a longggggg time. Last March I took the sesurity+ exam at the personal cost of over 300 euro, I failed it by one or two questions and as a result felt very bitter about the whole thing as I literally ripped the sybex book apart cover to cover. There is no way I am going to hand over a load of cash for the same thing to happen again, anyone else ever gone through this?

Can't say I've ripped up a book cover to cover, but I have failed a test. It certainly can be depressing.

As a matter of fact, I actually failed the Security+ exam the first time I took it because I simply took it for granted. I had A+, Network+, MCSE for NT 4.0, Server 2000 and Server 2003. I thought this was a basic exam that I could breeze through but I was quite wrong. Since then, I have passed the 2005 version and then the 2008 version (and several other exams) but didn't make the same mistake. I dug into the objectives and used multiple sources to ensure I understood the concepts.

Someone greater than I once said the secret to success is "Fall down 9 times, get up 10."

I'd encourage you to get back on the horse and try for it again. If Security+ looks too daunting, complete the earlier certifications like A+ and Network+ which have lower passing scores (and can help you get some confidence back). The knowledge gained in earning these certifications (especially Network+) will make passing the Security+ exam that much easier.

HTH,

Darril Gibson
Author: CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead
ISBN-10: 1439236364

Security+ Tip of day Tweets
twitter.com/DarrilGibson

ger the man

Thanks for all replies

Killermac

Darril wrote: »

Can't say I've ripped up a book cover to cover, but I have failed a test. It certainly can be depressing.

As a matter of fact, I actually failed the Security+ exam the first time I took it because I simply took it for granted. I had A+, Network+, MCSE for NT 4.0, Server 2000 and Server 2003. I thought this was a basic exam that I could breeze through but I was quite wrong. Since then, I have passed the 2005 version and then the 2008 version (and several other exams) but didn't make the same mistake. I dug into the objectives and used multiple sources to ensure I understood the concepts.

Someone greater than I once said the secret to success is "Fall down 9 times, get up 10."

I'd encourage you to get back on the horse and try for it again. If Security+ looks too daunting, complete the earlier certifications like A+ and Network+ which have lower passing scores (and can help you get some confidence back). The knowledge gained in earning these certifications (especially Network+) will make passing the Security+ exam that much easier.

HTH,

Darril Gibson
Author: CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead
ISBN-10: 1439236364

Security+ Tip of day Tweets
twitter.com/DarrilGibson

I agree Darril, falling down sucks and getting up is even harder. Like others have said use some of the online testing engines and make sure you get 85-90% scoring before you go at the test. I also agree that plunking down 300 EU is no fun nor is plunking down 250 US any better. What makes it worse is that some employers still think certs are just paper.....I can point to some college degrees that are the same but that is another story for antother time. Keep studying and you will get there.

KM

ger the man

Killermac wrote: »

I agree Darril, falling down sucks and getting up is even harder. Like others have said use some of the online testing engines and make sure you get 85-90% scoring before you go at the test. I also agree that plunking down 300 EU is no fun nor is plunking down 250 US any better. What makes it worse is that some employers still think certs are just paper.....I can point to some college degrees that are the same but that is another story for antother time. Keep studying and you will get there.

KM

Thanks v much

petedude

ger the man wrote: »

There is no way I am going to hand over a load of cash for the same thing to happen again, anyone else ever gone through this?

For the OP: Yes, after I blew the two different exams to wrap my CCNA, it was a long time before I did anything with certs again. IIRC, I had to start doing well on CLEP and DSST exams before I went back to tackle IT exams again.

Turgon wrote: »

In this climate no one can afford to fail tests.
This is one of the reasons the **** sites prosper, that and the peer pressure to keep up with certs. Don't go there.

Amen to all that.

Turgon wrote: »

If employers want skilled employees it's unrealistic, inefficient and unfair to expect them to be overloaded on their personal time to continually prepare for all these tests after a full day at work.

That's not necessarily true for all cert-takers. If your IT cert is directly related to your current job role, it's reasonable to want some accomodation from your employers in terms of your studies-- whether that be reimbursement, time off to take the tests, etc.

BUT. . .

As many parents find themselves having to tell their kids, "life's not fair". You many find that you'll have to view your certifications as personal progress in your professional career that you'll have to undertake based on your available personal time schedule, your available personal budget and your current level of ambition. If you want the cert (or the related career advancement!) badly enough, you'll likely find a way.

Myself, I usually study for certs during lunch breaks and early in the morning, or during restroom stops.

What keeps me going? Knowing that I have to keep my skillset current to keep up in the world today, and sometimes that feeling of accomplishment.

jamesleecoleman

I've never "killed" a book before. I have failed the first part of the A+ by 5%. I went back and took a few months to study. I wasn't upset because I knew I didn't study the material I was supposed to study because I thought I knew the material.

Don't let failure get you down. Learn from it and do smaller things to build your confidence or remember all the accomplishments that you've made in life. Find people to support you, if you don't have anyone to do so.

Lamini

i failed my Sec+ the first time because I ONLY used a boot camp (on purpose) to see if it would get me to pass. This was 9hrs of boot camp for 5 days, and about 3 hours of homework per night... and I NEVER had bought a book, did any online research, or did any studying prior to that week of boot camp (I didnt even think about studying at all prior to that week. (and I only failed by two questions). Was I bummed out? of course.

However I took leave the next week and did as much studying as possible (sybex book, comptia course book, examcram2, transcenders, preplogic... everything but CBTs (i dont see CBTs helping in Sec+ personally) and was 2-3 questions from a perfect the next saturday I took it. Now, there was also another 1/2 of the class that failed or dropped out, very few people in the room were actually met the prerequisites (Net+, A+), and if they had any sense, they dropped out before the test (they did). When youre reading the book and feel confident enough that you understand it, when you got it down that good, thats when you take the test. If you didnt walk in to your test with a smile on your face (knowing youre ready), then you probably knew what the outcome already was. The second time I took the test, I had a big grin. You are tested against the objectives, thats your plan, go through it, understand it one by one, and move on through each objective, slow but sure = you save money on tests

abefroman

ger the man wrote: »

Hi all,
Havent posted in a longggggg time. Last March I took the sesurity+ exam at the personal cost of over 300 euro, I failed it by one or two questions and as a result felt very bitter about the whole thing as I literally ripped the sybex book apart cover to cover. There is no way I am going to hand over a load of cash for the same thing to happen again, anyone else ever gone through this?

Cheers and happy xmas.

Don't give up man!! One book is not enough, get the Exam Cram book, with the Measure Up questions on the CD, and go back and take that test again!

If you only missed one or two, then with an additional lane of study you should pass no problem.

Plus if CompTia made these tests really easy they wouldn't mean anything. They are difficult for a reason.

Turgon

petedude wrote: »

For the OP: Yes, after I blew the two different exams to wrap my CCNA, it was a long time before I did anything with certs again. IIRC, I had to start doing well on CLEP and DSST exams before I went back to tackle IT exams again.

Amen to all that.

That's not necessarily true for all cert-takers. If your IT cert is directly related to your current job role, it's reasonable to want some accomodation from your employers in terms of your studies-- whether that be reimbursement, time off to take the tests, etc.

BUT. . .

As many parents find themselves having to tell their kids, "life's not fair". You many find that you'll have to view your certifications as personal progress in your professional career that you'll have to undertake based on your available personal time schedule, your available personal budget and your current level of ambition. If you want the cert (or the related career advancement!) badly enough, you'll likely find a way.

Myself, I usually study for certs during lunch breaks and early in the morning, or during restroom stops.

What keeps me going? Knowing that I have to keep my skillset current to keep up in the world today, and sometimes that feeling of accomplishment.

Yes I take your point. Regardless of the bandwidth available at work your studies generally spill over into private time anyway. I guess just see how realistic the employer is about studytime if it's something they want you to get. Sometimes they just have no appreciation of the time you will need to get through material properly, but you can make them aware and usually there should be some flexibility there. It will all help.