I am going to start this with a disclaimer, I am not going to give away any sort of exam information. The purpose of this article is to discuss what I believe to be the best ways prepare for the exam.
Resources
The primary resources I used to prepare for the exam were the ItProTV video course, which can be found here, and the “Security+ 601 All in One Exam Guide,” which can be found here. The resource I relied on the most was a video course. I cannot recommend this course enough, the ItProTV team made this experience enjoyable and made concepts easy to understand. After watching the videos, If I did not understand information then the All in One book would act as my secondary source. An ItProTV subscription is 30$ a month unless you can get your hands on a discount code which can help lower the price. The course also come with its own notes and lab environments to test those new found skills. The All-in-one book comes with practice questions that can help to test what information you have retained. An alternative video course would be Mike Myers course, I used his courses for the A+ certification and it was amazing. One last source that is *FREE* is Professor Messer’s courses. He post videos to his YouTube channel including live streaming study sessions. More detailed information can be found at his website professormesser.com.
Taking Notes
I mentioned before that the video courses come with their own notes, but I HIGHLY recommend creating your own detailed notes. Some people will write their notes in question format so they can create their own practice test. For example instead of writing:
An HTTP webserver will traditionally use Port 80.
Write:
What port does HTTP operate on? 80
If some or all of the notes are written in this fashion then it makes it much easier to create quizzes and flashcards. For simplicity’s sake I took my notes in Google Docs so that I could have them no matter where I was, I could even look at the notes on my phone. Another note taking tool, this one is just for android users, is called Ankidroid (the iphone version is called Ankimoble). Anki is an app that allows for the creation of digital flash cards. The best part about Anki is that it will automatically sort out the flash cards that have the highest accuracy rate but not get rid of them. This way the material that is more familiar comes up less and the more difficult information is seen the most.
How to Study?
All the videos have been watch, notes have been taken and books have been read (or at least skimmed). So what now? Reading the textbooks and watching the videos are only really an introduction to the material. It is important, as I said before, to take notes. Not only to take notes but allocate time to go through those notes and understand them. I had several times I read back through my notes and realized I did not understand what they were talking about. In these times I knew I needed to dig deeper into those subjects. A great way to test the knowledge gained is to try to explain it to someone. It can be a friend, parent, significant other, pet, rubber ducky or ANYTHING! To be able to explain a subject to someone shows a high level of understanding. When I explain subjects to the sticky note on my wall, I will generally come across some section of it that I did not completely understand. Beyond how to study, something equally important is how often you study. When I was preparing for the Sec+ I had a very ridge study schedule and I stuck to it. I would recommend at the very least 2 long study sessions a week and a short 5–15 minutes study session every day to keep the information fresh. I had a more aggressive study schedule of 2+ hours 5 days a week and light studying the other 2 days (5–10 minutes).
Last Steps
Before diving into taking the exam, it is recommended to take a practice test. This will be the last test of the knowledge you learned. This is why I recommend the All in one exam book. Some people will take a practice exam or even the real exam (if you have the disposable income) to get a feel for what they need to learn while studying. I did not do that but I took many, many practice test before the exam. It doesn’t hurt to keep a time limit on the test as well. Some people don’t work well on a timer so it is important to try to get better working under the pressure.
Tips?
Make sure before testing day that you have reviewed the policies of the exam, No phones, earbuds, laptops or smartwatches, during the exam. I took the exam remote and I felt much more comfortable taking it at home but that doesn’t mean you won’t be held up to the same standards. There is no talking, no mouthing words (the proctor told me to stop moving my lips when I read) and no outside noise.
If the test is coming up and you feel that you just are not ready, don’t worry. The exam can be rescheduled or canceled any time until within 24 hours of the scheduled time for the exam.
There are going to be some very difficult questions and there will be performance based questions. If you can’t answer the questions quickly then flag it for review and go to the next one. Answer everything you know then circle back to the harder questions.
Performance based questions are questions that involve some sort of simulation. This can be simulating a terminal or a network or even just a drag and drop window. These can take up a lot of time and it is best to skip these and come back to them after completing the rest of the questions.
READ CAREFULLY. CompTIA likes to word their questions in specific ways, be on the look out for words like “MOST,” “BEST,” “LEAST,” and “NOT.” If a word is capitalized and bold pay attention!
Conclusion
With time and dedication it is possible to pass the security+ on the first attempt. The amount of time and experience you have with Cyber Security will affect how long it takes to get familiar with this information. I had very little hands on experience but I did already have the A+, Net+ and Linux+ which helped me understand a lot of the material better. It is important to remember, even if you don’t pass on your first try it is not the end of the world. Try again and keep pushing towards your goal until you get it.
