The CompTIA Security+ Certification is a great way to show employers you have the necessary skills needed for a cybersecurity position. It is one of many certifications you should get, but should be one if not the first one you get when preparing for or entering the cybersecurity field. It provides you with hands-on learning experience and gives you valuable knowledge of the latest security trends and techniques. I can proudly say I passed my exam on the first try, but it was not easy. I spend almost 4 months preparing for the exam in a variety of ways, and here are some tips on how I passed it.
Understand the Exam Domains
The Security+ exam covers the latest cybersecurity trends and techniques which has led to the exam covering five major domains:
- Attacks, Threats and Vulnerabilities (24%)
- Architecture and Design (21%)
- Implementation (25%)
- Operations and Incident Response (16%)
- Governance, Risk and Compliance (14%)
Utilize this information and use it to your advantage. Create a list of each of the different categories under the domains and use that to guide your studies. Always start with the areas you are the least comfortable in and work your way up to the areas you are more comfortable in. Starting with the hardest concepts and mastering them can make studying easier as you get closer to your exam date.
Create a Study Plan
The first thing you need to do before studying is to create a study plan. If you have a deadline for taking the exam, make sure you note that. Figure out how much time you would like to spend studying each week and dedicate blocks of time to only studying. Track your progress as well and alter your study plan as needed. If you feel you are not quire prepared and want to push your exam date back another month that is perfectly fine. I probably rescheduled my exam a handful of times before I was finally confident enough to take it, and I am glad I did!
Each week I kept track of which areas I was comfortable in and which ones I needed the most improvement in to make sure I was focusing on what I needed to. The newest exam no longer covers cryptography and PKI, but I took the SY0-501 which had a lot of focus on that. Unfortunately that was my weakest area, but I just made sure to dedicate extra time to that area and it paid off.
Utilize Multiple Resources
The best thing you can do to pass the exam is learn from multiple sources. Utilize your listening, reading, and hands-on learning skills to absorb as much information as you possibly can. Get one or two study guides so you can read the information, make flashcards, take notes, highlight important information, and take the practice tests within them. I found that not only reading the information helped, but writing down concepts and terms I did now know allowed me to learn even better.
Listen to YouTube videos as well. I absolutely loved listening to Professor Messor on YouTube. He has an entire playlist dedicated to the Security+ exam and goes in depth into individual concepts the exam covers. I listened to his videos while cooking, driving, and going on walks, and he does a great job at explaining the essential information you need to know.
Take Practice Exams
Take as many practice exams as you can to assess if you are ready for the real exam. I felt comfortable taking the exam when I continuously got a 90% or higher on all the practice exams I took. There are free online tests out there, and most study guides include them, but a great source I found was the CertMike Security+ Practice Tests. These tests provide you a rigorous set of 540 practice test questions designed to be similar to those that you’ll face on the actual exam. I took each of these exams at least 5 times and it truly prepared me for what to expect on the test.
Join a Study Group
Having others to help you study and push you to pass can be a great resource. You can post online or talk to others in your field, but there is always going to be someone out there looking to pass their exam that would be willing to do a study group. You can meet as frequently as you want, but having others to go over important concepts with and quiz each other was very beneficial to me.