Don’t Underestimate the CompTia Security+ Exam
It’s not simple to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam!
I was recently at a family reunion, and I was speaking with my cousin, who works in the military’s IT department. He was preparing to leave the service in a few years to pursue civilian employment.
I inquired as to whether he had any IT credentials.
“No, although I’m thinking of attempting some of the extremely simple ones, such as Security+.”
Just a few years before this exchange, I had taken and passed the CompTIA Security+ test. “Easy?” I thought to myself. I don’t believe so!!!” But I remained silent in front of my cousin.
The Security+ certification is an entry-level cybersecurity certification that has a lot of value in the job market. IAT Level 2 certification is Security+. What exactly does this imply?
The Security+ certification has been accepted as “Level 2” by the Department of Defense. Many occupations involving federal contracts necessitate certification as a minimum qualification. In other words, unless you have this certification, you will not be considered for the post.
Here’s an easy approach to figure out if a certification is worthwhile:
The most straightforward approach to see if a qualification is valuable in the workplace is to look for jobs that require it.
In the instance of Security+, I would search “IAT2” on Indeed.com. All of the occupations that require or prefer an IAT Level 2 certification, such as Security+, will be listed in these results.
If you conduct this search in my area — the Washington, DC metro area – you will find dozens upon dozens of positions in the results. Almost all of the jobs have a pay range of $100,000 or higher.
Yes, the Security+ credential is valuable.
You must be well-versed in your field.
I spent far more time studying for the Security+ exam than I did for more difficult examinations like CASP and CISSP.
Passing the exam was one of my New Year’s resolutions. The next thing I knew, November arrived, and I had yet to take the test. For the test, I had studied for 8 or 9 months on and off. I wasn’t about to let another year pass without giving it a shot.
I bypassed the IT Fundamentals, A+, and Network+ examinations, which is one of the reasons it took me so long to study for this exam.
If I had it to do over, I would begin with these two introductory examinations to establish confidence and lay the groundwork for the Security+. This is the method I would advocate, as indicated by CompTia:
The CompTIA Security+ Exam is not to be taken lightly.
But, of course, I took the easy way out and went straight to Security+. But it wasn’t a quick fix; I had to study for the test for months. Instead, I might have been earning certifications along the way!
The Examination
PearsonVue was where I took the exam. All of the simulations took place at the start of the test. My test consisted of seven simulations. They have to do with firewall regulations and RAID configuration. This section of the exam was made much easier for me by the book “Security+ Exam for Dummies.” Some of the examples in this book were extremely similar to those found on the actual test.
I think I got six of the seven scenarios right. I utterly flunked one of the questions. This placed me in a bind because I had heard that the simulations were weighted more strongly than the multiple-choice segment.
As a result, I labored over the multiple-choice questions, doing my best to narrow down the options and select the correct one. Unlike the CASP and CISSP, the Security+ test has black-and-white questions. All of the questions have a single correct answer. There will be no questions that try to trick you by providing two right responses and forcing you to choose the best one.
I pressed the “complete test” button with trepidation and awaited a response. I was relieved to learn that I had passed the exam. This was the first stage in the certification process for me.
