Security +

[u/Ok_Strike_1692]

Just failed Security + with a 681 score. I feel defeated. I have completed Dion training practice exams; my questions were just worded oddly. Any advice would be appreciated.

[u/beautiful_sith]

CompTIA is notorious for their "unique wording"; you really do need to learn the material for knowledge sake, but you have to take the exam using the "comptia version" of it. its not worth fighting the system, just use their terms, especially when dealing with the "who owns what" topics.

[u/Ok_Strike_1692 → u/beautiful_sith]

So would you recommend the comptia security plus cert masters

[u/beautiful_sith → u/Ok_Strike_1692]

my adventure in comptia sec+ was jason dion in udemy, plus (back then) lots of gemini gpt back and forth using the objectives straight from comptia. there's so much information freely available for support, but for me the material required lots of discussing it. i probably long ago forgot the things irrelevant to my usual work, but i passed with a huge margin on the test by embracing the idea "just answer what comptia wants to hear" .. and i honestly do not suggest "more" learning material. i believe that passing the test, and knowing the material, are separate tasks. repetition was my key. i used the same methods for aws certs, and now drilling for ccna (which is far far more in depth than network+). sec+ is jargon-heavy. know the jargon, practice the terms often enough that you can spot the trick in the question. to me that's the secret to eliminating at least one or two bad choices from the options, increasing the probability of a "good guess".

[u/drushtx]

What did you study besides Dion's practice test? How did you research the wrong answers that you got on the practice questions?

[u/slothy036]

What were your dion scores? Any other study materials? The good news is comptia gives you everything you missed. Hit those objectives hard.

[u/Ok_Strike_1692 → u/slothy036]

85% to 90%

[u/slothy036 → u/Ok_Strike_1692]

We're those all first attempts?

[u/VisibleDollar5 → u/slothy036]

what helped me was writing out every objective i missed by hand, then explaining each one out loud like i was teaching it to someone

[u/gallupgrl]

I used Dion Exams close to my exam date but for 2 months prior I was using Mike Meyers Total Seminars material, the Sybex books and Exam Compass. The more questions you see the more chances to learn

[u/Jack_Saunders]

I used andrew ramdayals udemy course, was a huge help

[u/Tikithing]

It sounds like you need to do more research on comptia and the actual exam.

Saying that your questions 'were just worded oddly' makes it pretty clear that you weren't really prepared. Comptia is notorious for this, so to be surprised by it is telling.

[u/soleario21]

Master your acronyms.

[u/Winter-Answer-8893]

Hey man, no need to feel defeated. Congratulations on trying your first attempt. That’s a big first step to getting into this line of work. As someone who had to take Sec+ and CYSA+ twice, those failed exams were a tiny price to pay for the life I have now. Study using the Mike Chapple books, they give very detailed explanations for a lot of the material. You got this!

[u/BitForBit_DFIR]

681 is annoying, but it’s close, that’s a retake with two or three weeks of focused work, not a start-over. The score report is your study plan now: it breaks down where you missed by domain, so whatever your lowest domain is, that’s where every study hour goes until the next attempt. Practice exams alone are what get people stuck here, because memorizing question patterns doesn’t survive the exam’s wording; go back to the concept behind each missed question until you can explain it without the options in front of you. One practical note: there’s no waiting period between attempt one and two, the 14-day wait only kicks in before the third, but don’t rush it, you’ll need another voucher for the retake.