Monthly Archives: January 2019

Network+(N10-007) Passed. Time to Move on to Project+ and A+ Core 1 (220-1001)

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As you can see from the Network+ Score Report I managed to get an acceptable score (831/900) on the N10-007 exam. Same approach I’ve used in the past with a minimal focus on the performance based questions. My custom relative to CompTIA exams is a frequent visit to different forums and Reddit to find out what people are saying about the exam. One fairly common comment centered upon a comparision of this new exam with the olld N10-006 version of the exam. The feeling among those posting a comment was the new exam was perhaps easier, but had better questions that were not designed to trick you into answering the question incorrectly. I agree. I found this exam fair in its structure, and felt much more comfortable as I hit the submit button for grading. I’m reminded of that as I viewed my December 2015 blog posting relating to the old exam.

Time to move on in this continuing effort to update my  skills in IT/Cybersecurity. I’m basically heading down two paths. The first involves doing what I’ve been doing since last June, and involves taking the most recent exams for certifications I’ve already held. Those activities included recertifying for the IT Fundamentals+, Security+, Cloud+, and now Network+ certifications. The other effort involved obtaining a new certification (e.g. Pentest+). See past blog postings where I discuss my efforts relating to these certification exams.

For the near term my focus will be on completing the exams for the Project+ (PK0-004) and A+ (220-1001 and 220-1002) certifications. For the PK0-004 exam, I have completed a worksheet based upon the current Exam Objectives and will probably focus on that certification next. My primary focus has been on the textbook CompTIA Project+ Study Guide: Exam PK0-004 2nd Edition, written by Kim Heldman. Kim has written a number of books, including resources that are focused on the PMI Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Hanging around the Reddit forums relating to the Project+ certification for comments relating to the exam, I managed to locate two resources shared by the forum post authors. The first is notes developed for the exam, and the second is a four page document designed to help remember formulas relating to “earned value management.” Additionally the videos for the CompTIA Train-the-Trainer course are available. My current plans are to complete this exam in February.

The “train-the-trainer” class for the A+ Core 1 exam ended last month and I received a voucher for taking the class. The “train-the-trainer” class for the A+ Core 2 exam runs from late January through February 19th, so I’m thinking that I’ll wait until after that to take both Core exams at the same time because of an expected overlap in their content. I’ve done that with previous A+ certification exams, finding a great deal of overlap that justifies preparing for both exams at the same time.

After taking the A+ exams I will likely focus on the new Linux+ single exam scheduled to go live in April. My hope is there will be a “train-the-trainer” class for this new single exam (the current Linux+ certification requires passing two exams that were developed by the LPI). I have already created a worksheet, utilizing the Exam Objectives for this new certification exam.

Passed Pentest+; Next Up Network+ Retake.

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I certainly could have done better, but a pass is a pass (see pt0-001 Scoring Report ). I need to take the performance based questions with a more serious approach rather than leaving the exam booth early. You can read about the study resources I used on my December blog posting.

My next effort will focus on the recent edition of the Network+ certification exam (N10-007) exam. I’m confident my study efforts won’t need to be as involved as it was with the Pentest+ exam. I’ll do the same with that effort, adding resources used and developed to this blog posting. The first of these resources is the Worksheet that contains the exam objectives and provides space to enter thoughts and identify resources (typically web links). I use this as I prepare for the exam, identifying areas I need to work on updating my knowledge.

For this certification I would suggest utilzing the free video resources provided by Professor Messer. The full list of his videos relating to the N10-007 exam are available on YouTube.  Chris Bryant’s website is also useful in terms of providing free lessons on a variety of related areas of study.

I have noted in looking at forum postings that the performance based questions are challenging in that they may not work all that well. I remind those who are “time challenged” to skip these exam questions (they have uniformly appeared as the first few questions on exams), and knock off the remaining multiple choice questions first. For those taking the exam, I strongly recommend that you look at the February 2017 posting where I provide my thoughts (and include a couple of videos) discussing what I think is a very useful test taking technique.