Passed Pentest+ (barely)
A pass is a pass. Fortunate to say I made it through despite how challenging it was for me.
I had 66 multiple choice questions and four performance based scenarios (each scenario had four or more answers to fill or select).
I have no experience with pentesting. I do work as a SOC Analyst which did help me through this. That being said, there was a lot I learned and a lot I should have done to be better prepared. If I were to take it again, I would 100% focus more on syntax and how to read/decipher output from the various tools mentioned in the objectives. Scripting as well having had several question on it (mainly Bash and one or two were Python).
For those of you pursuing this certification, knowing scripts, syntax and reading output is very important. I think I had at least twenty or so questions on those. Knowing Nmap is important too but didn't get many questions on that. There was a mention in another thread about AI related questions. I only recall one that mentioned LLM.
My main resources used were the Sybex textbook, the six Dion practice tests and about half of the TryHackMe Pentest+ learning path.
Reading the Sybex textbook itself would not be enough for people like me. If you use this textbook and time and resources allow, go through the lab exercises. I did some which I feel helped and doing more would have helped even more.
The Dion practice tests were Ok. Not quite the same as the questions posed on the exam but worth it. A YouTube video series mentioned in another post posed the questions better.
I used the same tactics as previous when taking the exam:
- Skip the PBQs for after the MCQs. You get two hours and 45 minutes. For me, I had well over an hour left to complete the PBQs and was able to review flagged questions after that. If you have 66 questions and average 90 seconds per question, that's an hour and 39 minutes. Keep in mind there will be a number of questions you answer within 30 seconds so your average time per question could be quite a bit less.
- Eliminate incorrect answers to narrow the choices in situation you are not sure. If you can reduce it to 50/50, that's pretty good odds.
- Read the question/scenario carefully. I covered up the choices so I could give myself a chance to come up with the answer or specific terms/tools before looking at the options. Read the question twice or more if needed.
Best of luck to all!