Chapter 1. CompTIA Certification Exams

Terms you'll need to understand:

• Radio button

• Check box

• Careful reading

• Exhibits

• Multiple-choice question formats

• Process of elimination

Techniques you'll need to master:

• Preparing to take a certification exam

• Practicing to take a certification exam

• Making the best use of the testing software

• Budgeting your time

• Saving the hardest questions until last

• Guessing (as a last resort)

No matter how well prepared you might be, exam taking is not something that most people look forward to. In most cases, familiarity helps relieve test anxiety. You probably won't be as nervous when you take your fourth or fifth CompTIA certification exam as you'll be when you take your first one.

Whether it's your first exam or your tenth, understanding the finer points of exam taking (how much time to spend on questions, the setting you will be in, and so on) and the exam software will help you concentrate on the questions at hand rather than on the surroundings. Likewise, mastering some basic exam-taking skills should help you recognizeand perhaps even outsmartsome of the tricks and traps you are bound to find in several of the exam questions.

Besides explaining the CompTIA Security+ certification program, exam environment, and software, this chapter describes some proven exam-taking strategies you should be able to use to your advantage.