I wanted to create this video to show older, more mature people that they are not at the end of the line. I want to show them that they have immense value to a business, an organization, or the world because of their decades of experience and extensive accomplishments.
If I passed the certification exam at age 60, you can pass the exam. The only thing special about me is that I come from a generation that takes pride in working hard and a job well done. I come from parents who worked hard to get ahead and always offered value in return for wages.
Take it from this 60-year-old man who just passed the ISC2 CC cybersecurity exam, who was told it was for tech folks 30 years younger –
If I can do it, you can do it too.
#1 – JUST LIKE HIGH SCHOOL…ONLY LONGER
Learning stuff in your 50s and 60s is just like in high school, but it just takes a little longer for the concepts to stick in your brain.
What I mean by that is, you have to dust off the cobwebs and teach your brain to create new neural connections to the information in your head.
As a person who has experienced many different things in life, you have most likely learned to conceptualize information and put it into real-life scenarios for better understanding.
Remember how you couldn’t wrap your head around certain concepts in sociology, calculus, or history? You weren’t able to ingest the information when you were in high school because you hadn’t experienced anything of real substance related to business.
Now you have, just give yourself time to absorb the information, let it marinate in your head, and create an active memory that you can recall during test time.
#2 – BELIEVE YOU CAN
Success starts long before you get a passing grade on the exam. It begins before you sit down with a pile of books or study materials.
Success starts when you have the idea and decide, “I can do this.”
Don’t focus on the challenges you expect to face. Please don’t focus on the people who will disagree or try to talk you out of it.
Focus on the belief that it’s possible and you have everything you need to get it done. Personally speaking, I tend to reject anything that is overtly pessimistic. I try not to let those thoughts enter my mind and influence my behavior or beliefs.
I look at the past and recognize that #1 I’m still here, and #2 that means that I have survived things that I once thought were impossible.
If you don’t believe from the get-go (onset) that you can do it, it’s going to be pretty hard to convince yourself later when you’re studying foreign concepts, vocabulary, and acronyms you have never heard of before.
{honestly, I’m amazed at the stuff I now know that I didn’t know two months ago!]
#3 – HOW TO START
Now let’s get into actually how it’s done. Let me preface this by saying first that I am studying for a CompTIA Security+ certification. That is an internationally recognized certification.
It’s also one that most government agencies or publicly traded companies expect IT personnel to have to grant root access to file or data servers.
The CompTIA Security+ certification is similar to the ISC2 CC certification, and it’s also identical to the Google Cybersecurity Certificate.
If you study hard and well for any of these, you can take the comparable exam for the other certificates or certifications. The core information and the focus on cybersecurity domains are the same.
That said, I had spent a month studying for the Security+ exam, then I made a lateral move and took the Google cybersecurity course on Coursera. Then I learned of the free training and free certification at ISC Square for the CC or Certified in CyberSecurity.
I went through the training at ISC Square, took the practice test, and then completed an online test under time limits. I also took the proctor test at Pearson VUE.
HOW I STARTED STUDYING
I am all about using free resources for training and learning. I started by searching Google and YouTube, and I found Professor Messer’s Security+ training videos. They are freely available on YouTube, and there are about 121 videos. They range from 5 to about 18 minutes, with the longest video taking about 18.
To expedite viewing the videos, I often watch them at 1.25 or 1.50 times the normal speed. This allowed me to get through the content faster.
It also encouraged me to ignore distractions and focus on the materials.
Many times, I had to rewatch the videos to allow the new concepts to sink in.
I have an IT background, so I connected the relevant concepts to duties and responsibilities I handled and was involved in a decade earlier.
It gave more clarity to the situations I dealt with back then, regarding server malware denial of service attacks and other things I survived back in my it guy days.
I paid for Prof Messer’s study notes and practice exams. I took a practice exam and scored 60%.
GOOGLE CYBERSECURITY
The Google cybersecurity certificate course on Coursera states that it takes up to 6 months to complete. I finished the course in 5 weeks.
Like Professor Messer’s YouTube videos, I watched the training videos on Google and Coursera at a rate of 1.25 to 1.5 times the normal speed.
I have to admit that I got spoiled by the production quality of the Google cybersecurity course. I was impressed by the speakers, the locations, the quality of the information, the real-life perspective placed on the learning objectives, and everything else about it.
It is a comprehensive learning lesson about various cybersecurity topics. It offers a wide berth and an even wider breath of experience, but does not go very deep.
There are a lot of subjects, but the coverage is very top-notch. As a newbie, it’s a great introduction to cybersecurity, and it’s also very reassuring.
Discussing how cybersecurity analysts can come from many different walks of life and have completely different backgrounds, some technical and many not technical at all
ISC2 FREE TRAINING
Around the time I was finishing up the Google cybersecurity course, I heard about a free training program and a free certification program with ISC Square.
As soon as I completed the Google Cybersecurity Certificate course, I started reviewing the certifications on ISC2. One of the highly regarded and internationally recognized service security certificates is the CISSP, which is comparable to the CISM.
ISC2 is the entity behind the CISSP, so when I heard about the CC certification by ISC2, I was very interested.
I took an assessment for the CC certification on the ISC2, and I scored about 70%. I completed the free training offered on the website. They focused on five of the eight domains related to cybersecurity.
I finished taking the training in 2.5 weeks, then I took a timed online test that mimicked the actual Proctor Exam. I came in at about 80% and that’s when I scheduled my Proctor test at Pearson VUE for the ISC2 certified in cybersecurity CC certification.
While I was waiting for my exam date, I started studying GRC because that’s the area of security I wanted to focus on. I found two low-cost courses or training videos on Udemy for under $50
GOVERNANCE RISK AND COMPLIANCE
I started watching videos on GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), a very non-technical field in cybersecurity.
It has to do with understanding different national standards, implementing security controls, and complying with rules and regulations designed to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information (CIA TRIAD).
As I mentioned, I have been spoiled by the production value associated with the Google cybersecurity course on Coursera, and I was not impressed with the delivery Style of the GRC videos I purchased on Udemy. I got halfway through and swapped over to do a refresher on the ISC2 CC training videos.\
SECURITY+ IS THE GOAL
The Security+ CompTIA certification has always been my primary focus. Everything I’ve done so far is preparing me for that exam.
I’m taking special note of the more challenging areas of the ISC2 CC exam, and now I’m focusing on them in preparation for the CompTIA Security+ exam.
Obviously, at over $400 for the exam fee, the CompTIA Security+ exam is a significant investment in personal growth and education. I have no intention of taking this exam twice.
So, now that I’ve earned my Google Cybersecurity certificate and my ISC2 CC certification, how do I continue preparing for the CompTIA Security+ exam?
Three ways:
- I have one more practice exam from Professor Messer. When I purchased the bundle, I received three exams: A, B, and C.
- I’ll rewatch Professor Messer’s Security+ training videos, but only the ones relevant to addressing my weak points. That will cut down my study time.
- I’m going to review all my notes.
KEY LEARNING TIPS TO PASS ANY CYBERSECURITY CERTIFICATION EXAM
- Put learning objectives in real-life scenarios to help manage the concepts behind the standards, rules, and procedures.
- Take time away from the books and videos to recall the information you’ve learned in a casual setting.
- Take notes. If you’re watching a video or a splash screen, take screenshots of the information. Put it inside a binder to study. Review and rewrite the notes. First, rewrite the notes as they are, and then rewrite the notes by rephrasing the information and putting it in your own words. The truest indication of whether you understand something is your ability to explain it to someone else.
- Understand that cybersecurity is about tech but its mostly about people, what they do, who they behave, how they are influenced, form routines, avoid work, get angry, become resentful, do immoral things, rebel against society, refuse accountability, etc. look at everything through the lens of “how people act and react” given a particular set of circumstances, and you’ll develop a more firm grasp on cybersecurity concepts.
- Don’t let doubt creep in. It will try. Believe me, it will try. To fight it, set smaller, manageable goals. Give yourself a succession of small wins to boost your confidence.
- Understand the value you bring to any profession as an older, more experienced, and more mature person. Kids are kids, and kids will often make immature decisions based on emotion and not business sense. You’ve been around and you know how to avoid those pitfalls. You also have a larger and deeper databank of experience to draw from to make quicker decisions.
- Embrace AI. There are free courses and YouTube videos to familiarize yourself with AI, Generative AI, GPTs, and APIs. Learn about prompting. You don’t have to become an SME, Subject Matter Expert, just become someone who can have a casual discussion about AI. AI can help you study for the exam. Just ask it.
- Focus on small digestible pieces of information. Think of cybersecurity like the human body. The body is composed of several different smaller systems. Each system has many smaller organs. Each organ has smaller parts. Start small and work your way up.
- Understand that the grand plan of cybersecurity is to protect data and make it accessible when needed. Anything that blocks, exposes, or endangers data is a risk. Risks have to be managed.
- Same thing, different name. As an older person, many aspects of studying for cybersecurity will be familiar, but different. You’ve seen it before, but it was called something else. The concepts are the same, but now it’s applied to the electronic transmission, use, and storage of information (data)
BONUS TIP - Stick to what works. Rote learning (repetition); conceptualization; eidetic learning, mnemonics, acronyms, quiet study environment, etc. These are all tried and true ways to boost your comprehension when studying. Chances are you will not learn by watching videos in your sleep, hypnosis, or osmosis. Keep it ordinary if you want to have extraordinary results!
My video helps you gain confidence in yourself and your experience. And good luck to anyone over 50 or over 60 who is considering a career change or a lateral move. Whether you were recently let go from your job or you’re coming back from an early retirement, I believe in you; please believe in yourself.