I **love** taking certs. There aren't that many things that are more exciting than that - I love the prep because that's how I learn new things, and I love the thrill of sitting the exam itself, oddly enough. And obviously, passing the exam is always incredibly gratifying - and being me, I like that kind of validation. But when it comes to ISC² certs, I have always shied away from them because, well, I don't have 5+ years' experience required for CISSP (yes, *HR people*, that's the minimum requirement, so would you kindly stop putting CISSP as a requirement for entry-level positions?), and anything else on the list was more or less not applicable. In any case, at some point, I decided to pursue the CGRC certification... which was soon after put on hold indefinitely for various reasons. I did register as a candidate with ISC², though, which is why one day, I suddenly got an email about a totally free-of-charge certification exam that I could take as a Candidate - Certified in Cybersecurity (CC). If by some chance you have read [this post](https://www.hackycat.com/posts/pentest-my-experiences-with-a-beta-test-exam/), you know that I love a good cert deal, so obviously I registered for the exam. ## Prep? No prep? Nah, prep! First things first, I looked up some exam questions to see what exactly I was getting into. Turns out, CC is _very_ entry-level, to the point of me questioning if sitting this exam would be considered cheating my way into ISC² membership - after all, I have taught all that stuff at some point. **By the way**: you *cannot* cheat your way into anything, and should never even try because cheating is for losers, and losers don't get good jobs. Anyway. Even though the prep wasn't necessary, I still decided to watch some videos on Udemy - as chance would have it, they had a sale going on (surprise-surprise). I found [this course](https://www.udemy.com/course/certifiedincybersecurity/), purchased it, and listened through most of the lectures whilst walking on the treadmill (got to get those steps in, you know). Side note: I'm in no way affiliated with the instructor and this 'review' is not paid for in any way, but the course is fantastic, and anyone who is willing to start their career in cybersecurity should definitely check it out. Moreover, people who already have a lot of knowledge across all the exam domains can also benefit from the course. Did you know that most guard dogs are trained to attack those who run away from them, but otherwise they will just try to corner the intruder to prevent them from getting away? All that and more can be found in the course! Also, the course added **more** fire suppression information to my 'weird knowledge' bank. ![A low-res cat looking impressed](https://res.cloudinary.com/ddbmrer46/image/upload/v1720262357/photo_2024-07-06_12-38-35_tw7y9o.jpg) ## The D Day You know what makes this exam the most difficult yet? The fact that apparently, ISC² doesn't consider online proctored exams to be strict enough, and the local Pearson Vue testing centre doesn't proctor this particular organisation's exams, which is a bummer and the only reason I had to travel to Oslo. ![Godverdomme mouse](https://res.cloudinary.com/ddbmrer46/image/upload/v1720262354/photo_2024-07-06_12-38-31_2_xxtr6k.jpg) Now, I *strongly dislike* Oslo. It's loud, crowded, and generally hard to navigate - especially considering I get lost all the time. On top of that, travelling there by car requires charging along the way, unless the weather is perfect and the road is dry - which wasn't the case. And just to make matters just a tiny bit worse, I'm just in the middle of getting my driving licence, which means that legally, I'm not allowed to drive, which puts the entire stress of making the round trip onto my husband, beloved of all™. See where I'm going with it? Yep. Having got up at 7 in the morning, we managed to make it to Oslo in... roughly 4.5 hours, including the time it took to charge up the car on the way? Sounds about right. The exam was set to begin at 13.30, which meant I had to arrive at 13.00 at the latest... and at 12.30 we found ourselves still stuck in the traffic jam we had been stuck in for the past 30 minutes. Ambiguous road signs aside (we're electric, are we allowed in the public transport lane? Are we not? Why is that Tesla not using that lane? What's going on?), we managed to find an alternative way to the centre, which saved us don't know how long, but in any case I wasn't late for the appointment, which was a good thing - and then we met our proctor. ## Proctors are PEOPLE O_O If you have read [this post](https://www.hackycat.com/posts/proctored-exams/), then you know that online proctors are hardly friendly. They might snap at you, they might struggle to make themselves clear, and well, you don't see them, but they see you, which makes it a bit one-sided and weird. ![uncomfortable German dog](https://res.cloudinary.com/ddbmrer46/image/upload/v1720265538/photo_2024-07-06_13-31-39_jxkk37.jpg) Turns out, real-life proctors are very visible and can even smile! There was no bossing around, no rudeness, the dude just calmly told me what to do to register for the exam, and that was it. No stress involved, no misunderstandings, and even a high degree of tolerance to me drawing something dumb on the provided piece of laminated paper after I'd delivered the exam: I didn't see that the proctor was standing next to me and just, well, continued doing my thing lol. ![shocker gif, dunno know who the dude is](https://res.cloudinary.com/ddbmrer46/image/upload/v1720265148/shocker_qcbqmn.gif) Not sure where I'm going with this one, but anyway, yeah, either I got lucky with a proctor who didn't bitch me out for not placing my palm on the reader correctly on the first go (apparently, I can't even do that right), or they are just better in real life. ## Memmbership! Recognition! Badge! Well, basically, the heading says it all - after I delivered my exam, I was given a piece of paper stating that I'd provisionally passed it, meaning that my result could be subject to forensic evaluation, and the next day I received an email confirming that I'd been awarded ISC² membership, and that now I can claim my badge. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like CC comes with a physical certification like those CompTIA issues, but I do have the digital version, so here it is :3 ![CC certificate](https://res.cloudinary.com/ddbmrer46/image/upload/v1720266044/Screenshot_2024-07-06_134019_qv7hjl.png) The end :3