Jill West said:

Wow, talk about white-knuckling your way through it--that was a lot of stuff going on to make the toughest CompTIA exam even more challenging! Thanks for sharing your study strategies. I've passed this one once but already dreading the next time I need to take it.

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Nathan Miller Masiku said:

smashed the exam today!
Huge thanks to CIN and a big shoutout to @Stephen Schneiter & CompTIA for making it happen.
On to the next one! SecurityX

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baylis said:

When I did the CISSP it stopped 100 question. Still waiting for DataX and CloudNetX voucher

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Gregory Childers said:

The only current CompTIA exams I haven't completed are Linux+ and DataX. I've got DataX scheduled within a month.

I also passed the CISSP with the minimum number of questions, which was 125 at the time before they shortened the exam by 25 questions last year.

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Gregory Childers said:

The only current CompTIA exams I haven't completed are Linux+ and DataX. I've got DataX scheduled within a month.

I also passed the CISSP with the minimum number of questions, which was 125 at the time before they shortened the exam by 25 questions last year.

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baylis said:

You can always do GIAC certification, much more challenging . ISC2 / ISACA / ComTIA are very good but the GIAC training goes deeper

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Gregory Childers said:

Exams are easy or difficult based on your level of experience. Two decades ago, I thought Security+ was easy. Now I find it incredibly simple after passing six different versions of the exam.

The second question is impossible to answer because all jobs are role-specific and have their own needs. A data scientist would have no need for A+ and an entry-level help desk employee would have no need for CloudNetX.

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precious said:

It really shows how deep experience makes a big difference.

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Jason M. Perretta said:

What would be your scale of CompTIA exams from #1 the hardest to the #10 the easiest?

And, if you were an IT organization looking for certifications - what would be your certification requirements for getting hired?

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Gregory Childers said:

Congratulations! In my opinion, SecX is a bit easier than PenTest+ because you don't have to know 50+ different tool sets. Good luck!

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MBA said:

Excellent job, Jason. Congrats. I have back problems so I can relate to taking exams through discomfort.

Best,
-Moez

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MBA said:

Well done! I found that exam to be the toughest CompTIA exam and was thrilled to pass it. I passed A+, N+, Sec+, PenTest+, CySA+, Data+, DataX, Cloud+, CISSP (passed after 100 questions). Remaining targets: Linux+, CloudNetX hopefully in 2026.

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Nathan Miller Masiku said:

smashed the exam today!
Huge thanks to CIN and a big shoutout to @Stephen Schneiter & CompTIA for making it happen.
On to the next one! SecurityX

Click to expand...

Jason M. Perretta said:

This has been quite the journey — one that started back in November!

Between work and life in general, I finally just said, "Screw it... I'm going to sit down with this material, digest it, take the exam, and pass it!"

Let me tell you — the Linux+ XK0-005 exam is not for the faint of heart. For someone with VERY LITTLE experience (aside from what’s needed for Network+), I was honestly surprised at how well I did.

I must've watched the Linux+ XK0-005 Train the Trainer videos at least three times, dissected the CompTIA objectives, used ChatGPT as my study partner (which sometimes went off the rails until I had to yell, “HEY! FOCUS ON…” ), and jumped in and out of several Linux VM distros just to get a feel for what I was getting myself into. In the end, I felt prepared and confident going into the exam.

On July 22, 2025, I sat for the Linux+ XK0-005 certification exam. I had 67 questions in total: 3 PBQs and 64 multiple-choice, with 90 minutes to complete them. I didn’t exactly take the test under ideal conditions either — I had a cortisone shot in my left knee the day before (7/21/25), and if you’ve ever experienced the flare-ups afterward... you know. I was gripping the desk during some parts of the test. But I muscled through it.

My strategy: I answered all the multiple-choice questions first, skipping the PBQs and marking them for review. Once I finished those, I had plenty of time left to circle back, carefully work through the PBQs, and then do a full review of the entire exam. I went question by question — reading, re-reading, marking answers, cross-referencing topics on my whiteboard, and analyzing each one thoroughly. I don’t usually recommend this strategy to my students (I’m a high school teacher who offers CompTIA certification classes), but in this case… it paid off. After completing the post-exam survey, the screen popped up: “CONGRATULATIONS — YOU PASSED!”

If you’re new to Linux — stick with it. I did, and it paid off.

Click to expand...

Jason M. Perretta said:

This has been quite the journey — one that started back in November!

Between work and life in general, I finally just said, "Screw it... I'm going to sit down with this material, digest it, take the exam, and pass it!"

Let me tell you — the Linux+ XK0-005 exam is not for the faint of heart. For someone with VERY LITTLE experience (aside from what’s needed for Network+), I was honestly surprised at how well I did.

I must've watched the Linux+ XK0-005 Train the Trainer videos at least three times, dissected the CompTIA objectives, used ChatGPT as my study partner (which sometimes went off the rails until I had to yell, “HEY! FOCUS ON…” ), and jumped in and out of several Linux VM distros just to get a feel for what I was getting myself into. In the end, I felt prepared and confident going into the exam.

On July 22, 2025, I sat for the Linux+ XK0-005 certification exam. I had 67 questions in total: 3 PBQs and 64 multiple-choice, with 90 minutes to complete them. I didn’t exactly take the test under ideal conditions either — I had a cortisone shot in my left knee the day before (7/21/25), and if you’ve ever experienced the flare-ups afterward... you know. I was gripping the desk during some parts of the test. But I muscled through it.

My strategy: I answered all the multiple-choice questions first, skipping the PBQs and marking them for review. Once I finished those, I had plenty of time left to circle back, carefully work through the PBQs, and then do a full review of the entire exam. I went question by question — reading, re-reading, marking answers, cross-referencing topics on my whiteboard, and analyzing each one thoroughly. I don’t usually recommend this strategy to my students (I’m a high school teacher who offers CompTIA certification classes), but in this case… it paid off. After completing the post-exam survey, the screen popped up: “CONGRATULATIONS — YOU PASSED!”

If you’re new to Linux — stick with it. I did, and it paid off.

Click to expand...

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Nathan Miller Masiku said:

smashed the exam today!
Huge thanks to CIN and a big shoutout to @Stephen Schneiter & CompTIA for making it happen.
On to the next one! SecurityX

Click to expand...

Jason M. Perretta said:

This has been quite the journey — one that started back in November!

Between work and life in general, I finally just said, "Screw it... I'm going to sit down with this material, digest it, take the exam, and pass it!"

Let me tell you — the Linux+ XK0-005 exam is not for the faint of heart. For someone with VERY LITTLE experience (aside from what’s needed for Network+), I was honestly surprised at how well I did.

I must've watched the Linux+ XK0-005 Train the Trainer videos at least three times, dissected the CompTIA objectives, used ChatGPT as my study partner (which sometimes went off the rails until I had to yell, “HEY! FOCUS ON…” ), and jumped in and out of several Linux VM distros just to get a feel for what I was getting myself into. In the end, I felt prepared and confident going into the exam.

On July 22, 2025, I sat for the Linux+ XK0-005 certification exam. I had 67 questions in total: 3 PBQs and 64 multiple-choice, with 90 minutes to complete them. I didn’t exactly take the test under ideal conditions either — I had a cortisone shot in my left knee the day before (7/21/25), and if you’ve ever experienced the flare-ups afterward... you know. I was gripping the desk during some parts of the test. But I muscled through it.

My strategy: I answered all the multiple-choice questions first, skipping the PBQs and marking them for review. Once I finished those, I had plenty of time left to circle back, carefully work through the PBQs, and then do a full review of the entire exam. I went question by question — reading, re-reading, marking answers, cross-referencing topics on my whiteboard, and analyzing each one thoroughly. I don’t usually recommend this strategy to my students (I’m a high school teacher who offers CompTIA certification classes), but in this case… it paid off. After completing the post-exam survey, the screen popped up: “CONGRATULATIONS — YOU PASSED!”

If you’re new to Linux — stick with it. I did, and it paid off.

Click to expand...