How I Studied for CompTIA Security+ SY0-701
I passed CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 in April 2026 after about two weeks of medium-intensity studying.
This post is a quick breakdown of what I used, what helped most, and how I approached the exam prep.
Main Study Approach
The most useful part of my studying was using Claude as an interactive tutor.
Instead of only watching videos or reading notes, I worked through the official exam objectives concept by concept. For each topic, I had Claude explain the idea, answer follow-up questions, and quiz me until I understood it well enough to explain it back.
After practice exams, I imported my results and reviewed the areas I missed. That helped me focus on weak points instead of rereading everything equally.
Supplemental Resources
I also used more traditional Security+ resources:
- Professor Messer’s free YouTube course
- Andrew Ramdayal’s Security+ Udemy course
- Jason Dion’s practice exams
These were helpful for structure, repetition, and getting used to exam-style questions.
Prior Experience That Helped
I had already seen many of the concepts before through TryHackMe, HTB Academy, and cybersecurity coursework.
That previous exposure helped with topics like networking, authentication, basic attacks, risk, and security terminology.
What Worked Best
The biggest difference was active studying.
Watching videos helped, but the material stuck better when I had to answer questions, explain concepts back, and review missed practice questions. Using an AI tutor made that process faster because I could immediately ask follow-up questions when something did not click.
What I Would Do Differently
If I were doing it again, I would start practice questions even earlier and keep a running list of weak areas from day one.
Takeaway
Security+ gave me a stronger foundation in the security concepts that show up in IT and systems administration work: access control, endpoint security, network defense, incident response, risk, and policy.
The certification is not the end goal, but it is a useful foundation as I keep building toward IT, sysadmin, and cybersecurity-adjacent roles.