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Daily Exercise
Start doing light to moderate exercise each day. Physical activity improves blood flow to the brain, reduces anxiety, and boosts focus — all of which directly benefit exam performance.
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CompTIA Certification
Exam Strategy Guide
Your Complete Playbook for Exam Day Success
Most of what we teach are CompTIA exams. As a result, this guide is tailored toward CompTIA specifically. Having said that, you will find that most of the advice mentioned here is pertinent to any IT exam. This guide consolidates the most important physical, mental, and tactical strategies for passing your certifications exam. Think of exam day like game day — the more you practice the game, the better you play it. As a result, if you take away only one thing from this guide, remember that practice questions are the equivalent of playing the game. The students I work with that do the most practice tests are the students that have the highest likelihood of passing their test. There is no shortcut.
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Physical & Day-of Preparation
Your body and brain are your greatest tools. How you treat them in the days leading up to the exam directly affects your performance.
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Watch Your Diet
Eat clean and avoid heavy or greasy foods in the days before the exam. Your brain needs quality fuel. Avoid foods that cause energy crashes or digestive discomfort.
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Night Before Hydration
The night before the test: try not to drink any water 2 hours before bed. If you must, just sip. This helps you sleep through the night without waking up for bathroom trips, so you arrive rested.
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Morning of the Exam
Eat a light breakfast — enough to feel fueled, but not so much that you feel full or sluggish. Arrive at the test center early. If you can, take a short walk beforehand to clear your head and reduce nerves.
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Study Strategy
Preparation is everything. These are the non-negotiable study habits that will set you up for success.
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Maximize Practice Questions
Study as many practice test questions as possible. Game day is a test — we want to play the game as much as possible before it counts. Aim to complete over 1,000 practice questions to train for the test format, build stamina, and sharpen your ability to identify keywords and context clues.
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Watch ALL Professor Messer Videos
Watch ALL of the Professor Messer videos for your specific CompTIA exam. This is non-negotiable. These videos are one of the best free resources available and cover every exam objective in a clear, exam-focused way.
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Exam-Day Tactics
How you approach the exam itself is just as important as how you studied. Follow these tactical rules during the test.
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Save PBQs for Last
Performance-Based Questions (PBQs) are the most time-consuming part of the exam. Skip them on your first pass and come back to them at the end. The majority of the exam is multiple choice — pick the low-hanging fruit first, since PBQs are less likely to yield a correct answer under time pressure.
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Trust Your First Guess
Your instincts are often right. Trust your first answer. Overthinking and second-guessing frequently leads to changing a correct answer to an incorrect one.
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Limit Question Review
Do not go back and review every question. Only go back to questions you flagged — and try to flag only one or two per section. You are tired at the end of the test, and fatigue is the worst state in which to reconsider answers. Trust your first pass through.
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Process of Elimination
Actively eliminate incorrect answer options by finding specific reasons why they do not fit the scenario. Narrowing from 4 options to 2 significantly improves your odds, even if you must guess between the remaining choices.
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Strategic Reading
Break questions down sentence-by-sentence. Paraphrase each sentence in your own words before selecting an answer. Full comprehension of the question is required to select the right answer.
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The Technician Rule
If a technician touches something and a problem immediately appears, the problem is almost certainly connected to what they touched. Look for recent changes as the root cause before exploring other possibilities.
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The Power of Context & Keywords
This is one of the most critical sections of the entire guide. Read it carefully and internalize these concepts.
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Keywords Are Everything
Be on the lookout for keywords and context clues in every question. If you misunderstand the context of a question, you will get it wrong — even if you know the material perfectly. Read slowly and deliberately.
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Avoid Unsupported Assumptions
Be on the lookout for answer options that make assumptions not supported by the question. Do not pick an answer that introduces information or conclusions that are not grounded in what the question actually states.
Critical Example: How Context Changes Everything
Pay close attention to the wording of Option 1 vs Option 2 below. One small word changes the entire correct answer.
Option 1 — Scenario A
You THINK that the router is not working because someone MIGHT have pressed the reset button on the back of the router and reset it to factory settings.
What is the next step in the CompTIA Troubleshooting Process?
- A. Identify the Problem
- B. Document Findings
- C. Develop a Theory of Probable Cause ✓ CORRECT ANSWER
- D. Implement a plan of action to restore the router to its original configuration and place the router in a lock box
- E. Test your theory of probable cause
Option 2 — Scenario B
You DETERMINED that the router is not working because someone pressed the reset button on the back of the router and reset it to factory settings.
What is the next step in the CompTIA Troubleshooting Process?
- A. Identify the Problem
- B. Document Findings
- C. Develop a Theory of Probable Cause
- D. Implement a plan of action to restore the router to its original configuration and place the router in a lock box ✓ CORRECT ANSWER
- E. Test your theory of probable cause
CompTIA Troubleshooting Methodology
- 1.Identify the Problem
- 2.Develop a Theory of Probable Cause
- 3.Test Your Theory of Probable Cause
- 4.Implement a Plan of Action to Fix the Issue
- 5.Verify Full System Functionality
- 6.Document Findings and Outcomes
Why the answers differ
KEY WORD: “THINK” and “MIGHT” — You only have a theory, not a confirmed cause. You have not yet tested it. Therefore the next step is Develop a Theory of Probable Cause.
KEY WORD: “DETERMINED” — The cause is now confirmed. The theory has already been tested and proven. Therefore the next step is Implement a Plan of Action to fix it.
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Quick Reference Checklist
Use this checklist before and during your exam day.
Days Before the Exam
- Exercise daily (light to moderate)
- Watch your diet — quality fuel for your brain
- Complete 1,000+ practice questions
- Watch ALL Professor Messer videos for your exam
Night Before
- Lay out everything you need for the next morning
- Stop drinking water 2 hours before bed (sip only if needed)
- Get to bed at a reasonable hour — rest is your edge
Morning of the Exam
- Eat a light breakfast — fueled but not stuffed
- Arrive at the test center early
- Take a short walk to clear your head before entering
During the Exam
- Skip PBQs on first pass — return to them at the end
- Trust your first guess on every question
- Flag only 1-2 questions to revisit — do not over-review
- Use process of elimination on every question
- Break each question down sentence-by-sentence
- Spot keywords: THINK / MIGHT vs DETERMINED / CONFIRMED
- Reject answer options that make unsupported assumptions
- If a technician touched it, that is where to start looking
Some of my videos on strategy
You have prepared for this. Trust your training. Go pass that exam.
Good luck!