Considering OSCP? Read This First

Last year, I passed the OSCP and this is a write-up to reflect a bit on the process. You’ll find plenty of write-ups and talks on the OSCP certification with titles like “How I passed the OSCP-exam with max points in X hours on my first try”. This is not one of those. This is the write-up I was looking for before I started my own OSCP certification. The one trying to summarize the OSCP certification course as a whole so other cybersecurity professionals can decide whether or not it’s worth it for themselves.

As a disclaimer to the following, I’ll just say that the following is very colored by my own personal opinions and personal experiences. You are free to disagree with anything I say in this write-up. But I thought I would make this, as I have some thoughts on the course that I have not seen anyone else bring up out there. I will be focusing on a few of the negative sides of the experience as they don’t get mentioned much in the usual posts on the topic. It seems to me that people get a slightly rose-colored view of the experience if they manage to get through the certification.

The Good — A Great Foundation

Well-rounded course with lots of different, relevant topics, resulting in a very thorough foundation for cybersecurity professionals, not only pentesters. Below I have just thrown a few points on the great…