So I decided to start the OSCP. For those of you that don’t know, the OSCP is Offensive Security’s penetration testing certification. It’s considered the gold standard through HR filters when applying for jobs and a must-have for anybody who wants to become a penetration tester. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about the “try harder” method and how difficult the OSCP is when you use their training, so I decided to go about it a little bit smarter. Thanks to Tyler Ramsby, Heath Adams, and TCM Security, I’ve decided to study for the OSCP by using various different methods. In Tyler’s “How to Become an Ethical Hacker 2026” blog post, he recommended using the PNPT as well as hack-the-box CPTS in preparation for the OSCP. Now I realize that’s a lot of acronyms that I threw out there but let’s break it down a little bit.

The PNPT is TCM Security’s hands-on network hacking certification. It covers Active Directory, Linux privilege escalation, Windows privilege escalation, Enumeration, and OSINT. One of the areas where the PNPT shines the brightest is they actually walk you through setting up an Active Directory home lab to be able to practice the attacks that you’re learning. Yes of course you can Try Hack Me, Hack The Box, and Hack Smarter but there’s something to be said about actually setting up your own Active Directory environment and then trying to break it that helps with the learning process. The PNPT exam is a five-day exam which requires you to actually write a report of your findings and then what really sets it apart from other certifications is that you have to do a 15-minute debrief of that report as if you were giving an Exit Brief to an actual client. The PNPT comes in right under about $500, which makes it a really good supplement to your learning in preparation for the OSCP.

Now moving onto the CPTS. The CPTS is Hack The Box’s flagship penetration testing certification. It’s a 10-day exam plus you have to do a report. I realize I’m not breaking any ground here and you can find any of this information on numerous blogs, YouTube, or just a simple Google search. However most people will tell you that the depth of the CPTS far exceeds that of the OSCP. If for no other reason, the CPTS is a 10-day exam whereas the OSCP is a 24-hour exam. Now granted both tests are going to test your ability to perform a penetration test; however, given the fact that the OSCP is 24 hours, it tests your ability to handle pressure and time constraints. Whereas the CPTS you’ve got 10 days so you can have time to rabbit hole to get lost and still have time to recover. Also full disclosure, I haven’t taken any of these tests yet. This is just what I’ve read in Discord and Reddit and on numerous YouTube videos. However given the time constraint of the OSCP, and cost, I want to make sure that when I sit for this exam I am over prepared. The last thing I want to do is retake the exam or need to spend more money for the Learning Path because the OSCP is expensive. Although it may be the gold standard, particularly for the HR filters, it’s a $1,700 exam. I want to make sure that when I sit down for this exam, I am ready, I am prepared, I am confident, and I can handle that 24-hour domain. Given the depth of the CPTS, I want to go through the CPTS. I’m still debating whether or not I’m going to sit for it, but I want the knowledge so that when I actually sit for the OSCP it’s far easier and, generally speaking, I’m a better penetration tester.

And that’s where your cheat sheets come into play. Of course while you’re studying you’re going to take notes. You can use whatever note-taking application you want to use. I prefer Notion; that’s what I’m comfortable with. I enjoy using it but you can use whatever. What you need to do also is create cheat sheets. Your cheat sheets are quick reference and no nonsense. Here’s the code block, here are the flags, and here’s what the use case is for it so that you can quickly go through while you’re enumerating, while you’re attacking, while your privilege escalating, whatever it may be. Quickly go through your cheat sheets: what was that command, what was that flag, so that you don’t waste time and get bogged down, particularly on a 24-hour exam where time is not your friend.

So when do you start your cheat sheets? Start it from the moment you begin your preparation. As you learn something if you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey I’m probably not going to remember this,” you need to go ahead and create a note in your cheat sheet for that specific syntax, command flag, whatever it may be. I knew this but as I was studying I forgot my own lessons. I was so intent on keeping good notes, learning the material, that I forgot to go ahead and make my cheat sheets in parallel with my note-taking. What ended up happening was I got to the end of the week and I had done a week’s worth of studying but had done zero in terms of my cheat sheets. While doing the CPTS, there are exercises at the end of each module and at the end of each section. I got to the end of that section and I realized I hadn’t taken any of my notes and converted them into my cheat sheets. Now I was spending time going back through my notes, trying to find the flags, trying to find the syntax. It was a perfect example of what I don’t want to have happen to me when I’m actually sitting for the OSCP. Like I said, time is not my friend when you’re taking the OSCP. I want to be able to reference what I need quickly, get it down in the terminal, and then move on to the next thing. So I had to pause my learning, go back, and recreate my cheat sheets from my notes. It took me a couple of hours to go ahead and do that and figure out what I needed and what I didn’t need. It all could have been avoided if I had just done it from the start. Please do not follow my footsteps. Do as I say, not as I do. Do your cheat sheets while you’re learning.

One more note on this. One of the advantages to how the learning path for the CPTS is structured, as I said earlier, at the end of every section there are questions for you to answer based off of the knowledge that was provided in that section. Then at the end of every module there are labs for you to do. That is a good opportunity for you to test out your cheat sheets to make sure that you’ve got the right information in those cheat sheets. I’ve already discovered that there were commands or flags that I missed in my cheat sheet but again I would rather learn that early on instead of on test day when I’m going to be time constrained. Additionally those exercises at the end will help validate that the information on your cheat sheet is actually worthwhile.

Hopefully this helps and I’ll be back with another one!