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thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

thinQcompass™

Tell us where you are standing and which way you want to go. We will lay out which certifications to take, in what order, and how long each one is likely to take you — including the ones we do not teach.

Plan my direction
Have a job in mind? Paste the details and we will read them

Paste the details of the position or offer — the requirements section is the part that matters. We will pull out the job title, the certifications it asks for, the experience and the pay, show you what we matched, and build the route from there.

Penetration Tester

Breaking into systems with permission, then writing the report that gets them fixed. Far more writing than films suggest.

$129,180Median pay
12 moYour horizon
8 hrsPer week
4Steps in range

Pay is the US Bureau of Labor Statistics median for Information Security Analysts, May 2025 — the occupation this job is counted inside, which is usually broader than the job title itself. Testers sit inside the broader information security analyst group. Study times are our own estimates for someone working 8 hours a week, and they are ranges for a reason.

Most postings for Penetration Tester name a bachelor's degree. Plenty of people hold this job without one, and certifications plus demonstrable experience are how they got there - but expect the résumé screen to be the hard part, not the interview.
Penetration Tester is not usually a first job. The realistic route is a SOC analyst or systems role first. Almost nobody starts in offence, and the testers worth hiring are the ones who defended first. The plan below is still the right study order for getting there - it is the timeline to the title that is longer than the timeline to the certifications.
1 further step sits past your 12-month horizon. It is shown so you can see the whole route; it is not lost, only later.

What are you aiming to earn?

$129,000
$62,000 $176,000

Penetration Tester reaches this. Its median is $129,180.

Your sequence

In order. Each step assumes the one above it.
Scroll the steps — the marker follows  
$62,890 · Computer Support Specialists $129,180 · Information Security Analysts

Both ends are US Bureau of Labor Statistics medians, May 2025. Everything between them is a straight line we drew, not data: nobody publishes pay per certification, and real pay moves when you change job, not when you pass an exam.

  1. 1

    CompTIA Network+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 1

    Vendor-neutral networking. The foundation almost every later path assumes you already have.

    ~$76,148 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
    Other ways to take this step
    • Cisco CCST Networking — if Network+ feels like too big a first step, this is the same ground at half the depth
  2. 2

    CompTIA Security+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 3

    The baseline security credential, and DoD 8140 approved - which is what unlocks federal and contractor roles.

    ~$89,406 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
    Other ways to take this step
    • Cisco CCST Cybersecurity — if you want to show security intent before you are ready to sit Security+
  3. 3

    CompTIA Linux+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 6

    Almost everything in cloud, security and automation is standing on Linux.

    ~$102,664 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
  4. 4

    CompTIA PenTest+

    3.2-4.4 months · from month 9

    Offensive testing with a DoD-approved credential behind it.

    ~$115,922 modelled Professional We teach this See dates →
    Other ways to take this step
    • EC-Council CHFI — if forensics appeals more than offence - narrower field, much less competition
Past your 12-month horizon
  1. 5

    OffSec OSCP

    6.7-11 months · from month 13

    The credential serious penetration testers are asked for. Brutal and hands-on; OffSec sell their own lab time and that is the only sensible way to prepare.

    ~$129,180 modelled Expert We do not teach this

    On the model, this is the step that reaches your $129,000 goal.

    Experience requirement. No experience requirement, but the exam is a 24-hour practical. Do not attempt it without months of lab time.

Start over Change my answers All course dates

Same interests, different destination

Change your answers

Nothing is saved and no account is needed. Your answers live in the page address.

What interests you?

Pick as many as apply. If you are not sure, pick the one you would read about on a Saturday.

Where you are now

Both of these change the plan. Experience especially — it decides what we skip and how fast we think you will move.

How much time you have

Be honest rather than optimistic. A plan built on hours you will not find is a plan you abandon in week five.

$62,000 $129,000 $176,000

Anything you already hold

Tick these and we will not sell you a course you do not need.

I already hold some certifications

Free, and it will tell you about certifications we do not sell. If the honest answer is that you need something we do not teach, the plan says so.