Summary
On August 2025, I took and passed the Offsec’s Certified Professional Plus (OSCP+) certification exam!
The OSCP has always held a special significance for me. Before I even began studying cybersecurity, I was exploring the world of ethical hacking as a complete outsider, and the OSCP carried a certain aura. The way people talked about it made it seem like a monumental achievement, something reserved for only the most capable hackers. I remember thinking, āI wonder if I could ever become good enough to earn that certification.ā It wasnāt ambition so much as curiosity about whether I could even reach that level at all.
Still, I decided to pursue a career in offensive security. I completed my computer science degree while grinding through TryHackMe on the side. After graduating, I worked as a software engineer by day and studied on HTB Academy by night. Eventually, I earned the HTB CPTS certification and landed a role as an Application Security Engineer. Only then did the opportunity to attempt the OSCP finally present itself.
The best way I can describe the experience of tackling the OSCP is like returning to a starter area in an RPG after you’re in the mid-late game. Enemies that once felt overwhelming are now manageable (sometimes even trivial). And not because the challenges isn’t there, but because youāre simply over-leveled.
How it felt like.
This experience reinforced something I had gradually come to understand: the OSCP is, at its core, an entry-level certification designed to validate a solid grasp of foundational penetration testing skills. Itās not the impossible feat I once imagined, nor is it a badge of elite status. As you progress in cybersecurity and move along the DunningāKruger curve, you begin to see just how much more there is to learn… and how far away true mastery really is.
Anyway, hereās my video review of the OSCP from a non-beginnerās perspective:
Note
This post was written retroactively, as I didnāt create a blog post when the video was originally published.