IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[BlaxOps]

landed an IT analyst/help desk job for the gov about 2 months ago. Before that i was a security analyst (7 months) and before that also help desk (3 years).

Got A+, Net+, sec+, Pentest, ITIL 4, and linux lpi certs. about 7 more classes to go at wgu's cyber bachelors, and gonna get SSCP and Cysa before the year is up.

trying to play my cards right to get back into a security focused role, but not sure. my plan is to work on my portfolio, SIEMs, vulnerabiltiy management, and building a REST API. maybe work on some cloud stuff as well, ive heard a little about terraform? Im looking for feedback man, this help desk is pure foolishess...got people 60+ years old bytching about a damn VGA cable and how to hook it upi aint go this hard to hook up monitors

Quite a broad base of certs you have/looking to get. Like posted above, I'd stick to one industry. Within the government, IT/Cyber is compartmentalized, so you won't be able to truly apply your skillset. The technology is older and quite frustrating. Work on building up your experience in a field to boost your worth rather than being a jack of all trades.

 

[NeilCartwright]

I assume SSCP and CySA are part of the bachelors otherwise I would say scrap them and focus on tooling specific certifications to easily break back into cybersecurity than working as a SOC analyst.

You can go the long route and try to learn a bunch of stuff (Splunk, Akamai, Cisco, Crowdstrike, Okta, etc) + AWS. If you want to be a pentesting then learn some python and get your OSCP and ignore the below:

I sound like a broken record, but an easier route is to learn Microsoft security tooling certifications. Its more mature than AWS inbuilt security and is rapidly evolving in terms of SIEM (Sentinel), identity (Entra), XDR and vulnerability management (Cloud and Endpoint), Compliance and DLP, and even their networking/application security (Azure WAF and Firewall) is rapidly maturing.

This will be much easier than learning 10 different vendors products and is being rapidly adopted across enterprises since most already use some combination of Microsoft device management, identity, OS, cloud, and applications. This will be 1 of Microsoft's drivers for revenue going forward especially now since they take it way more serious than say 5 years ago. I expect them to eat up marketshare in all these domains as they've done with Azure.

Speaking from personal experience. After graduating, you will not lack for cybersecurity roles or compensation if you were to say obtain a sc-200, sc-100, and if you felt really good ms500 or az500. If you want to tilt to compliance/identity then sc-900, sc-300, sc-400 are also decent certs to look into

I appreciate the response, I’m going to look into sc 200, sc 100 and either ms 500 or as 500. Yea as part of the bachelors they make you get a bunch of certs- the last major ones are SSCP and Cysa. All in all, the certs have been ok (to me) bc it’s just learning. And I haven’t had to pay out of pocket so I lucked out on that.

So looking forward I’m trying to go back to the private sector and get a regular role in security. Tbh it can be a SOC, security analyst, vulnerability management etc. What next steps should I take at this time?


Off the top of my head, I was thinking to get experience with Sentinel One, but I could be wrong.

 

[papa pimp]

I appreciate the response, I’m going to look into sc 200, sc 100 and either ms 500 or as 500. Yea as part of the bachelors they make you get a bunch of certs- the last major ones are SSCP and Cysa. All in all, the certs have been ok (to me) bc it’s just learning. And I haven’t had to pay out of pocket so I lucked out on that.

So looking forward I’m trying to go back to the private sector and get a regular role in security. Tbh it can be a SOC, security analyst, vulnerability management etc. What next steps should I take at this time?


Off the top of my head, I was thinking to get experience with Sentinel One, but I could be wrong.

Best advice would be to just search on LinkedIn and see what security tooling you have interest in gets the most hits in your job market. Grab a few listings and have ChatGPT compile the key skills in composite then use those as guides. I personally shill Microsoft's stuff because its integrated and has the backing of a 2 trillion dollar company but the options are endless:

 

[ViShawn]

Using ChatGPT to refine your resume

 

[TRBM]

landed an IT analyst/help desk job for the gov about 2 months ago. Before that i was a security analyst (7 months) and before that also help desk (3 years).

Got A+, Net+, sec+, Pentest, ITIL 4, and linux lpi certs. about 7 more classes to go at wgu's cyber bachelors, and gonna get SSCP and Cysa before the year is up.

trying to play my cards right to get back into a security focused role, but not sure. my plan is to work on my portfolio, SIEMs, vulnerabiltiy management, and building a REST API. maybe work on some cloud stuff as well, ive heard a little about terraform? Im looking for feedback man, this help desk is pure foolishess...got people 60+ years old bytching about a damn VGA cable and how to hook it upi aint go this hard to hook up monitors

Did skillstorm help you land a job?

 

[NeilCartwright]

Did skillstorm help you land a job?

yea the program i did actually did. i had to apply on my own but the title/experience i put on my resume def helped me get my current role

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

brehs I’m looking to get into computer/ tech refurbishing and repair… or possibly tech support .. I’m currently work at Amazon but quitting any day now

The first cert I should get is the comptia A+ right?

If so what’s the best place to study? Ebooks/courses/etc and is there a way to get them for free

 

[xXMASHERXx]

brehs I’m looking to get into computer/ tech refurbishing and repair… or possibly tech support .. I’m currently work at Amazon but quitting any day now

The first cert I should get is the comptia A+ right?

If so what’s the best place to study? Ebooks/courses/etc and is there a way to get them for free

Before quitting Amazon, have you checked to see if they offer any kind of educational assistance or networked with anyone in the IT department about potentially moving into an entry level role? I would look into those before quitting. The resources that should be available to you at Amazon are going to outweigh anything you can get for free.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

Before quitting Amazon, have you checked to see if they offer any kind of educational assistance or networked with anyone in the IT department about potentially moving into an entry level role? I would look into those before quitting. The resources that should be available to you at Amazon are going to outweigh anything you can get for free.

Yes they only pay for specific courses they approve.. I didn’t really like their choices. I haven’t checked since a few years ago tho.. maybe they have a better program now


I don’t know anyone in IT.. I work in fufillment center… thanks for the pointers tho

I just wanted to see what’s free before spending money on books to study..

I don’t plan on quitting until I find a new position..

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

Amazon has a computer programmer program..I’ll look into it but I’ve done a similar program before and it wasn’t for me… the others are Human Resources and trucking etc.

 

[Slic Ric]

Plenty of jobs in IT that don't actually do technical work. Who get paid just as much money. But without the added stress or continous ups killing. These positions normally support IT Departments. If you look up a company on LinkedIn you'll see a tons of made of job titles in the technology. These people mainly organize meetings or meet with vendors all day.

Is there a roadmap to get to IT project management? I'm currently Tech Support

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Is there a roadmap to get to IT project management? I'm currently Tech Support

Probably pick up a project management certification and make your resume sound like you're part of leadership of a project, then start applying

 

[BlaxOps]

Is there a roadmap to get to IT project management? I'm currently Tech Support

Just make sure you have a good understanding of IT/Cyber. Nothing worse than having a PM that doesnt know the field.

 

[JT-Money]

Is there a roadmap to get to IT project management? I'm currently Tech Support

Project Manager roles are being cut by companies to save money. They force Managers or technical personnel to manage their own projects. In addition to their other job duties. I haven't worked with any PM's at a company in years.

These ancillary support positions have weird job titles that almost sound made up. But they don't manage anything of importance.

 

[Silky Johnson]

My two cents... If you have the fundamentals stack (a+, net+, sec +) and at least a year in any field, you can at least get your foot in the door. As you get more experience, add in a role based cert from MSFT then go ham in the niche you choose.

More important than any degree or cert are the actual skills you pick up and display. I'm into Systems Administration right now and I heard more questions about powershell scripting for automation, Azure AD for IAM, intune, DNS, VMware, etc during the interview process than my education or cert stack.

The game is flooded with paper techs so what you can actually do is a way to stand out. Set up a sandbox, play around & master a few enterprise level technologies while fine tuning your soft skills (customer service, time management skills especially} and you should be gtg.