IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[I'mHigh]

Been studying my ass off for this A+ cert. My girls pops told me it's a good idea to get a cyber security certification too is he right brehs?

 

[↓R↑LYB]

I am taking a 5 day Certified Ethical Hacker class\test in Jan compliments of my employer

I will report back how the class was and how the test goes.
Wish me luck...

If it's not too late to switch, go for the OSCP course instead, especially since your job is paying for it. The CEH really don't teach you shyt. You'll learn some tools and the pen testing methodology, but you won't learn how to actually compromise a target host.

I went through the CEH book in like 2 days, that shyt was week as hell. Now the OSCP? . To pass the exam you VPN into a lab and have to compromise some hosts on the test network.

Been studying my ass off for this A+ cert. My girls pops told me it's a good idea to get a cyber security certification too is he right brehs?

If you're just starting with the A+, don't even worry about jumping into security. You have to at least learn networking extremely well before going down the security path.

on my way to ccna recertification..

just passed ccent..

going all the way to ccnp voice (my current job)
then ccna security
then ccnp (since its only 3 exams)

and so i can launch my side hustle job.. CCDA

i am doing all those because the company i work for might not get the client i support there whole voice network back...

i came in last year mid year and the voice side..

but the damage was already done

also i am hoping all those certs will make them stay... cuz i love my job..

i work from hom 75% of the time. even right now.

*edit*


dropping CCNP for CCDP

You all over the place breh. You doing voice, routing/switching, security, and design? Stick with one track and master that first. Especially since you're just starting out in the cisco certs.

 

[G-Zeus]

You all over the place breh. You doing voice, routing/switching, security, and design? Stick with one track and master that first. Especially since you're just starting out in the cisco certs.

already got my career as a network specialist.. job is payng for certs..


i used to be ccna


i'm going cert junkie

two of my ex co-worker who went cert junkie now makes 100k a year with bonus added up..

third tier tech.... i want that

 

[McTwerk]

If it's not too late to switch, go for the OSCP course instead, especially since your job is paying for it. The CEH really don't teach you shyt. You'll learn some tools and the pen testing methodology, but you won't learn how to actually compromise a target host.

I went through the CEH book in like 2 days, that shyt was week as hell. Now the OSCP? . To pass the exam you VPN into a lab and have to compromise some hosts on the test network.

Well, my employer wants a CEH on staff, are flying me to LA and paying for everything so I am not going to look that gift horse in the mouth.

I have looked into the OSCP and will do that on my own after this exam. It is relatively inexpensive for a certification course, but that test looks intense!
24 hours to move thru an environment and exploit varies systems.
Better have your shyt together for that test.

I disagree with your assessment of the CEH though. Can't base the entire curriculum off of one book. I have several books, come CBTs and will now take the course. It may not be as involved, from a purely hacking stand point, as the OSCP but there is some shyt to be learned in the CEH....

 

[↓R↑LYB]

already got my career as a network specialist.. job is payng for certs..


i used to be ccna


i'm going cert junkie

two of my ex co-worker who went cert junkie now makes 100k a year with bonus added up..

third tier tech.... i want that

My point is you're not going to remember any of it. The cert is good, but when you're in a technical interview for a security engineer and they ask you what's the steps to configure failover clustering on an ASA you're gonna be in there like

shyt I used to work at AT&T configuring OC-768 links. I did that shyt every day for like 2 years. 2 years later I couldn't configure that shyt to save my life because I forgot.

Having a bunch of Cisco certs don't really mean anything unless you have experience deploying whatever it is your cert is about. If your heart is voice, then do the voice certs. A CCIE voice will get your further (and with less stress) than a multiple CCNP ever will.

Well, my employer wants a CEH on staff, are flying me to LA and paying for everything so I am not going to look that gift horse in the mouth.

I have looked into the OSCP and will do that on my own after this exam. It is relatively inexpensive for a certification course, but that test looks intense!
24 hours to move thru an environment and exploit varies systems.
Better have your shyt together for that test.

I disagree with your assessment of the CEH though. Can't base the entire curriculum off of one book. I have several books, come CBTs and will now take the course. It may not be as involved, from a purely hacking stand point, as the OSCP but there is some shyt to be learned in the CEH....

All the CEH will teach you is theoretical knowledge. It'll teach you about metasploit and some of the modules (as well as other shyt), but you won't be able to exploit an entire system. That's why I said it's worthless.

As an pen tester, knowing what to use is totally different that actually knowing how to use a specific tool. And not only knowing how to use it, but knowing how to get from planning and prep to maintaining covert access. If they're paying for it, cool eat for free. But if you want to actually know how to exploit various systems the OSCP will teach you way more.

 

[G-Zeus]

My point is you're not going to remember any of it. The cert is good, but when you're in a technical interview for a security engineer and they ask you what's the steps to configure failover clustering on an ASA you're gonna be in there like

shyt I used to work at AT&T configuring OC-768 links. I did that shyt every day for like 2 years. 2 years later I couldn't configure that shyt to save my life because I forgot.

Having a bunch of Cisco certs don't really mean anything unless you have experience deploying whatever it is your cert is about. If your heart is voice, then do the voice certs. A CCIE voice will get your further (and with less stress) than a multiple CCNP ever will.

i get your point,

but here is mine..

i support a company where we do their voice/routing switching/security for them.

i am the prime for voice but if need be i do some routing.. i dont touch security because of lack of knowledge.

i am currently tier 2.. meaning i fix all problem.. but hey if i cant fix something (never happens) i open tier 3 tickets (which we do if it takes more then one hour)

job wise, i couldnt be happier because tier 2 or tier 3 can do the exact same fix..

but tier 3 gets 85k plus I peak at 80k (not getting that)

now the CCDA or CCDP, this is just for a side hustle

building system on the side.. starting with uc320 and uc 500 series

eventually go on my own.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

i get your point,

but here is mine..

i support a company where we do their voice/routing switching/security for them.

i am the prime for voice but if need be i do some routing.. i dont touch security because of lack of knowledge.

i am currently tier 2.. meaning i fix all problem.. but hey if i cant fix something (never happens) i open tier 3 tickets (which we do if it takes more then one hour)

job wise, i couldnt be happier because tier 2 or tier 3 can do the exact same fix..

but tier 3 gets 85k plus I peak at 80k (not getting that)

now the CCDA or CCDP, this is just for a side hustle

building system on the side.. starting with uc320 and uc 500 series

eventually go on my own.

I understand where you're coming from, but if your goal is to hit 6 figures, specialize breh. Pick a track and beast out in it. I have about 9 years of exp and about 6 of them are just security. The highest contract offer I've gotten was $115/hr on W2 (didn't get the job though )

 

[patscorpio]

Real talk this thread keeps me motivated.

Bless this thread yall.

IT is such a industry when i see other brothers doing good in the game keeps me motivated.

word as an IT professional this is one of my favorite threads on here...the other day i just interviewed for a Sr. systems analyst position by one of the top hospitals in the country brehs...shyt was no joke..whole thing was 3 hours...had to answer technical questions during the interview, had to do a written exam, and demonstrate skills at a terminal on access, sql server, and crystal reports....my brain was fried after this...if i get it the salary increase would put me near the 100K mark plus a signing bonus (my gf works at the same hospital and told me about the signing bonus part)..im just praying hard i get that callback interview

 

[No Homo]

word as an IT professional this is one of my favorite threads on here...the other day i just interviewed for a Sr. systems analyst position by one of the top hospitals in the country brehs...shyt was no joke..whole thing was 3 hours...had to answer technical questions during the interview, had to do a written exam, and demonstrate skills at a terminal on access, sql server, and crystal reports....my brain was fried after this...if i get it the salary increase would put me near the 100K mark plus a signing bonus (my gf works at the same hospital and told me about the signing bonus part)..im just praying hard i get that callback interview

Good luck breh..hope you get the job

 

[G-Zeus]

I understand where you're coming from, but if your goal is to hit 6 figures, specialize breh. Pick a track and beast out in it. I have about 9 years of exp and about 6 of them are just security. The highest contract offer I've gotten was $115/hr on W2 (didn't get the job though )

on the low.. some ccie + one extra cert probably took it.

i will definitly go as far as i can with the voice seeing i am already beasting in it.. i might even do a year of school for basic telecomunication support..

but everything sounds so interesting.. plus right now in my city.. double Professional certs is the way to go..

 

[↓R↑LYB]

word as an IT professional this is one of my favorite threads on here...the other day i just interviewed for a Sr. systems analyst position by one of the top hospitals in the country brehs...shyt was no joke..whole thing was 3 hours...had to answer technical questions during the interview, had to do a written exam, and demonstrate skills at a terminal on access, sql server, and crystal reports....my brain was fried after this...if i get it the salary increase would put me near the 100K mark plus a signing bonus (my gf works at the same hospital and told me about the signing bonus part)..im just praying hard i get that callback interview

Make sure you join the movement after you hit the 100k mark. It's one of the requirements .

 

[patscorpio]

Make sure you join the movement after you hit the 100k mark. It's one of the requirements .

 

[↓R↑LYB]

on the low.. some ccie + one extra cert probably took it.

i will definitly go as far as i can with the voice seeing i am already beasting in it.. i might even do a year of school for basic telecomunication support..

but everything sounds so interesting.. plus right now in my city.. double Professional certs is the way to go..

At this level, the certs is pretty irrelevant breh. Unless you're dealing with a Cisco partner. It's more about making sure you have the exact experience dealing with whatever it is they're looking for. They wanted like 10+ years of straight security experience. I knew I wasn't gonna get it but I was like fukk it.

Usually large scale deployments, redesign, and migrations involving multiple vendors. In security Cisco is a major player, but there's tons of Juniper, Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Checkpoint devices out there. Having a bunch of certs don't mean shyt if you've never had to work on routers and firewalls with thousands of lines of ACLs and migrated from R65 to ASA with 0 down time.

That interview had me like . shyt humbled the fukk outta the kid

 

[↓R↑LYB]

I WAS JOKING YOU GOD DAMN c00n

 

[G-Zeus]

At this level, the certs is pretty irrelevant breh. Unless you're dealing with a Cisco partner. It's more about making sure you have the exact experience dealing with whatever it is they're looking for. They wanted like 10+ years of straight security experience. I knew I wasn't gonna get it but I was like fukk it.

Usually large scale deployments, redesign, and migrations involving multiple vendors. In security Cisco is a major player, but there's tons of Juniper, Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Checkpoint devices out there. Having a bunch of certs don't mean shyt if you've never had to work on routers and firewalls with thousands of lines of ACLs and migrated from R65 to ASA with 0 down time.

That interview had me like . shyt humbled the fukk outta the kid

your pretty good