IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[StretfordRed]

cancelled my CISSP exam after figuring out it was BS.

I been had my MSc from Royal Holloway/University of London and figured out that is going to be my “get through HR screening” part of my CV

I’ve just got my Reverse Engineering Malware books from SANS and potentially got Advanced Forensics (GCFA) Course coming this week so going to settle for that.

Luckily I have alternatives than the CISSP but I studied that Syngress book so much and just realised it wasn’t worth my time anymore.

 

[Silkk]

cancelled my CISSP exam after figuring out it was BS.

I been had my MSc from Royal Holloway/University of London and figured out that is going to be my “get through HR screening” part of my CV

I’ve just got my Reverse Engineering Malware books from SANS and potentially got Advanced Forensics (GCFA) Course coming this week so going to settle for that.

Luckily I have alternatives than the CISSP but I studied that Syngress book so much and just realised it wasn’t worth my time anymore.

You cancelled after spending $600 on it?

 

[StretfordRed]

You cancelled after spending $600 on it?

They give the money back sans tax and booking fee. Lost like £70

 

[Silkk]

They give the money back sans tax and booking fee. Lost like £70

Should've took that shyt. Nothing matters more when it comes to security jobs.

 

[Scott Larock]

I got a entry level Associate Security Engineer Position, it's my first full time IT job and I'm starting over 40, I'm proud I accomplished something.

Gonna get some experience under my belt and hopefully work upwards.

The good thing is that this is directly related to cyber-security field which is what I wanted to get into.

Money is little but I'm not complaining, I'm moving to Fort Lauder-dale soon to get closer to the job.

It's IDS/IPS monitoring position, it's gonna be boring but I'm glad to get in.

 

[666 ReVeNGe 666]

Brehs ...
Can you please put me on to the certification game I am currently at a job where I might be making a hundred thousand per year by the end of the year but you never know and I always want to keep my options open if I ever decide to switch careers.

However if you don't think I can get to a hundred and above in that field just let me know but I am very interested in expanding my skill-set

 

[satam55]

I got a entry level Associate Security Engineer Position, it's my first full time IT job and I'm starting over 40, I'm proud I accomplished something.

Gonna get some experience under my belt and hopefully work upwards.

The good thing is that this is directly related to cyber-security field which is what I wanted to get into.

Money is little but I'm not complaining, I'm moving to Fort Lauder-dale soon to get closer to the job.

It's IDS/IPS monitoring position, it's gonna be boring but I'm glad to get in.

Brehs, explain to me how this lucky breh is starting out his IT career with a Security Engineer position? I though folks had to pay their dues & start out at Help Desk/Desktop support

 

[Tr0yTV]

Brehs, explain to me how this lucky breh is starting out his IT career with a Security Engineer position? I though folks had to pay their dues & start out at Help Desk/Desktop support

Finesse

I got a entry level Associate Security Engineer Position

Raise the status quo, brehs.

 

[Dat Migo]

Brehs, explain to me how this lucky breh is starting out his IT career with a Security Engineer position? I though folks had to pay their dues & start out at Help Desk/Desktop support

It took him probably a year or so to get his foot in the door and he did some schooling as well. Also, this is the help desk type role of security. When he sees that something is up, he will most likely do some limited troubleshooting and create a ticket that goes to someone higher up.

 

[Aba_juggin]

I got a entry level Associate Security Engineer Position, it's my first full time IT job and I'm starting over 40, I'm proud I accomplished something.

Gonna get some experience under my belt and hopefully work upwards.

The good thing is that this is directly related to cyber-security field which is what I wanted to get into.

Money is little but I'm not complaining, I'm moving to Fort Lauder-dale soon to get closer to the job.

It's IDS/IPS monitoring position, it's gonna be boring but I'm glad to get in.

what u mean money is little, national avg is 85 grand

 

[satam55]

Brehs, explain to me how this lucky breh is starting out his IT career with a Security Engineer position? I though folks had to pay their dues & start out at Help Desk/Desktop support

It took him probably a year or so to get his foot in the door and he did some schooling as well. Also, this is the help desk type role of security. When he sees that something is up, he will most likely do some limited troubleshooting and create a ticket that goes to someone higher up.

I'm a be real, if my 1st IT job has Engineer in my title, i'm going to be stunting on family members talking about I'm an Engineer without ever going to a 4-year college or getting a degree & racking up student loan debt.

 

[TRFG]

Brehs, explain to me how this lucky breh is starting out his IT career with a Security Engineer position? I though folks had to pay their dues & start out at Help Desk/Desktop support

probably a degree.. I have interviews for three Engineer jobs and I haven't even graduated yet shyt I have a phone interview in 3 hours with Fidelity did one with Google on Tuesday

 

[satam55]

I been watching the YouTube channel of this IT hiring manager the last couple days. Do y'all agree with this?:

When someone new to IT or interested in an IT career asks advice for getting their foot in the door, invariably lots of people are going to tell them that they need to get the CompTIA A+ certification. But the A+ is not an IT certification at all, but a bench certification and the knowledge in it is either so basic that anyone interested in an IT career should either already have it (and never need to certify on it as it is so basic) or it doesn't really apply to them (because it is a bench skill.)

The A+ also suffers from being horrendously out of date, testing skills that would have been applicable often a decade prior. In entry level bench work, this is sometimes (but not often) useful, in IT is essentially never is. Bench work in entry level shops often involves local computers stores and consumers attempting to keep ancient hardware limping along that is not financially viable. Businesses, driven by financial decisions, are far less likely to do this and those that do, turn to consumer bench services for support.

Making the mistake of lumping bench work in with IT work leads to a feeling that the A+ will be beneficial to an IT career. But deep questioning of people who feel that they benefited from the A+ often expose that those that feel it helped them or that it was requires went into and often are still in bench careers, rather than IT ones (or jobs that are primarily bench.) If your interest in a career in IT, the A+ should be seen as both non-applicable as well as overly rudimentary, not to bench antiquated. Starter IT certs are more advanced and there is no reason not to jump straight into them instead. Having a higher level cert, meant for IT professionals, that is up to date will do dramatically more for your personal growth, your own education and your ability to get your foot into the door of a real IT position.


Discuss more here: https://mangolassi.it/topic/14470/is-...

The CompTIA Network+ is easily the best certification to use as your first step into the world of IT. It is entry level, but covers knowledge that is broadly applicable throughout the IT space and is even good for people looking at related fields including bench, software engineering and even general computer power user. Useful and applicable knowledge that would be great for just about anyone to have. But for IT, this is the place to start. Applicable for someone just starting in IT or even for middle or high school students looking for a challenge to get their feet wet and show some serious interest and dedication in the field.

It is very common that bench work is confused with IT work. Both work with computers, but serve computer systems. How can we tell the two apart?

 

[Redguard]

My boss at my job told me to get the network+. So far most of our business clients don't use Cisco products. I'm still on the fence but so far I have seen more sonicwall and netgear equipment than Cisco.

 

[xXMASHERXx]

I disagree for a few reasons. One, if you have no prior experience in IT or a degree related to the field it can definitely help you get your first shot. Two, it really isn't that hard to get. You could probably pass it with a month or two of serious studying. Obviously if you know you can take on one of the more higher level certs, then the do that instead of the A+ but the average person looking to get into IT is not passing the Net+ in a month or two of studying. Do I agree with him that alot of stuff covered in the A+ will do you no good in real world? Yeah. But I believe some of the stuff it does covers is very valuable.

My boss at my job told me to get the network+. So far most of our business clients don't use Cisco products. I'm still on the fence but so far I have seen more sonicwall and netgear equipment than Cisco.

Did he specify any reason as to why you should get that over the CCNA?