IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[David_TheMan]

what is the route you take if you go to college for IT but wanna go into the security field like bdizzle did? I mean for argument sake if you got fortunate with being given money to go to college and don't have to do the cert route

Oh you still have to do the cert route.
Degrees help you advance to management and higher levels, they arent a substitue for your industry certs

 

[duckbutta]

Does anyone know how to get into technical writing?

First of all what do you mean by "technical writing"? I worked at 3 different major IT places...all 3 who have technical writing jobs...and all three where WAY different for each company when it came to what they expected to be in any technical writing...

So when I worked in a place doing R&D the technical writing was literally the guide for how to use the technology we were getting ready to be sold...where I work at now the technical writing is "say as little as you can about the product while informing the user how to use the product while not saying something that will get us sued"...at my current job every single technical write up has to be vetted by finance AND legal before it can be published...where as in my R&D job they just let dudes write whatever and then publish it not really caring about any legal ramifications...and then the third place I worked the technical writing was for internal stuff so that guy got to skip a bunch of stuff in his writing as their was just stuff in it that you should know just from working at the company and he was not going to tell you about it...

 

[duckbutta]

what is the route you take if you go to college for IT but wanna go into the security field like bdizzle did? I mean for argument sake if you got fortunate with being given money to go to college and don't have to do the cert route

Got to get you some sort of networking job first that just focusing on networking and not security...then get your certs and get specialized from their...

You need to really ask yourself if you want to get in the network security game now though...it is WAY different than it was say even 3 years ago...where network attacks are so constant and so sophisticated you actually need to REALLY know what you are doing...network security is one of the big 3....along with virtualization and storage...where if you fukk up then you REALLY fukk up...and you probably only got one fukk up before you are shown the door...cause every security level fukkup risk company and/or customer data...

 

[Buggsy Mogues]

Question about salary for the brehs: when ya'll in here talking about salaries, potential pay for jobs, are you referring to PRE-TAX pay, or post-tax?

I'm making $51k PRE-TAX at a non-IT job right now (although I do light IT help desk work which I will embellish on my resume), studying for Network+ now, then Security+, which I hope will get me an tech support type job to at least match my current salary.

 

[Gwoppo]

If I take a ccna program at a community college and pass, how long do you think I will be at help desk? How long will it be before I’m hired to do CCNA?

I want to program but I read that a certificate in programming not gon get me in there like that.

I will be taking up CS after the cert. I just need to make more money while I finish up school.

 

[Obreh Winfrey]

Question about salary for the brehs: when ya'll in here talking about salaries, potential pay for jobs, are you referring to PRE-TAX pay, or post-tax?

I'm making $51k PRE-TAX at a non-IT job right now (although I do light IT help desk work which I will embellish on my resume), studying for Network+ now, then Security+, which I hope will get me an tech support type job to at least match my current salary.

Pre-tax is what we're usually talking. So make sure you use a tool to calculate what your take home would be and budget off that number. Also take into account how many days you'll be working to calculate if you're really seeing an increase. My mom does this, some jobs pay a few grand more but have her working an extra 10, 20 days so it works out to less pay. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Rozay Oro]

If I take a ccna program at a community college and pass, how long do you think I will be at help desk? How long will it be before I’m hired to do CCNA?

I want to program but I read that a certificate in programming not gon get me in there like that.

I will be taking up CS after the cert. I just need to make more money while I finish up school.

Yeah a certificate in programming won't help lol. A good resume and being relentless will. Start with PHP, you'll get a good grasp of OOP.

 

[MR. Conclusion]

Are the Mike Myers tests the best way to practice for the 901 test???

If you're talking about Total Tester ...nope. He didnt even bother to do a thorough error check.

You want at a minimum The Messer quiz questions. 700 questions on 901 and 600 on 902. Spend some money on the Exam Cram book too. That will get you straight. The goal is to take questions that are as hard or harder than the actual exam, while not misleading or open to interpretation.

Also be aware of the possible sims on the 901 and 902. They're 50 points each.

 

[MR. Conclusion]

What's your opinion for applying to companies who initially rejected you? Back in november I had apply to this job I wanted badly. $116K plus 10 percent bonus..recruiter contacted me, passed both the initial interview with the recruiter and completely destroyed the technical part of the question. Phone interview with the hiring manager..in the middle of the interview he stopped asking me technical questions because the recruiter told him, I know my shyt etc. etc. so after the phone interview..they moved my status to they were going to proceed with an in person interview....I hated the timing because it was mid December and people are usually out of the office etc. So I never got an update from them and when I e-mailed the recruiter, she never bothered to give me one. Same job was posted last night, I literally qualify for every thing on the check list and more. Looking at folks with the same title on linkedin, they don't have the credentials I do.

I re-applied and am even more qualified. I just want the money.

Like you said...Dec = people out of office. Somebody probably dropped the ball. It happens.

 

[EnzoG]

If you're talking about Total Tester ...nope. He didnt even bother to do a thorough error check.

You want at a minimum The Messer quiz questions. 700 questions on 901 and 600 on 902. Spend some money on the Exam Cram book too. That will get you straight. The goal is to take questions that are as hard or harder than the actual exam, while not misleading or open to interpretation.

Also be aware of the possible sims on the 901 and 902. They're 50 points each.

I already have the David L.Prowse Exam Cram book

 

[Apollo Creed]

How much of a pay increase do you guys feel is worth to have a bad commute to work? Say your current is 20-30, and now it may go to 45 min-1.5hrs?

 

[Silkk]

How much of a pay increase do you guys feel is worth to have a bad commute to work? Say your current is 20-30, and now it may go to 45 min-1.5hrs?

I don't mind a drive but I fukking HAAAATE traffic so it just depends.

 

[Apollo Creed]

I don't mind a drive but I fukking HAAAATE traffic so it just depends.

this is a traffic thing. got hit up about something that sounds interesting, and the salary increase is like 40% lol. Granted a screening doesn't mean much but still. I'm going to ask how their culture is and see what they ay about WFH/Flex work.

 

[50CentStan]

can a breh get a good gig if I just get a CCNA and have nothing else ?

 

[Dat Migo]

can a breh get a good gig if I just get a CCNA and have nothing else ?

Depends on what you think good is but you'll definitely have your pick of support and Noc jobs.