Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Thanks for the info breh! I'm 34 with a wife and mortgage. Believe me ain't no part of me trying to get comfortable in help desk. Thanks you again breh.
IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter fendi_mane
- Start date
MR. Conclusion
All Star
Breh...
Networking intersects with all realms of IT; Desktop, Security, Cloud, Virtualization, etc..
The industry is going in the direction of Cloud-based and software defined networks (SDN)
This is the reason Cisco recently revamped their certification CCNA back in February this year.
You got the Network+? Congrats. Now its time to look for a job, particularly with a NOC (Network Operations Center).
Also, Do not slow down and get comfortable. You need to go for the CCNA
Wanna sharpen your skills in a virtual lab environment. Download GNS3.
Also as far as career moves go, You'll earn in-demands skills and get to the real money a whole lot sooner with your networking skills if you didnt go down a PURELY strict networking path.
When you reach Network Admin/Engineer Level, you'll have all the time you need to focuse purely on the network side of things.
What I'd advise is to go down the Desktop Support>>Desktop Administrator Path because you'll progress a whole lot quicker in terms of skills you gain and salary, especially with networking skills. You'll also progress into a network admin role faster because alot of those guys usually come from desktop support/desktop engineering backgrounds; they usually get alot of hands on action being out in the field versus a network analyst/network support specialist who (from my personal experience) just look at screens all day monitoring network activity and shyt. Easy money, but I'd rather have fast progression going the other path. Although, some times if you have a short staffed department you can fast track your way from a NOC Support analyst to an engineer in 18 months. This isnt the rule, but it it does happen 20% of the time.
1 last thing about desktop guys, they are more than likely the ones who will be working with all the cloud, virtualization,security and networking technologies in a hands on capacity; providing remote and on-premise support for alot of companies. There's also tons of desktop roles out there that require you to set up networking infrastructure for a corporate HQ or a newly built facility like a hospital.
Desktop is where you want to be if you want decent money, learning experience and to figure out where in IT you want to be. IT's the center of IT operations and where alot of reputable tech professionals get the ground beneath their feet and take off in this game.
Helpdesk on the other hand, is where most people get comfortable because they are coming from shytty jobs in another industry and think they hit the bigtime because it's their 1st gig making 18 to 20 dollars an hour and not having to break their back. The result is they end up in IT purgatory being a professional password resetter and shyt for 10+ years.
I speak from experience cause I work with alot of these guys and its pathetic and depressing. Always talking about they working no this and that cert but never get around to it, Always offloading tickets to me because they dont know how to do shyt outside of what they learned in some call center when they 1st started. Makes me look good but some days, I get tired of putting up with that shyt.
Stay hungry, keep grinding and by all means try to get the fukk up outta helpdesk within 8 months or less
I'm only replying because this post is 100% accurate. If you trying to get into I.T., read this post.
Good stuff in here.
I want a Raspberry Pi brehs think im gonna pull the trigger.
I want a Raspberry Pi brehs think im gonna pull the trigger.
Mirin4rmfar
Superstar
I would honestly recommend taking the CISSP.
Path to Entry Level Cybersecurity Certification | Associate of (ISC)²
Through the Associate of (ISC)² program, you can take any of our certification exams without the required work experience. When you pass, you become an Associate of (ISC)² as you work to gain the necessary experience to achieve full certification. Along the way, you receive exclusive (ISC)² resources to help you learn, grow and thrive throughout your journey.
Choke out your competition that have their security plus
. Of course, it wont be an easy task but I would recommend it to anyone willing to put in the time. Especially if you are gunning for more money.
Rich Spirit
#LeveledUp
@Rhyme n Tekniq what would be the best way/skills to get a desktop support job if you’re new to IT?
StretfordRed
Afro-European
Maaaaan this OSCP cert is killing my shyt right now...
Sleep pattern is all over the shop, getting crazy headaches from the amount of time I'm on a computer as I'm up at 5 AM to do some studies, WfH at 9 - 6-8PM, eat, then more studies until I fall alseep at my desk.
They really should have provided an extra month for free, as the course material now is over 800 pages (was about 350 before), and I don't even know how many boxes, they have but it's a lot.
It's going well though, cracked 14 boxes with no Metasploit usage since about last Friday. Need to get my notes and tools in order before I start again tomorrow. Definitely will buy another month extra as I need some more time in the labs for experience, as I don't think I am going to be doing HtB anymore.
If & when I pass, it's going to fukking sweet
Sleep pattern is all over the shop, getting crazy headaches from the amount of time I'm on a computer as I'm up at 5 AM to do some studies, WfH at 9 - 6-8PM, eat, then more studies until I fall alseep at my desk.
They really should have provided an extra month for free, as the course material now is over 800 pages (was about 350 before), and I don't even know how many boxes, they have but it's a lot.
It's going well though, cracked 14 boxes with no Metasploit usage since about last Friday. Need to get my notes and tools in order before I start again tomorrow. Definitely will buy another month extra as I need some more time in the labs for experience, as I don't think I am going to be doing HtB anymore.
If & when I pass, it's going to fukking sweet
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Get an A+ certification. This will offer the least path of resistance for newcomers to IT. It's still the most widely referenced certification for helpdesk/desktop support jobs. It's been around the longest without a bunch of switch ups or revamps to their cert path. For good measure, stack the A+, Network+, Security+ and ITIL certs; For now just focus on getting the A+ and getting a job.
If you can, keep blindly applying to helpdesk/desktop jobs and hopefully you land a job before you are certified. Also carefully read the job descriptions because they sometimes use helpdesk and desktop support interchangeably. Dont pass up a gig that says "Helpdesk" because that's what you dont want when in reality its a desktop support job. just read those job descriptions and try to aim for roles that are gonna give you skills that will prepare you for your next job.
Rich Spirit
#LeveledUp
Thanks breh
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
I would honestly recommend taking the CISSP.
Path to Entry Level Cybersecurity Certification | Associate of (ISC)²
Through the Associate of (ISC)² program, you can take any of our certification exams without the required work experience. When you pass, you become an Associate of (ISC)² as you work to gain the necessary experience to achieve full certification. Along the way, you receive exclusive (ISC)² resources to help you learn, grow and thrive throughout your journey.
Choke out your competition that have their security plus
Of course, it wont be an easy task but I would recommend it to anyone willing to put in the time. Especially if you are gunning for more money.
Thanks breh, I havent been on their website since last year when was looking to get the SSCP and CAP, Didnt realize that
For anyone interested in security, the ICS2 certs hold major weight
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Thanks breh
No prob my G,
Also, alternatively, get the MCSA (Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate) before it officially retires January of next year. Just having the MCSA alone will have recruiters coming to you with desktop jobs paying $$$. It's three exams though, but if you can study effectively like I ve been saying in previous threads you can knock those out in no time.
Microsoft is retiring the MCSA in favor of their new role-base certs.
While fairly new there are a few certs that are already starting to become more in-demand
Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator (Exams: MD-100 + MD-101).
Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate (Exams: MS-500). I'd recommend this over the security + just for practical security skills it teaches.
You only get a month for the OSCP?Maaaaan this OSCP cert is killing my shyt right now...
Sleep pattern is all over the shop, getting crazy headaches from the amount of time I'm on a computer as I'm up at 5 AM to do some studies, WfH at 9 - 6-8PM, eat, then more studies until I fall alseep at my desk.
They really should have provided an extra month for free, as the course material now is over 800 pages (was about 350 before), and I don't even know how many boxes, they have but it's a lot.
It's going well though, cracked 14 boxes with no Metasploit usage since about last Friday. Need to get my notes and tools in order before I start again tomorrow. Definitely will buy another month extra as I need some more time in the labs for experience, as I don't think I am going to be doing HtB anymore.
If & when I pass, it's going to fukking sweet
I AM WE ARE
Banned
So after the 501 what is my next step?
Also, to everyone in this thread, is there an app/ study guide that I can download to read at work? I don't mind paying $10 or so if it will help Me pass the exam.
Thank you
StretfordRed
Afro-European
1,2 or 3 months - I went for 3. But they doubled the amount of content so to do the PDF/videos and exercises it's about a month, then you have 2 months to crack 75~ machines which is more than 1 a day. So it's not the best and almost forces you to get another month if you want to get all the hosts
I would rather knock out all the free CTF's along with HtB and TryHackMe instead. Or until I can find a company to pay for my OSCP.
There are barely any courses like that on the BlueTeam side. The only thing I've found recently was this IR challenge by Cynet. No wonder everyone keeps getting owned by hackers.
Cynet Launches the First of its Kind Public Incident Response ‘Capture the Evidence’ Challenge – with a First Prize of $5,000 - Cynet
Rhyme n Tekniq
Superstar
Brehs,
This thread is full of years worth of valuable and relevant information. You need to read through this whole-entire-thread front to back. This is EXACTLY what I did when I started in IT and its the reason I have a great career now.
From 2017 til now I have read through this entire thread 30 times. With each revisit, I found something new that I might have missed or ignored previously but speaks to me now that I'm at a certain career level.
I've been dropping gem after gem because I want you niccas to flourish and I want to keep this thread going strong, But don't expect me or anybody else to spoon-feed you every step of the way. You have to take the initiative, research and find out shyt for yourselves.
This thread has all the info you need to to get started. The A+, Sec+, Net+ and CCNA, MCSA and CISSP has been covered 100's of times in painstakingly detailed fashion. Examples of the amount of money you can make has been discovered thousands of times by real people working in the field, telling you how to get there. You just have to read this thread front to back. it's all you need.
When I started, I didn't know shyt. Didnt know how to get started, didn't know what this or that cert was for. I was attending some certification bootcamp while unemployed and my wife was the breadwinner. She was stressed, I was stressed, my pride was shot, and at times I wanted to just give up and go back to working warehouse jobs because it was tough getting a job in IT. Interview after interview led to nothing. One shady recruiter after another misleading me and selling me bullshyt knowing they didn't have any jobs lined up.
It started with this thread. Cats like B.Dizzle, Havoc, and others was dropping all this inspiring and informative shyt page after page. I became hooked. This thread was my entertainment, my vision board, and my bible. I read this shyt obsessively over and over again to the point I already knew what to do before I landed my first job.
Got my 1st job in IT after getting my A+ and following the advice in this thread starting at $18/hourly. 7 months later I got another jobs paying $28 an hour. Gotta pay raise 7 months after that making $34.00 an hour. From the time I got my 1st job, My life started to turn around like a muthafukker. Debt was being eliminated rapidly; Bills just evaporating, Having all this disposable income. Between me an my wife we bring home 8 G's or more a month now. Been able to work from home during this COVID bullshyt and I cant remember the last time we were even hurting for money. Sometimes we forget that we even got paid because we still got money sitting in the account from previous pay periods.
Even with all the success and blessing coming my way, I still read through this thread when I'm not home labbing, cert prepping or just living life. This shyt is a constant grind and you need to always be learning and and taking the initiative to invest in yourself, Having a mentor is good, but fukk that. Don't sit around waiting for muthafukkers to teach you how to do anything or pay for your certs. I don't care how much the certs cost or how much time you have to invest into learning and growing, This is the nature of the game and you need to get numb to it. Put your emotions and ego to the side and attack this game with relentless determination. Failure is to be expected but it aint shyt in the long run. Keep pushing and ignore the setbacks.
Dont matter how hard something is. If you want it, you will find a way to justify the energy you put into it. The key to becoming good at anything is repetition+time. Dont matter if you suck at it or cant fathom how you could ever do something you think is impossible. You have to be stubborn to the voice of your own inner resistance/self-doubt and just keep trying and one day shyt will just click and then it snowballs into competence, into expertise and finally into mastery.
You think Programming languages is impossible, You think Linux is spaceship magic wizardry that only the elite minds of the world can understand or that cloud is some spooky shyt that you will never be able to learn. It's all bullshyt. Keep pushing and time will do the rest of the work. In this game you will find your self around muthafukkas who are smarter and more experienced than you but fukk it let it be your motivation. You dont have to be the smartest to make top dollar, just be on top of your shyt with a some modicum of people skills and you will flourish. You'll be able to blow past all these gurus and nerds who have expertise, but none of the hustle or drive to play in the big leagues. You will reach a point where you think you're not good enough but once again, it's all bullshyt. You are, even if your job doesn't acknowledge. Just get your weight up and bounce for a better one if need be.
All in all. you have to be willing to bet on your self and take initiative. I been through the shyt, people in this thread have been through the shyt, and you're gonna go through it as well.
Keep in mind that you're in control of your destiny in this IT game and when you hit a rough patch or start to doubt yourself, push though it because it aint nothing but some ole bullshyt to learn from and get better.
The world is your oyster my G's but you gotta believe it.
Stay solid and the success will come 100-fold. I promise you this.
Done.
This thread is full of years worth of valuable and relevant information. You need to read through this whole-entire-thread front to back. This is EXACTLY what I did when I started in IT and its the reason I have a great career now.
From 2017 til now I have read through this entire thread 30 times. With each revisit, I found something new that I might have missed or ignored previously but speaks to me now that I'm at a certain career level.
I've been dropping gem after gem because I want you niccas to flourish and I want to keep this thread going strong, But don't expect me or anybody else to spoon-feed you every step of the way. You have to take the initiative, research and find out shyt for yourselves.
This thread has all the info you need to to get started. The A+, Sec+, Net+ and CCNA, MCSA and CISSP has been covered 100's of times in painstakingly detailed fashion. Examples of the amount of money you can make has been discovered thousands of times by real people working in the field, telling you how to get there. You just have to read this thread front to back. it's all you need.
When I started, I didn't know shyt. Didnt know how to get started, didn't know what this or that cert was for. I was attending some certification bootcamp while unemployed and my wife was the breadwinner. She was stressed, I was stressed, my pride was shot, and at times I wanted to just give up and go back to working warehouse jobs because it was tough getting a job in IT. Interview after interview led to nothing. One shady recruiter after another misleading me and selling me bullshyt knowing they didn't have any jobs lined up.
It started with this thread. Cats like B.Dizzle, Havoc, and others was dropping all this inspiring and informative shyt page after page. I became hooked. This thread was my entertainment, my vision board, and my bible. I read this shyt obsessively over and over again to the point I already knew what to do before I landed my first job.
Got my 1st job in IT after getting my A+ and following the advice in this thread starting at $18/hourly. 7 months later I got another jobs paying $28 an hour. Gotta pay raise 7 months after that making $34.00 an hour. From the time I got my 1st job, My life started to turn around like a muthafukker. Debt was being eliminated rapidly; Bills just evaporating, Having all this disposable income. Between me an my wife we bring home 8 G's or more a month now. Been able to work from home during this COVID bullshyt and I cant remember the last time we were even hurting for money. Sometimes we forget that we even got paid because we still got money sitting in the account from previous pay periods.
Even with all the success and blessing coming my way, I still read through this thread when I'm not home labbing, cert prepping or just living life. This shyt is a constant grind and you need to always be learning and and taking the initiative to invest in yourself, Having a mentor is good, but fukk that. Don't sit around waiting for muthafukkers to teach you how to do anything or pay for your certs. I don't care how much the certs cost or how much time you have to invest into learning and growing, This is the nature of the game and you need to get numb to it. Put your emotions and ego to the side and attack this game with relentless determination. Failure is to be expected but it aint shyt in the long run. Keep pushing and ignore the setbacks.
Dont matter how hard something is. If you want it, you will find a way to justify the energy you put into it. The key to becoming good at anything is repetition+time. Dont matter if you suck at it or cant fathom how you could ever do something you think is impossible. You have to be stubborn to the voice of your own inner resistance/self-doubt and just keep trying and one day shyt will just click and then it snowballs into competence, into expertise and finally into mastery.
You think Programming languages is impossible, You think Linux is spaceship magic wizardry that only the elite minds of the world can understand or that cloud is some spooky shyt that you will never be able to learn. It's all bullshyt. Keep pushing and time will do the rest of the work. In this game you will find your self around muthafukkas who are smarter and more experienced than you but fukk it let it be your motivation. You dont have to be the smartest to make top dollar, just be on top of your shyt with a some modicum of people skills and you will flourish. You'll be able to blow past all these gurus and nerds who have expertise, but none of the hustle or drive to play in the big leagues. You will reach a point where you think you're not good enough but once again, it's all bullshyt. You are, even if your job doesn't acknowledge. Just get your weight up and bounce for a better one if need be.
All in all. you have to be willing to bet on your self and take initiative. I been through the shyt, people in this thread have been through the shyt, and you're gonna go through it as well.
Keep in mind that you're in control of your destiny in this IT game and when you hit a rough patch or start to doubt yourself, push though it because it aint nothing but some ole bullshyt to learn from and get better.
The world is your oyster my G's but you gotta believe it.
Stay solid and the success will come 100-fold. I promise you this.
Done.
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