College Woes
Hi everyone, just as a note this isn't a post trying to get people to make my choices for me, I just want input from people in the security line of work.
My goals are to become a network security admin / pen tester.
Right now I'm in college for Information Systems Analysis (ISA), and I only really have a semester left (CCNA).
Here is my dilemma:
The college I go to and the others around me don't offer anything security related. Security+ is the most in depth that the ISA program goes into security. The program is really geared for either a Cisco admin or a Windows admin. There is only one Linux class, and it was a joke.
Do you think it would benefit me to take the higher CCNP and VoIP classes and get my Bachelor's or get my Associates, get a job and work on the security stuff more on my own? Right now I have been learning all the security stuff I know from books, me screwing around on my own network, and from the wonderful community here. I plan on taking the Offensive Security course this summer to get me more up to speed on BT.
I can most likely get a job doing software testing and support at a local company that builds rack mounted computers for government and commercial use. While working there I can continue learning on my own or even do security there.
Thanks in advance for any advice, I'm pretty lost on this. Also, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forums, I wasn't too sure on where to put it.
VoIP is going to be the boom market over the next few years as the aging PBX systems are going to be replaced.
More and more small to medium size companies are looking to replace their systems with VoIP.
Going hand in hand with VoIP would be CCNA, since Cisco has a large amount of VoIP equipment. It can't hurt to learn both.
A third party security audit is the IT equivalent of a colonoscopy. It's long, intrusive, very uncomfortable, and when it's done, you'll have seen things you really didn't want to see, and you'll never forget that you've had one.
If at all possible, getting your bachelor's degree would be very beneficial. Most employers these days look for the college degree and a four year degree is much better than a two year unless you are working your full time and have a number of years experience to go with the two year degree.
That being said, there are many very successful people in the security field that have no degree at all. A degree is not always the ticket but it has been my experience that in today's competitive market that it helps to get you to the face to face interview where you sell yourself and your skills.
The Cisco certifications are good to have.
Posting Permissions
