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First post: career path quandary
omegadown3
Member Posts: 8 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hey guys,
New member here, and I'm hoping for some help with making a decision for my career path from this collection of experienced professionals. I have been doing PBX/VoIP work for the past 7 years or so, with a pretty decent emphasis in networking. I'm currently a SIP installs specialist for my company, and I make a very good salary--especially for my location, which has low cost of living. I'm also allowed a couple of days per week working from my home office.
It's a very good situation, but I am very close to finishing my IT-Sec degree with WGU (8 classes to go, which I believe I'll finish this term). I live in Huntsville, AL, which is all about security, but it's a military city, so a lot of the jobs that I would even conceivably be qualified for with virtually no security experience are kind of suited for those who did security work in the military. I enjoy working in VoIP, but I know that my prospects as far as earnings potential and job security (at least in my city) are much better if I follow the security path. My company currently has a job posted for an Info Sec Analyst in Atlanta, and I have interviewed with this team before and received very positive feedback though I didn't get the job. At that time they were comfortable with me working from my office after a training period had I gotten the job. I keep feeling that I am a fool for not applying again, but I have an infant and another child on the way and feel that even temporarily commuting to Atlanta for training is going to put too much stress on my personal life.
I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I am close to being stuck as a career Voice guy or if I am likely to be able to move into security later. I will obviously have a good certification base and a degree soon, but I feel like being in this role is wasting time that could be building toward getting better experience and certification in security. Any advice or thoughts in general would be appreciated.
New member here, and I'm hoping for some help with making a decision for my career path from this collection of experienced professionals. I have been doing PBX/VoIP work for the past 7 years or so, with a pretty decent emphasis in networking. I'm currently a SIP installs specialist for my company, and I make a very good salary--especially for my location, which has low cost of living. I'm also allowed a couple of days per week working from my home office.
It's a very good situation, but I am very close to finishing my IT-Sec degree with WGU (8 classes to go, which I believe I'll finish this term). I live in Huntsville, AL, which is all about security, but it's a military city, so a lot of the jobs that I would even conceivably be qualified for with virtually no security experience are kind of suited for those who did security work in the military. I enjoy working in VoIP, but I know that my prospects as far as earnings potential and job security (at least in my city) are much better if I follow the security path. My company currently has a job posted for an Info Sec Analyst in Atlanta, and I have interviewed with this team before and received very positive feedback though I didn't get the job. At that time they were comfortable with me working from my office after a training period had I gotten the job. I keep feeling that I am a fool for not applying again, but I have an infant and another child on the way and feel that even temporarily commuting to Atlanta for training is going to put too much stress on my personal life.
I guess I'm just trying to figure out if I am close to being stuck as a career Voice guy or if I am likely to be able to move into security later. I will obviously have a good certification base and a degree soon, but I feel like being in this role is wasting time that could be building toward getting better experience and certification in security. Any advice or thoughts in general would be appreciated.