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Need guidance for the next step
nocrass
Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hey guys, I've been following this community board for some time now and I feel like you could give some valuable tips and guidance to people who are looking for career directions.
Here is where I am right now.
I started a CS degree in Networking and Security in January of this year. I've always been one of those people every friend and family member give a laptop to fix, remove viruses, check security settings, give tips, reinstall OS, upgrades, etc. All of this has been a hobby of mine, but I've never found coding an area of interest which I know could have brought me a solid job and a good pay along with it. On the other hand, cloud technology, virtualization and information security are the areas of interest for me.
Right now, I work as a work study in the IT department at one of the universities, as a "security analyst". I have a few programs that I work with daily, like FortiAnalyzer and Solarwinds Log and Event Manager for log and network traffic analysis and reporting, Qualys Express for vulnerability and asset management. I am part of the incident response team when there are tickets related to InfoSec area on the staff or faculty machines on campus. It is all very interesting and was pretty new and hard at first, but I embraced this challenge.
Question - where do I go from here? One of the reasons I went for Networking and Security is because I wanted to stay away from any jobs that required a lot of coding. The InfoSec area seemed to be the best choice - will always be in demand, good pay, not "programming heavy". But I am not sure what should my next step be? Which certification do I need to pursue that will actually matter and help me? I know it is a struggle to land an IT job without at least a few years of related experience and bunch of certifications and connections. And I read here that some of you who are working as Security Analysts are not really happy about either the place or the job itself and considered switching to a different position.
Could you give me an idea of what my possible next moves should be and what to do to succeed if I pursue any of them?
Here is where I am right now.
I started a CS degree in Networking and Security in January of this year. I've always been one of those people every friend and family member give a laptop to fix, remove viruses, check security settings, give tips, reinstall OS, upgrades, etc. All of this has been a hobby of mine, but I've never found coding an area of interest which I know could have brought me a solid job and a good pay along with it. On the other hand, cloud technology, virtualization and information security are the areas of interest for me.
Right now, I work as a work study in the IT department at one of the universities, as a "security analyst". I have a few programs that I work with daily, like FortiAnalyzer and Solarwinds Log and Event Manager for log and network traffic analysis and reporting, Qualys Express for vulnerability and asset management. I am part of the incident response team when there are tickets related to InfoSec area on the staff or faculty machines on campus. It is all very interesting and was pretty new and hard at first, but I embraced this challenge.
Question - where do I go from here? One of the reasons I went for Networking and Security is because I wanted to stay away from any jobs that required a lot of coding. The InfoSec area seemed to be the best choice - will always be in demand, good pay, not "programming heavy". But I am not sure what should my next step be? Which certification do I need to pursue that will actually matter and help me? I know it is a struggle to land an IT job without at least a few years of related experience and bunch of certifications and connections. And I read here that some of you who are working as Security Analysts are not really happy about either the place or the job itself and considered switching to a different position.
Could you give me an idea of what my possible next moves should be and what to do to succeed if I pursue any of them?
Comments
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OptionsTheFORCE
Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
First rule of the IT field - do not go by job titles. Go by job descriptions. From your job description, you are currently working in the hottest area of infosec and you got there with no problems at all. Many people would give their right arm for a job like that. If you want to work for a public company or government agency aim for job descriptions that have what you are currently working on. As for certifications, look for security+, CISSP or SSCP, CEH those are very well known and will also help you.
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Optionsnocrass
Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
Thank you, TheFORCE! I am actually working on Sec+ but I needed a confirmation from you guys that it is the right one to go with because there are a few different certifications that I could pursue at the "entry level".
What about the resume side of things? Do you have any suggestions on how to format it in terms of sections and what maybe to eliminate? I have food service experience (most recent) and banking experience. My only work IT experience was like 10 years ago, but I have a couple of recent entry level IT certifications (MCITS, VCA). -
OptionsTheFORCE
Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
For resume suggestions just post your resume here on the forum and the TE experts will help you out. Just remove your personal information when doing so.