Best career move?

5502george

I work in an environment where I am an administrator/security specialist.
I am really looking at getting another cert but don't really know what would be most beneficial to me and my career. I honestly find all parts of IT pretty interesting and am not really leaning in one specific direction.

My question is this...

Should my next cert be focused on what I actually do at my job or should I get more experience in realms that I am not familiar?

I am either looking at the MSCE or the CCNA:SEC for the next route. what do you think?

MCSE seems like it would actually help me at my job, whereas CCNA is really interesting, but I am not a networker and deal very little with switching and routing.

olaHalo

Base the choice off what your want to do in the future, not what youre doing.

Dakinggamer87

Definitely align all your certs in the future with your career goals and the role you are seeking. An MCSE would be helpful if you want to move higher into Systems Administration/Engineer roles. The CCNA: Security would be great if you want to move into Network Security. Some things to consider in your decisions. My best tip/suggestion is to spend your money wisely into a discipline you want to specialize in and the overall career path you seek.

Good luck!!

markulous

What other certs do you have?

Getting a MCSA/MCSE is rarely a bad move, but it will take up quite a bit of time to complete. If you already have a MCSA or some good MS certs, maybe look to get a Red Hat cert? That gives you even more marketability in the future with sys admin and security both.

Dakinggamer87

markulous wrote: »

What other certs do you have?

Getting a MCSA/MCSE is rarely a bad move, but it will take up quite a bit of time to complete. If you already have a MCSA or some good MS certs, maybe look to get a Red Hat cert? That gives you even more marketability in the future with sys admin and security both.

Definitely is!! It took me several months when I was doing the MS certification track lol..

OctalDump

It depends a lot on the context. What technologies are you working with? Do you have a technical background? What roles are you looking at in the future? How much time and money do you want to spend?

CCNA Security is fairly tightly aligned to securing Cisco technologies. I'd see it as appropriate for a network admin/engineer dealing with Cisco gear, perhaps a CCNP, that has responsibilities for implementing security in the network.

The MCSE Server is very much "Everything you ever wanted to know about Windows Server infrastructures" (well, not quite, but it is broad and deep). The aim there is in designing/architecting infrastructures based on Windows and related MS technologies (System Center, Forefront etc). It is aimed squarely at more senior admins (already MCSAs), with at least 2-5 years experience with Windows Server in largish (200+ seat, multi-site) environments. Not all of it is relevant to security.

If you are starting from scratch (probably you aren't), then MCSE is a long road. I'd say give yourself at least 12 months - a couple of months for each exam - 5 in total. The CCNA Security is more achievable, only 2 exams (CCENT + CCNA Sec), and 6 months is reasonable. Yes, you can do both much faster depending on all those individual factors, but remember that they are both intended for people with experience with the technologies.

The MCSE probably has more benefit for higher level security work (at the oversight, management or consulting level). The CCNA Sec is probably useful if you are looking to go more network security focussed, but is more basic, so you'd want to move onto higher levels quickly, either in the Cisco track (CCNP then CCIE), or within other tracks.